A ballot measure seeking to block the state’s plastic bag ban qualified for the ballot Tuesday, delaying the scheduled July 1 launch of the law until voters have their say.
Even if voters uphold the ban, the delay to November 2016 would allow as many as 9 billion additional plastic bags to be sold.
The ban, approved by the Legislature in August, has been touted by environmentalists as a major step toward reducing coastal litter and eliminating a key man-made threat to marine life.
But bag manufacturers, who spent $3.2 million to gather more than 500,000 signatures to qualify the referendum, argue that the bags’ impact on the environment is overstated and that the ban was not motivated by environmentalists.
“It was a backroom deal between the California Grocers Association and their union friends to scam consumers out of … bag fees, all under the guise of environmentalism,” said Lee Califf, executive director of the American Progressive Bag Alliance. “California voters will now have the chance to vote down a terrible law.”
Nonetheless, it’s a coalition of 32 environmental groups – including the Sierra Club, the Surfrider Foundation, the California League of Conservation Voters and Heal the Bay – that takes credit for ban efforts. The California Grocers Association says its support is simply the result of a desire to have a uniform bag law throughout the state.
“It’s disturbing to think that the plastics companies can swoop in and undo a major statewide victory for our coasts,” said Angela Howe, legal director of the San Clemente-based Surfrider Foundation. “But rest assured that Surfrider and our coalition partners will continue to fight for this ground-breaking environmental law to come to fruition in California.”
The statewide ban, similar to local measures that cover more than a third of the state’s population, would halt the distribution of single-use plastic bags at grocery and convenience stores. Paper bags would be sold for 10 cents, or customers could use their own sacks.
The coalition backing the ban, dubbed California vs. Big Plastic, announced Tuesday that it had resumed efforts to win bans by local governments, with San Diego, Sacramento, Santa Barbara and Oceanside the next targets. Additional bans would further reduce the number of plastic bags used, but environmentalists also say more bans help build support for their cause.
A USC Dornsife poll in October showed that 59 percent of voters favored a statewide ban, and the number jumped to 69 percent among those who lived in cities that already had a ban.
But ban opponents say support will shrink as they educate voters.
The ban “is a de facto multimillion dollar tax on California’s small businesses and shoppers,” said John Kabateck, state executive director for the National Federation of Independent Business. “Voters should be thrilled to have the opportunity to reverse it.”
Ban opponents also say the law is a job killer, while environmentalists point out that most plastic sacks are manufactured out of state – and that 98 percent of the $3.2 million to gather referendum signatures came from out-of-state bag makers and their chemical suppliers.
“The plastic bag industry has bought its way onto the California ballot to protect its profits,” said Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste.
Among Orange County’s 34 cities, there are plastic bag bans in Dana Point, Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach – although Huntington Beach is considering a repeal of its law.
Contact the writer: mwisckol@ocregister.com
