Ventura County could be next in line to ban single-use plastic bags.
The Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday took the first step toward that goal by considering a model draft ordinance that would ban single-use plastic carryout bags from retail stores in the region.
While supervisors did not make a decision Tuesday to approve the ban, they did vote 4-1, with Supervisor Peter Foy dissenting, to move forward with an environmental review of the ordinance that could also be used as a model for other coastal counties and cities.
Supervisors also on Tuesday voted 4-1, with Foy dissenting, to endorse spending $8,000 toward a jointly funded regional environmental impact report to review the plastic bag ban.
The $8,000 will come from the county Watershed Protection District's Storm Water Total Maximum Daily Loads Program, which monitors the amount of trash that ends up in the coastal waters.
The draft ordinance prohibits plastic carryout bags at any store that sells food or pharmacies. The ban does not include produce bags or product bags supplied by a store. Customers would be charged 10 cents for each recyclable paper carryout bag.
Restaurants, fast-food establishments and nonfood retail stores would be exempt.
The ordinance was referred to the supervisors by the Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment (BEACON), a multi-jurisdictional joint-powers agency composed of both Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, as well as the coastal cities of Goleta, Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Ventura, Oxnard and Port Hueneme.
BEACON is an agency responsible for protecting beaches and the coast, and the preservation, protection and enhancement of clean ocean waters.
Supervisors Steve Bennett and John Zaragoza brought the plastic bag ban to the rest of the supervisors at the request of the BEACON board, whose members believe the improper disposal of non-compostable plastic bags is a major component of pollution and is a detriment to wildlife and the environment.
"I appreciate that we're doing this with the coalition under BEACON. It's very appropriate," said Supervisor Kathy Long, who once served on the BEACON board.
Gerard Kapuscik, interim director of the Ventura County Watershed Protection District, said that participating in the regional environmental impact report effort will help the county meet state mandated requirements that allocate the amount of pollutants in water while still meeting water quality standards.
By participating in a joint environmental impact report, the county is expected to save about $65,000, the cost the county would have to pay if it pursued its own report on a plastic bag ban at a later date.
The joint report is expected to cost between $60,000 and $70,000.
Santa Barbara city and county already have approved supporting the regional report, and each contributed $8,000.
During the next month, BEACON will be asking the cities of Ventura, Oxnard, and Port Hueneme to also fund the joint regional report.
Several community-based organizations, such as the Orfalea Foundation, are also contributing toward the report.
BEACON staff will be overseeing the California Environment Quality Act review process.
"The important thing here is that we're sharing the cost, and all the cities are going to be able to use this CEQA document so they don't have to reinvent the wheel and pay a total of $70,000 or $80,000 that it would cost, Zaragoza said.
A statewide initiative to ban single-use plastic bags failed in 2010, though the Supreme Court last year did uphold the right of cities to ban plastic bags.
Los Angeles County approved a similar environmental impact report and ordinance banning single-use plastic bags, and Los Angeles in May became the largest city in the nation to ban plastic bags.
Carpinteria also approved a ban in March, and Ojai in April became the first city in Ventura County to ban single-use plastic bags.
Bennett said coastal communities have a great interest in banning plastic bags because they get into the watershed and end up in the ocean and river bottoms.
"You can go down to the Ventura River bottom now and see more plastic bags than you would ever want to see down there," Bennett said.
"This is the first for us to be able to do something. We're not passing an ordinance today but we're trying to get this important EIR work done so that all the coastal communities can look at it and make a decision," Bennett said.
Foy questioned whether the ordinance could waive costs for shoppers that will have to pay extra if they must buy bags to carry out a lot of groceries.
Ventura Councilman Brian Brennan, who also is the director of BEACON, said the supervisors would have the power to add language to address cost issues when the ordinance comes back for approval at a later time.
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Comments » 88
CountyResident writes:
More environmental silliness from the land of fruits, flakes and nuts.
chair#208777 writes:
"Restaurants, fast-food establishments and nonfood retail stores would be exempt."
Where are these supervisory brains? Do they ever drive around this county? Have they ever noticed the preponderance of restaurant bags (plastic and paper) on our roadsides? Grocery store bags, in comparison, are almost nonexistent along our roads. They've got this backwards!
cjr writes:
It costs $70,000 to $80,000 to do the study to ban plastic bags??????? What's to study? You have to study whether you want to ban plastic bags? Why????
I'm not a big fan of plastic bag bans as I reuse each bag I obtain from grocery shopping at least once more and sometimes more than that. A plastic grocery bag ban means that I will have to purchase plastic bags which to my mind is ridiculous when I can get them included in the price of groceries. Don't look for grocery prices to fall if such a ban is instituted unless you also firmly believe in the tooth fairy.
Bucklava writes:
Absurd, group think BS! I thought maybe Ventura County would be strong enough to stand for Freedom! OMG
millerp33#230421 writes:
So, plastic bags are banned and paper bags will cost 10 cents each...really? What is this country, well county, coming to?
archtmf writes:
Absolutely ridiculous. I use those bags as trash bags and to clean up after my dog. If they ban them, then that's a double tax since I'll be forced to buy store-bought bags to line my waste baskets and follow my dog with. And that will cost extra money plus sales tax for something the stores traditionally supply for free.
If this stupidity goes through, I will find a source of SINGLE USE PLASTIC BAGS online and buy them in bulk and I WILL USE THEM with impunity at my local stores as a way to say "F" YOU to the Board of Supervisors and all the jerks making life more complicated for all of us. I WILL NOT carry and use those disease-ridden cloth grocery bags.
Amazon writes:
I think reusable cloth bags are better and stronger than paper or plastic. It's just a matter of remembering to bring them when I go shopping!
Barney writes:
And remember to wash them as studies have shown the are bacteria boarding houses. Now we will use additional water, electricity and natural gas to clean reusable bags. Life would be better if we all had incinerators.
Amazon writes:
Those cloth bags are machine washable. However, I'm not sure if most people wash them.
But yeah, I agree that the plastic bags are great waste-basket liners. For dogs, I just use those poop bags at the park. I wonder if those will be banned too?
comment_tater writes:
These ordinances are ridiculous. What ever happened to personal responsibility? Why not cite and fine the people doing the littering and polluting? Rather than fining (taxing) the 99.5% of the rest of the public like myself that do not litter. I reuse plastic bags all the time... trash, carrying my recycles, my lunch, picking up after the dog, etc. There has to be a better alternative... like public education campaign for example.
What's next? Are we going to pre-fine the guys buying the Ferrari or Buggati? Because you know they're going to drive 120 mph the first chance they get. It's gonna happen. Is the pre-fine an incentive to drive slower? Someone please explain the logic of charging for plastic bags.
JimmyM writes:
If the majority of the people in a community supported plastic bag bans then you wouldn’t need a plastic bag ban. Because the majority of the people would already be using reusable bags. The very fact that this needs to be legislated is proof that the majority of people don’t want it.
bowyerfan writes:
This ban is lame! The "single-use plastic bags" get reused more than any other single-use item I can think of. Most people I know save and reuse them for many other purposes.
gauffrette writes:
I keep mine and donate them to the local thrift stores, so they don't have to buy bags.
focalmatic writes:
They do that at Ventura college as well.
JimmyM writes:
"The ordinance was referred to the supervisors by the Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment (BEACON)"
"BEACON staff will be overseeing the California Environment Quality Act review process."
Anybody want to bet on what the environmental impact report is going to recommend.
Just who is this BEACON and how much of our tax dollars do they get every year to come up ridiculous ideas like this?
T_Dub_126 writes:
Can you say...Nanny State?
eagles55 writes:
The State, Counties and Cities are broke, jobs are scarce, people are loosing their homes, and we are actually paying our Supervisors to deal with plastic bags? Isn't there a priority list on what is most important to the welfare of the county? Plastic bags would not be on my list.
ARealRealityCheck writes:
Leftist-liberal lie, mislead, propagandize to get their agenda across. And citizens it's time to rise up against this leftist-liberal tyranny. I specifically observe the landscape where ever I go in this county and I never see plastic bags. I sometime walk along the Santa Clara River -- never have I seen one single discarded plastic bag. Leftist-liberals will get a bunch of plastic bags, take them to naturalized areas, spread them around, then take photos and then present them to governmental bodies. Beach Erosion Authority for Clean Oceans and Nourishment (BEACON)is just another pathetic excuse of totalitarianism. What a crock.
spd1275 writes:
Bring back paper bags. OOPS! Save a tree. How STUPID. Each supervisor voting to spend ANYTHING on this study should be recalled.
disneykat2003#410143 writes:
I remember when the debate over switching from paper to plastic was a heated debate. The whole idea of going to plastic was to 'save a tree'! Now, they want to go back to paper but with the added expense of having to pay for them.
I am a disabled grandmother who lives on a 'fixed income' and if I am going to have to pay more at the grocery store is going to add to my bill. Yes, I can buy cloth reusable bags which would force me to buy more laundry soap and use more water to wash them. Um...6 of one and half dozen of the other. I don't know which is worse. What if I save the paper bags and reuse them until they fall apart? ( I would miss the handles) I use an electric scooter to get around and can hang 4 bags on my handlebars...not sure if I could carry even one paper bag.
DeRatt writes:
Great idea...I fully support it. Save the turtles. Already in full swing in Europe. Funny how people resist change, even if it's for the better. I am sure everyone will figure out a way to carry food out of a store in their most economical manner. Grow up old school.
ENVIROSCIGUY writes:
So again to all the regressives, what is you superior alternative to deal with the plastic pollution crisis? My students dissect an albatross bolus from Midway Island. One contained 94% non-natural items (such as plastic).
Plastic bags BLOW! http://www.storyofstuff.org/2012/01/2...
Lazlo_Toth writes:
so much fuss about so little. i've been using cloth and nylon bags for years now and its no big deal or hassle either. plastic bags are a big part of the trash hassle, and from what i've read even paper bags carry an environmental cost to manufacture even if recycled.
for all the yackity-yack about "nanny state", since when did some think it was ok to live in the "jerk state"? i mean, buy your own plastic bags on-line to show your proud defiance? oh please, you've just GOT to have better things to do with your time don't you?
anyone interested in changing to cloth bags should check out Trader Joes..they have a nice selection there at moderate cost, and on-line Chico bags has a great line of nylon bags that are compact to carry, but very functional load wise...here's a link:
http://www.chicobag.com
notsomuch writes:
ok-k-k-k-k, they're coming to take us away, they're coming to take us away heh, heh
stoked writes:
So when did we get so addicted to plastic? Why do you need something that will last hundreds of years to take home your groceries?
We stopped using the bags along with the individual produce bags years ago. With the packaging in today's products, we have never fallen short when it comes to popper scooper bags and the sort. As a matter of fact, we prefer packaging liners. The grocery bags are cheaply manufactured causing a greater threat of bacterial contamination when you use them for disgusting stuff that leaks out of the bottom.
As for added water use by laundering bags, get a life. The nylon bags are so small that they can be thrown into your regular wash load without adding any additional bulk. We also gave up paper towels for cloth years ago and have never increased our laundry loads.
We have become a very trashy society. We support fossil fuel for bags when we are so concerned with dwindling supplies for necessities. We support the manufacture of plastics in China that pollute our beaches, waterways and ecosystems for our convenience.
I don't need a straw that will survive my children's children, I don't need a 99 cent beach toy that will be left behind for the surf and sea life and I don't need a crappy plastic bag for the short trip home from the market.
GWAR writes:
Oxnard? You don't get out much, do you? That occurres everywhere, especially, Liberal populated areas.
Fay_Buddah writes:
IF they are so concerned why exempted anything at all? What about that red bullseye store or the blue happy face store? They sell food items so they are not exactly "nonfood retail" are they going to have to say ... sorry cant put the groceries in plastic everything else we can though
Chilibreath writes:
I'm sure most of you libs are happy over this proposal because "it's the right thing to do," but the downside is: $60K to $70K in tax payer money is going into someone's pocket, it will cost more to shop for food (think of the burden on low income people), and there will still be just as much litter in the streets because restaurants and fast food outlets can continue to use plastic bags. But again, libs will be able to say they did something to save the planet!
Oceaneagle writes:
The Star's writer is clearly unaware that Bennett and his assistant, Brian Brennan, both are on the "BEACON" board. The result is that the people of Ventura County have only limited representation there, or Bennett has two seats. Why didn't Bennett, Brennan, and Zaragosa reveal that all three are on that board? It is a form of corruption that must stop. http://www.beacon.ca.gov/board.htm
Snickers writes:
Doesn’t the County Supervisors have more pressing or priority County issues to work on, than a plastic bag ban ordinance??
How about balancing a County budget?
How about keeping County parks maintained and clean?
How about maintaining County roads?
Besides BEACON is just a group of right wing or left wing extremist, depending on what environmental cause they want to enforce down everyone’s throat!!
TK421 (Inactive) writes:
"Customers would be charged 10 cents for each recyclable paper carryout bag."
What does a plastic bag ban have to do with charging another ten cents a bag for paper? And who gets this money? Don't kid yourselves, this has nothing to do with the environment. So they eliminate one of your bag choices, and then charge you for the other! It's just another money grab by you know who.
Just like the $18 car tax they wanted to apply to keep the parks open? Only to find out later that were hiding $50+ million! Government at it's finest. So much being for the people?
2BR_BZT writes:
Excellent news. This is the kind of action that will signal and model to the next generations that today's consumers care about our
environment. And Tony, relax. We know how the clean and properly take care of our reusable shopping bags,
Amazon writes:
Oceaneagle, it says in the story Brennan is the director of the BEACON board.
billp writes:
Finally. I'm mumbling under my breath when the person in front of me is asked plastic or paper and they choose plastic. I'm thinking how stupid is this person or how arrogant are they not to care about the environment. Plastic is just bad news all the way around. Unfortunately the major grocery stores have substandard paper bags. Trader Joe's, Sprouts and Wholefoods have great paper bags with handles that can be reused. So, we bring those to the other stores.
Amazon writes:
I agree! And I still think a really good cloth bag is so much better than any plastic or paper bag. However, I can see it being somewhat of a pain if you buy a lot of groceries and have to bring a lot of them to the store.
areasonableguy writes:
the funny thing here is watching right-wingers howl about socialism. if the defense department had spent $100 million on a study and then wanted plastic bags banned, you'd probably be euphoric. if we don't fix the plastic bag problem, the terrorists win....blah blah blah
Poplicola writes:
If you stop at the market on the way home to pick up items for dinner, then what will you do?
Perhaps buy paper bags?
Do you remember why we switched from paper to plastic? Paper bags destroy the environment!
logicalone2#412493 writes:
OH PLEASE, MR. SUPERVISOR. CAN I HAVE SOME MORE REGULATION PLEASE? THANK YOU. COULD YOU SPEND SOME MORE $8,000'S PLEASE? THANK YOU. THAT'S VERY NICE.
richardnose writes:
I thought Ojai had the only group of ridiculously ambitious, amateur politicians out to make names for themselves...
Here are some of those names:
well, never mind.
These environmental-alarmist programs have no recognizable benefit to anyone... excepting paper bag manufacturers.
Here's a more useful proposition: deport illegal aliens!
2BRNOT2B writes:
"You can go down to the Ventura River bottom now and see more plastic bags than you would ever want to see down there," Bennett said.
Also if you go down to the river bottom you will see more bums than you will ever want to see. Eliminate the homeless living in the river bottom and you will eliminate the plastic bags littering the place.
Cy writes:
50% of reusable bags have e. coli and salmonella in them.
http://www.examiner.com/article/50-of...
smacktalk writes:
You couldn't afford it if it said " Made In America" I think the stores should provide them to their loyal customers. After all the ones you buy from them have their name on them.
Lets_Be_Truthful writes:
They should ban all fast food restaurants since they have a worse impact on the environment and our wallets.
TK421 (Inactive) writes:
Don't forget the other evils in this world, alcohol and cigarettes.. We should ban them too according the commissar's than seem to be running this country lately!
LLeighW83 writes:
I use plastic grocery bags for my bathroom/laundry trash bin liners...and to use to scoop out cat litter. Now I will have to buy plastic bag trash liners, which is still using plastic. How does this really save the environment? I think it's ridiculous. Stop trying to stop the inevitable...the earth will not be around for ever.
Amazon writes:
Because Leigh, it's not you who is the problem if you are reusing them. It's the people who don't use them again and throw them out. Take a visit to your local landfill. The landfill people admit that the empty bags are all over the place. The Simi landfill has catch fences just for these bags, but many still fly right over and you can see them on the freeway.
skeptical writes:
Funny how conservatives always come to the aid of "low income people" when it suits their needs.
kgeiger#392703 writes:
We need those plastic bags. We use 'em to line our small trash cans, saving money. Our neighbors use them to pick up dog waste (well, the ones who actually pick up their dogs' waste). They're indispensable as picnic trash bags and instant carry-alls. Any leftover bags we simply put in the recycling.
There's no problem here. The supervisors have bigger fish to fry like vagrants trashing the parks, the redevelopment funding fiasco, pension overruns, and bad roads. Please, let's focus on real problems.
BT3000 writes:
It's been proven time and time again that the claims made against plastic bags such as these are simply false... It's ironic that government officials are allowed to operate on made up facts that would not hold up in any court of law. They purposely ignore proven facts and the citizens are left holding the bag (in this case, a cloth bag covered in bacteria).
San Francisco banned the bags, primarily arguing that it would reduce the number of them that end up on city streets. At the time they accounted for a fraction of 1% of litter, and since the banning the percentage they account for has literally gone UP.
The majority of these bags are made here in California, which means more California jobs will be lost...
They are made from recycled plastic, which means there will be a reduction in the need for recycled materials.
Studies have shown unequivocally that the re-usable fabric bags are in fact likely to develop deadly bacteria if not washed regularly. Of course in the guise of protecting the environment it's been ruled this little tidbit of information is not legally required on the re-usable bags themselves.
In the end the only benefit to come out of a banning of plastic bags is political imagery. The politicians get to claim they did something good ('claim' being the operative word).
Cy writes:
Libs in CA make rules like the ones in the CA Leafy Greens Agreement that say a produce field is to be inspected before harvest and if it has bird droppings or feeding from animals it is not to be harvested. Seriously, after a grower spends $50,000-100,000 on a planting they are supposed to just disk it because there are some bird droppings. I have never seen a field that did not have bird droppings in it. And now that strichnyne has been taken off the market there are squirrels everywhere. Apparently the birds are supposed to fly around the fields and the mice and squirrels are supposed to move to the city. It's ridiculous.
The latest thing I heard from an inspector is that they are probably going to require that all fields are fenced off to keep out animals and also so that no terrorist can poison the produce in the field.
Common sense is dead.
The irony with all of the fear about e. coli is that 100% of shopping carts have e. coli in the basket. Maybe they will ban children from the supermarket next.
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