Marin County Poised To Approve Plastic Bag Ban
SAN RAFAEL (KCBS) - Marin County was poised to become the next Bay Area jurisdiction to ban plastic bags. The proposed ordinance would also impose a service charge on the use of each paper bag.
KCBS' Bob Melrose Reports:
No vote was to be taken, and a public hearing was likely to happen next week. Still, after a year of waiting for a statewide law to be approved by the legislature, Marin County Supervisors planned to introduce their own plastic bag ban proposal Tuesday.
"If you need a bag, you would be charged 5-cents or you'd be offered the opportunity to purchase a reusable bag for your groceries," explained Supervisor Susan Adams, co-author of the local measure. "And if you are a low-income person using WIC or food stamps, that can be waived."
Adams was confident that businesses and consumers alike would support the measure.
"We have a number of our grocers on board. In fact, one of our local small grocers, United Market, incorporated this already and they have already noticed a significant change in the number of people that are bringing in their own canvas or reusable bags now."
The measure would be enforced by county officials, though warnings would be given before any citations were issued.
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