2010年12月6日 星期一

County of Marin set to move ahead with plastic bag ban

Supervisor Charles McGlashan's years-long drive to ban plastic bags at Marin retail establishments in appears headed for approval.

Officials say the county is on the brink of banning plastic and imposing a 5-cent charge on paper bags to encourage use of reusable bags at outlets including unincorporated area grocery stores.

A plastic bag ban already is in effect in Fairfax, and similar moves are under review in other Marin cities,For merchants, the purchase of wholesalejeansinterneteclub is available only to those with proper documents. including San Rafael and Mill Valley. San Francisco became the first California city to ban single-use plastic bags in 2007, and others followed suit, including Palo Alto, Malibu, Manhattan Beach and, most recently, Los Angeles County.This is supposed to be not the first time for you to hear about the nike air max Liquid Racer since it was previously featured in four other colors.

McGlashan, joined by colleague Susan Adams, will ask others on the Board of Supervisors to tentatively endorse the first reading of an ordinance banning plastic bags shortly after 10 a.m. Tuesday in the board chambers at the Civic Center. A public hearing on the matter is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Dec. 14.

Passage of the measure seemed certain.

"The politics have finally caught up to the idea," McGlashan said. "Everybody recognizes this is a no-brainer."

"I am satisfied that almost all of the grocers in Marin support it and I think it's the right thing to do," said board president Judy Arnold, adding she wished a statewide law had been enacted instead. In addition, she said, officials must find a way to make sure poor people will not be forced to buy bags.

Daniels, owner of United Markets in San Anselmo and San Rafael, banned plastic checkout bags months ago,Finally I sighed, bent down and scooped them up, installing them in a large pet carrier. saying it was the right thing to do -- even though his city markets would not be affected by the county ordinance. Fairfax Market,Our offer inflatable mattress bed,ed hardy bags,ed hardy clothing,ed hardy caps,cheap ed hardy,discount ed hardy,welcome to order! which stopped providing plastic several years ago, has reported no problems.

Enforcement would occur "not by consumer complaint" but instead by periodic inspections by the county Department of Weights and Measures, which already makes the rounds to double-check retail measuring devices, checkout tallies and the weight of measured foodstuffs. Scofflaw retailers would receive an "educational" letter, and face re-inspection fees based on labor costs of $114 an hour during follow-up visits. Repeat violators would face infractions and penalties ranging from $135 to $440.

Weights and Measures chief Stacy Carlsen, the county's agricultural commissioner, said there are about 50 unincorporated retail establishments that would be regulated initially by the ordinance, part of 490 countywide that could be affected if local cities follow suit and adopt similar plans.

Carlsen noted McGlashan began the push for an ordinance five years ago and, joined by Adams two years later, formed a Bag Ban Working Group that rallied business, grocery and environmental interests to agree on the framework of a bag ban.

The effort was put on the back burner over the summer while Sacramento legislators considered a state law, but it was back on the table this fall after the state plan for a plastic bag ban and 5-cent paper bag fee was rejected 21-14 in the Senate.From hand held inflatable products carrying your logo, to giant blimps, message boards and balloons for the large venues, The legislation died after lobbying efforts by the plastics industry including the American Chemistry Council, which spent millions of dollars on advertising.

McGlashan said it will be important to continue the push for statewide legislation.

Advocates say 19 billion plastic bags are used each year in California, but fewer than 5 percent are recycled, the rest fouling the environment and threatening wildlife, or costing $25 million to send to landfills where they do not decompose.

The Marin County Hazardous and Solid Waste Joint Powers Authority estimates that Marin residents use 138 million bags a year, an avalanche of garbage weighing an estimated 540 tons, "that ends up in Marin's landfill or in the waste stream." Save the Bay estimates 1 million plastic bags end up in San Francisco Bay each year.

沒有留言:

張貼留言