Plastic Bag Issue Comes Back to City Council

A proposal to prohibit the use of plastic bags in stores could take an incremental step toward reality at the Pinole City Council meeting Tuesday.

The proposed action for the council is to decide whether it would join the five West County cities in coordinating to develop an ordinance to ban single-use bags.

The draft ordinance would be written by the West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority. The authority is also known as RecycleMore, a joint government agency charged with reducing landfill waste in West Contra Costa County cities. It was created because of a 1989 state law that mandated a 50 percent reduction in trash.

Councilman Pete Murray, who chairs the waste management board, has expressed support for considering a ban on single-use bags. The authority has written a draft ordinance to be considered by city councils in Pinole, Hercules, El Cerrito, San Pablo and Richmond.

Murray has noted that in a cleanup of the Bay last year, the number of accumulated bags shocked him. Disposed bags degrade in the environment slowly, pose hazards to wildlife and can clog waterways, advocates of a ban have argued.

As proposed, the ordinance to be considered by the cities would ban the use of plastic bags at retail stores, set a mandatory charge of 5 to 25 cents to customers for paper bags and require that retailers provide reusable bags either for free or for sale.

In July the California Supreme Court ruled that the city of Manhattan Beach did not have to conduct a full environmental impact report prior to adopting a ban of single-use bags. The suit had been pursued by the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition.

RecycleMore has agreed to pay for a less costly environmental review for the West County cities at an estimated cost of $20,000.

The council meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Council Chambers, 2131 Pear St.