Advocates of ban on plastic bags hold out hope

With the deadline for legislative action now in the rearview lights of state lawmakers, the importance of passing a law that would outlaw the sale of single- use plastic bags has taken on renewed urgency.

Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (D- Santa Monica) is the sponsor of Assembly Bill 298, which was revised on Aug. 6. Proponents of banning plastic single use bags were hopeful that it would be include in a package of bills that would be heard in the Legislature.

As the Aug. 16 deadline passed for legislative action to be moved ahead by the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, several bills have been held in committee or scrapped for this year.

Proponents of eliminating single use plastic containers feel AB 298 still has a chance to make it to the Senate floor this year.

Kirsten James, the water quality director at environmental protection organization Heal the Bay, remains optimistic that Browley’s bill will be heard before the next deadline, which is Friday, Aug. 31.

“(AB 298) is taking an untraditional path (through the Appropriations Committee), so to speak,” James told the News by telephone from Sacramento. “We think there are different avenues that it can take (to get to the Senate floor).”

 One such avenue could be asking that the bill be heard in another appropriations hearing.

Culver City Councilwoman Meghan Sahli-Wells, an ardent supporter of a statewide ban on plastic, said she thought the political landscape had changed and the time has come for a state law on plastic.

“There’s more awareness now than there was two years ago,” said Sahli-Wells, who pushed Culver City to enact a plastic bag ban ordinance for two years prior to winning a seat on the city council this year. “What I’m learning (as a legislator) is you need political will but you also need active constituents.”

According to Heal the Bay, 7, 825, 319 plastic bags have been collected during International Coastal Cleanup events over the last 25 yearsPlastic bags can kill marine life that mistake them for food or become entangled in them, they say.

Advocates of AB 298 point to the number of cities that have taken action on their own since the vote two years ago in the Legislature.

There is evidence that cities across the state are taking steps to eliminate the non-biodegradable bags from their streets, rivers and alleys.  “With nearly  50 municipalities already having a bag ban ordinance in place in California and over 50 more in some stage of actively considering one, it’s time for the state legislature to do their job and create statewide legislation,” said Andy Shrader, a  former member of the Mar Vista Community Council.

  “It’s only fair to the grocery stores to have one law to follow instead of dozens.”

A previous attempt to ban plastic bags in 2010 failed. Proponents of that bill, Assembly Bill 1998, blamed last minute lobby by the American Chemical Council for the bill’s defeat.

 State Sen. Curren Price (D- Culver City) was one of 16 legislators who voted against the AB 1998.

“The reasons for my opposition had nothing to do with the intent of the legislation, but rather its unintended consequences on small businesses in my district, as well as its potential impact on seniors and the working poor,” Price explained to the News after his 2010 vote.

Culver City is not one of the cities that have passed its own ordinance barring the sale of single use plastic containers. Sahli-Wells said she had been in contact with City Atty. Carol Schwab’s office and there is a tentative date of Sept. 24 for the council to begin discussions on a possible ordinance.

But Sahli- Wells and her council colleagues are supporting AB 298 and recently sent a letter expressing their support to Sen. Christine Kehoe (D- San Diego) and chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations as well as to Price and Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell’s (D- Culver City).

“The city of Culver City prides itself on being environmental stewards, with our own successful refuse collection and recycling programs. Our community is home to a portion of La Ballona Creek, which is a storm water channel and tributary to Santa Monica Bay. Trash like plastic enters Ballona Creek, polluting water, which flows directly to the Pacific Ocean,” the council wrote.

“Culver City supports efforts to clean-up and improve the waterways that affect our community and supports reasonable and cost effective environmental programs and legislation to achieve these goals. For these reasons, Culver City is pleased to support AB 298.”

Opponents of banning plastic say such a bill would harm the economy. One conservative Sacramento critic used well-worn political jargon to voice his opposition to AB 298.

“The number one reason (to oppose AB 298), hands down, is that this is nanny-state government rearing its head once again,” Jon Fleischmann wrote in his influential blog Flashreport. “(Proponents) of course fail to mention that such a ban would be a job killer (30,000 people across the U.S. are employed by the plastic bag manufacturing and recycling industry, including thousands in California) and needlessly raise costs on consumers.”

The Coalition to Save the Plastic Bag, which sued unsuccessfully to halt Manhattan Beach’s ordinance banning plastic bags, also opposes Brownley’s bill.

James agrees that the political landscape appears to be different this year. “We have the support of the California Grocers Association and we’re really excited about that,” she said.

Constituents rallying to let their elected representatives know how they feel aboaut a ban on plastic may be the key to getting the bill to the Senate floor and getting it passed, James added.

“A statewide approach is the most consistent for businesses and consumers, and it’s important that constituents of Sen. Price and of other legislators tell them that they support this bill,” she said.

Brownley, who is seeking a congressional seat after being termed out of the Assembly, was not available for comment.

Mitchell’s office did not return calls at press time.