SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- The Santa Cruz City Council approved a ban on single-use carryout plastic bags Tuesday night, following in the footsteps of other Central Coast jurisdictions.
Earlier this year, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors passed a carryout plastic bag ban and it is now in effect. In Watsonville, customers won't be able to find similar plastic bags in establishments like grocery stores starting in September. The Capitola City Council will bring up its own version of the ban later this week, and Scotts Valley continues to evaluate its options.
"I think the whole state of California, the whole nation should actually go to a plastic bag ban," said Aptos resident Danielle White, who was shopping in the Capitola area Tuesday.
But Stephen Joseph, counsel for the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition, takes issue with some of the proposals.
"We will sue the city of Santa Cruz if it passes this ordinance without first preparing an environmental impact report," said Joseph.
City officials signed off on a negative declaration, which states that the project will not have a significant impact on the environment. An environmental impact report, or EIR, goes into greater detail, and is only prepared when it is likely that "significant effects may occur," according to California Environmental Quality Act regulations.
The city's ordinance bans single-use carryout plastic bags in retail establishments and puts a ten cent fee on paper ones. The fee would be evaluated each year. The ordinance does not apply to restaurants or plastic bags inside a store, like those used for produce or bulk items.
Joseph argued that the Santa Cruz city ordinance fails to adequately address the impact on tourists, who he argued would likely buy paper bags and "overwhelm the city with paper." He said paper bags are "much worse" for the environment than plastic ones.
Scott Collins, assistant to the city manager for the city of Santa Cruz, said the city is confident it is on solid legal ground. He said the current ordinance is modeled on plastic bag bans already in effect in other areas like the county.
Joseph said the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition initially sued Santa Cruz County, but the suit was resolved after the county increased the paper bag fee to 25 cents and exempted restaurants.
The city's primary motivation is protecting the environment, and it hopes to limit the use of all single-use bags -- paper and plastic. Representatives with Save Our Shores, the nonprofit group that has spent countless hours cleaning up local beaches, said plastic bag bans in all cities around the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary are critically needed.
"We've picked up over 37,000 plastic bags within the last five years, so that's just Santa Cruz, Monterey and some of San Mateo," said Lauren Dockendorf, advocacy coordinator for Save Our Shores. "We even have a picture, a local took a picture of a baby sea otter caught in a plastic bag."
Dockendorf added that the city's ordinance mandates paper bags must contain at least 40 percent recycled content, meaning it would have fewer negative impacts on the environment than brand new paper bags.
Some shoppers in Capitola Tuesday agreed a ban was a good idea, but took issue with parts of the proposals.
"I do feel that the companies involved should be giving you a free bag of some sort, whether it's paper or whatever," said Capitola resident Kenneth Buckley.
"I think it's a great idea when I remember to bring my reusable bags," said shopper Judy Yercich. "If I don't bring them with me, then I have to leave carrying a bunch of small items. I find that's really inconvenient."
The city council is expected to hold a final vote on July 24. If approved, officials with the city said it would take effect in nine months.
