ORD 2012-06 PLASTIC BAG BANORDINANCE NO. 2012-06
AN ORDINANCE of the City of Bainbridge Island, Washington, regulating the
distribution of single-use plastic and biodegradable carryout bags and requiring
retail establishments to collect apass-through charge from customers requesting
recyclable paper carryout bags and amending Chapter 13.28 of the Bainbridge
Island Municipal Code to add a new Section 13.28.200.
WHEREAS, the Washington State Legislature in RCW 70.95.010(8)(a) established
waste reduction as the first priority for the collection, handling, and management of solid waste;
and
WHEREAS, the Washington State Legislature in RCW 70.95.010(4) found that it is
"necessary to change .manufacturing and purchasing practices and waste generation behaviors to
reduce the amount of waste that becomes a governmental responsibility"; and
WHEREAS, the Washington State Legislature in RCW 70.95.010(6)(c) found that it is
the responsibility of city and county governments to "assume primary responsibility for solid
waste management and to develop and implement aggressive and effective waste reduction and
source separation strategies;
WHEREAS, the production, use and disposal of plastic carryout bags have significant
adverse impacts on the environment; and
WHEREAS, it is the City's desire to conserve resources, reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, waste, litter and marine litter and pollution and to protect the- public health and
welfare; and
WHEREAS, there is a need to conserve energy and natural resources and control litter,
and less reliance on single-use carryout bags provided by retail establishments works toward
those goals; and
WHEREAS, plastic carryout bags are made of nonrenewable resources and plastic never
biodegrades and only breaks down into smaller and smaller particles which seep into soils or are
carried into rivers and lakes, Puget Sound and the world's oceans posing a threat to animal life
and the natural food chain; and
WHEREAS, even though single-use paper carryout bags are made from renewable
resources and are less of a litter and particularly marine litter problem than single-use plastic
carryout bags, they nevertheless require significant resources to manufacture, transport and
recycle or dispose of; and
WHEREAS, to prevent waste generation it is in the City's interest to discourage the use
of single-use, throw-away items of all types which can be accomplished through price signals;
and
1
WHEREAS, to reduce the use of plastic and paper carryout bags in the City, it is
necessaiy. to regulate such use; and
WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of the people of the
City that regulations rewire apass-through charge on the use of recyclable paper carryout bags
in order to encourage greater use of reusable bags, to reduce the cost of solid waste disposal by
the City, and to protect the environment;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAINBRIDGE
ISLAM), WASHINGTON, DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Anew Section 13.28.200 of the Bainbridge Island Municipal Code is hereby added to
read as follows:
13.28.200 Single-use plastic •and recyclable paper carryout bags
A. No retail establishment in the City shall provide asingle-use plastic
carryout bag to any customer.
B, 1~Tn retail e~tahligl~ment shall provide a paper eaiiyout bag Witti a
manufacturer's stated capacity of one-eighth barrel (882 cubic inches) or larger
that i_s not a _recycl~bl_e paper bag, and retail establishments shall collect apass-
through charge of not less than five cents for each recyclable paper carryout bag
provided to customers. It shall be a violation of this section for any retail
establishment to pay or otherwise reimburse a customer for any portion of the
pass-through charge; provided that retail establishments may not collect apass-
through charge from anyone with a voucher or electronic benefits card issued
under the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) or Temporary Assistance to Needy
Families (TANF) support programs, or the federal Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as Basic Food), or the Washington State
Food Assistance Program (FAP).
C. All retail establishments shall indicate on the customer transaction receipt
the number of recyclable paper carryout bags provided and the total amount of the
pass-through charge.
D. All retail establishments shall comply with the requirements of this section
by November 1, 2012.
E. For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
1. "Carryout bag" means a bag that is provided by a retail
establishment at the check stand, cash register, point of sale or other point of
departure to a customer for the purpose of transporting food or merchandise out of
the establishment. Carryout bags do not include: (a) bags. used- by customers
2
inside stores to package bulls items such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains, candy,
greeting cards, or small hardware items, such as nails and bolts, or to contain or
wrap frozen foods, meat or fish, whether prepackaged or not, or to contain or
wrap flowers or potted plants, or other items where dampness may be a problem,
or to contain unwrapped prepared foods or bakery goods, or to contain
prescription drugs, or to safeguard public health and safety during the
transportation of prepared take-out foods and prepared liquids intended for
consumption away from the retail establishment; or (b) newspaper bags, door-
hanger bags, laundry-dry cleaning bags, or bags sold in packages containing
multiple bags intended for use as garbage, pet waste, or yard waste bags.
2. "Pass-through charge" means a charge to be collected by retailers
from their customers when providing recyclable paper bags, and retained by
retailers to offset the ,cost of bags and other costs related to the pass-through
charge.
3. "Recyclable paper bag" means a carryout bag that has a
manufacturer's stated capacity of one-eighth barrel (882 cubic inches) or larger
and meets the following requirements: (a) contains a minimum of 40 percent
post-consumer recycled materials, and (b) displays the minimum percent of post-
consumer content on the outside of the bag.
4. "Retail. establishment" means any person, corporation, partnership,
business venture, public sports or entertainment facilities, government agency,
street vendor or vendor at public events or festivals or organizations that sell or
provide merchandise, goods or materials including, without limitation, clothing,
food, beverages, household goods, or personal items of any kind directly to a
customer. Examples include but are not limited to department stores, clothing
stores, jewelry stores, grocery stores, pharmacies, home improvement stores,
liquor stores, convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, food vending trucks,
farmers markets and temporary vendors of food and merchandise at street fairs
and festivals. Food banks and other food assistance programs are not considered
to be retail establishments for the purposes of this section.
5. "Single-use plastic carryout bag" means any carryout bag made
from plastic or any material marketed or labeled as "biodegradable" or
"compostable" that is neither intended nor suitable for continuous reuse as a
carryout bag or that is less than 2.25 mils thick.
F. The violation of or failure to comply with this section is designated as a
Class 1 civil infraction and shall be processed as contemplated by RCW Chapter
7.80.120.
Section 2. It shall be a violation of this ordinance foi° any retail establishment to
penalize, discipline, or discriminate against any employee for performing any duty
necessary to comply with the ordinance.
3
Section 3. If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance should be held to be
invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or
unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity of any other section, sentence, clause, or phrase of
this ordinance.
Section 4. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force five (5) days ti-om its passage,
approval, and publication as required by law.
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL this 11''' day of April, 2012.
APPROVED BY THE MAYOR this 1 lt~' day of Ap~0~T~.
~ ,.
Debbi Lester, Mayor.
A ~hTE.ST/~4 T,JTHENTIC' A'TE;
Rosalind D. Lassoff, City Clerk
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: March 5, 2012
PASSF_,D BY THE CITY COUNCIL: March 11, 2012
PUBLISHED: March 13, 2012
EFFECTIVE DATE: March 18, 2012
ORDINANCE NUMBER: 2012-06
4