Tuesday, November 16, 2010

UPDATE LA COUNTY BANS PLASTIC BAGS

 According to the LAtimes blogs the LA County Board of Supervisors voted to ban plastic bags in unincorporated areas of the county.





But we have been using reusable bags at trader joes for years and although the insides of our bags have looked cleaner, we have never experienced any kind of health issues related to it. We  at Outdoors Los Angeles are particularly skeptical of these claims.

Apparently the plastic bag ban is sponsored by Heal the Bay and it would only affect unincorporated LA County. A similar measure that would have banned plastic grocery bags in all grocery stores in California died in the State Senate in August.

The LAtimes blog piece alludes to the potential for a legal challenge to the plastic bag ban by industry.

"Last week, the American Chemistry Council, one of the chief opponents of the ban,  warned L.A. County leaders that the proposed ordinance and fee on paper bags fall under the voting requirements of Proposition 26. The initiative, which passed this month, reclassifies most regulatory fees on industry as "taxes" requiring a two-thirds vote in government bodies or in public referendums, rather than a simple majority.

County Counsel Andrea Ordin said Tuesday that the 10-cent surcharge on paper bags is not a fee covered by Prop. 26 because the revenue is being kept by the grocers and not directed to a government agency."

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