San Diego’s proposed plastic bag reduction ordinance has made it through two Rules and Economic Means Committee meetings and several feedback sessions with stakeholders.
As currently drafted, the ordinance will ban single-use plastic bags in stores selling grocery items and mandate a 10-cent fee on paper bags. For now, retail is exempt from the ban, and no reporting is necessary by impacted stores.
Coastkeeper would like to see the retail exclusion removed from the ordinance and a reporting requirement added so that stores are held accountable. We teamed with Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Chapter to ask for these improvements to the ordinance’s drafters and elected officials, who ultimately decide its fate.
The ban won’t head to a vote by the full city council for up to a year, pending an environmental review, which gives Coastkeeper time to work with our partners to strengthen the draft and support the development of complementary ordinances in surrounding cities.
