1444 9th Street ph Santa Monica CA fax

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1 April 30, 2010 Ms. Josephine Miller, Environmental Analyst City of Santa Monica, Office of Sustainability & the Environment 200 Santa Monica Pier, Suite D Santa Monica, CA Sent via RE: Comments on Santa Monica Single-Use Bag Ordinance Initial Study Dear Ms. Miller: On behalf of Heal the Bay and our 13,000 members, we thank you for giving us the opportunity to provide written comments on the City of Santa Monica s study ( Initial Study ) for an Environmental Impact Review ( EIR ) on the proposed ordinance addressing single-use bags. As described in detail in our January 11, 2009 letter, we fully support the steps that the City of Santa Monica has taken to draft an ordinance banning the use of plastic single-use bags. A ban on plastic bags and allowing for a fee to be charged on single-use paper bags will be a major step in reducing the blight and environmental impacts that single-use bags create. Heal the Bay believes that the proposed ordinance will not result in negative environmental impacts, as it will actually lead to an increase in the use of reusable bags that are a more sustainable alternative to single-use bags. Thus, we do not believe an EIR is necessary for this proposed ordinance. However, we understand that the City is pursuing an EIR as a result of a lower court ruling in Save the Plastic Bag vs. City of Manhattan Beach (2009). Please note that as of the date of this letter, the defendant s appeal was granted review by the California State Supreme Court. 1 I. Environmental Checklist Solid Waste Impacts & Aesthetics Impacts The proposed Single-Use Carryout Bag Ordinance is intended to reduce the use of plastic and paper single-use bags and to promote a shift in the use of reusable bags by Santa Monica retail customers. We believe that the potential negative environmental impact of reusable bags, as discussed in Sections IV and XXII, would be negligible. All of the significant environmental impacts of the proposed ordinance are beneficial. Reusable bags are a durable product. They are designed to be used hundreds of times over their lifetime and many are recyclable or made from 1 Save the Plastic Bag Coalition vs. City of Manhattan Beach. Cal. Supreme Court, case number S

2 recycled materials. Heal the Bay does not find reusable bags during beach and inland creek cleanups. On the contrary, plastic single-use bags are ubiquitous and are one of the top five items we find during cleanups. Due to their weight reusable bags, unlike other single-use bags, are less likely to be blown from a landfill or trash receptacles and thus less likely to become litter. 2 Water Quality/Hydrology Impacts We do not agree that the proposed Ordinance would have potentially significant impacts in the realm of hydrology and water quality. As discussed in the Initial Study, due to the nature of the proposed ordinance, the reduction of single-use plastic and paper carryout bags would incrementally reduce the amount of litter in the City that enters storm drains, thereby improving water quality. Since reusable bags are a durable product, they are not likely to become litter and end up in our storm drain systems. Again, we do not find reusable bags in our beach cleanups. Thus they have negligible impacts on water quality and hydrology. Therefore a complete environmental analysis on water quality/hydrology is not necessary. Sensitive Species Impacts We disagree that there may be potentially significant impact on any species identified as a candidate, sensitive, or special status species. In fact, a single-use bag reduction policy will ultimately benefit the flora and fauna in Santa Monica and beyond. There are special status marine species that reside in the Los Angeles County coastal areas such as the Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas, Federally Threatened), Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea, Federally Endangered), Short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus, Federally Endangered) Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus, Federally Endangered), Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae, Federally Endangered), Snowy plover, and California Least Tern. 3 Discarded plastic single-use bags travel long distances via wind or through our storm drains and urban waterways and know no boundaries. Plastic single-use bags are most likely to enter the stormdrain system and end up in the ocean as marine debris, increasing the likelihood that wildlife will be harmed through either ingestion or entanglement. 4, 5,6 One recent report found more than 50 gallons of marine debris, including 20 plastic bags, in the stomach of a dead gray whale that had stranded on 2 Green Cities California (March 2010) Master Environmental Impact Assessment on Single-Use and Reusable Bags p California Department of Fish And Game, Biogeographic Data Branch. California Natural Diversity Database State & Federally Listed Endangered & Threatened Animals of California, October Available at: (accessed 18 Dec 09). 4 N. Wallace. Debris entanglement in the marine environment: A review (1985) pp in: R.S. Shomura and H.O. Yoshida (eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop on the Fate and Impact of Marine Debris, U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum. NMFS, NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFC-5. 5 D.W. Laist (1997) Impacts of marine debris: entanglement of marine life in marine debris including a comprehensive list of species with entanglement and ingestion records In Coe, J.M., Rogers, D.B. (Eds.), Marine Debris Sources, Impacts, and Solutions: Springer-Verlag, New York, Mrosovsky, N et.al Leatherback Turtles: The Menace of Plastic. Marine Pollution Bulletin 58 (2009):

3 the Pacific coast. 7 Again, reusable bags are a durable product and do not result in added litter that could impact these sensitive biological resources. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Traffic Impacts The Initial Study states that the ordinance may increase traffic conditions in the city and increase greenhouse gas emissions, based on the assumption that more reusable bags will be transported and distributed. After the ordinance is passed the distribution of single-use plastic bags will halt, so the overall emissions due to delivery traffic in Santa Monica should see a net decrease. Also after the ordinance goes into effect, consumers will begin to bring their previously acquired reusable bags to the store so the demand for new reusable bags will decrease over time. In addition, the City intends to distribute 25,000 reusable bags to residents before the ordinance goes into effect. Some of these bags are already being manufactured locally thereby reducing the distances trucks would travel to distribute these bags to stores. 8 Reusable bag have substantially lower impacts than other single-use bags and can result in less ground level ozone formation, water use and greenhouse gas emissions. 9 For these many reasons, we believe that traffic and emission impacts will be minimal and will see a need decrease in impact. Economic and Social Benefits We agree with the findings in the Initial Study that the ordinance will not have a negative economic or social impact on the residents of Santa Monica. As previously mentioned, the City of Santa Monica intends to distribute 25,000 reusable bags to residents before the ordinance takes effect. A single-use bag reduction policy will also increase the demand for reusable bags and will create local green jobs through partnerships such as Green Vets LA, which employs veterans to sew reusable bags made from scrap materials. 10 There are also twenty other reusable bag manufacturers based in California. 11 A single-use bag reduction policy will also reduce overall cleanup costs and could redirect tax dollars to other much needed services. California currently spends $25 million to collect, landfill and dispose of plastic bags. 12 The City of San Francisco estimated that to clean up, recycle, and landfill plastic bags costs the city 17 cents per bag. This figure does not include all of the energy costs associated with producing single-use bags, or the negative environmental, economic, and public health costs associated with single-use bag litter Garbage Found in Stomach of Dead Gray Whale in West Seattle Beach Seattle Times (April 20, 2010); Cascadia Research Collective ( 8 GreenVets LA, a Los Angeles-based sewing company that partners with Veterans Memorial Hospital, has supplied the City of Santa Monica with reusable bags made from scrap materials sewn by veterans. 9 Green Cities California (March 2010). Master Environmental Impact Assessment on Single-Use and Reusable Bags. 10 Veterans Heal through Sewing. Santa Monica Daily Press (Oct. 26, 2009) ; GreenVets LA ( 11 Data obtained March-April 2010 by ChicoBag and Heal the Bay. 12 CalRecycle, formerly the California Integrated Waste Management Board (Retrieved 12/31/08). 13 City of San Francisco Department of the Environment, Bag Cost Analysis, November 18, (Retrieved 1/5/09). 3

4 II. Additional Considerations Paper Bag Fee As discussed the City proposes to charge a Green Fee on single-use paper bags intended to deter consumers away from these bags and toward reusable bags. There are many examples throughout the world supporting the effectiveness of point of sale fees, most notably in Ireland, where a levy (PlasTax) was charged on plastic bags and resulted in drop in plastic bag use and litter by over 90%. 14 In July 2007, the Irish government raised the PlasTax rate from 15 to 22 euro cents (equivalent to 33 U.S. cents) after noticing a slight increase in the use of plastic bags in In addition, industry and consumers have adapted to the new law and reusable shopping bags have largely replaced disposable plastic bags in grocery stores. 16 One study found that when a range of fees were compared, a fee of $0.25 showed greater environmental benefit (i.e., a reduction in litter, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions) compared to lower levies, a voluntary levy, or retailers voluntary reusable bag promotion efforts. 17 Another study found that when a ban on plastic bags is implemented without a fee or other instrument to regulate paper, it would result in a 40% shift in the use of paper. 18 But when a fee was either equally applied to both plastic and paper or used in conjunction with a ban on plastic, similar to what is being proposed in this ordinance, the resulting behavior shift favored reusable bags over all other types of bags. 19 As you know, the City of Santa Monica also completed a Nexus Study in January This study explored a green fee for paper bags and found that a $0.20 fee would be appropriate for the City based on an estimated 50% reduction in paper bags. These case studies and the Nexus Study should be considered as the City moves forward with its CEQA analysis. Environmental Impacts of Paper Bags Although paper bags pose less risk to the aquatic environment because of their biodegradability and are less likely to become litter because of their weight and recyclability, the manufacturing of virgin paper emits greenhouse gases and uses toxic substances in pulping process, which include caustic sodas, sodium hydroxide, sodium sulfide, and chlorine compounds (Green Cities 14 Ireland Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government. Available at 15 Irish Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government. Plastic Bags Levy to be increased to 22c from 1 July 07. Available at: 16 Sean O Suilleabhain, Ireland Department of Environment, Heritage & Local Government. Letter to M. Jacques Lalonde. Effects of the Plastic Bag Levy in Ireland (10/31/08). 17 Australia Dept. of Environment & Heritage (Dec 2002). Plastic Shopping bags - Analysis of Levies and Environmental Impacts. Melbourne, Australia. Prepared by Nolan-ITU Pty Ltd, Victoria, Australia , Table City of Seattle Public Utilities (Jan 2008) Alternatives to Disposable Shopping Bags and Food Service Items, Prepared by Herrera Environmental Consultants, Inc., Table Ibid. 4

5 California, MEA 2010, p. 18). 20 It is our understanding that the proposed ordinance will allow retailers to charge a Green Fee on recyclable paper bags made of a minimum of 40% postconsumer recycled content that contain less virgin fiber. Therefore, these types of paper bags consume less material and would have fewer environmental impacts than conventional paper bags. This added environmental benefit of the proposed ordinance should also be considered when evaluating for environmental impacts. Summary ***** Although we do not see the need for an EIR for this proposed ordinance, we understand why the City feels compelled to move forward with this analysis. At a minimum we suggest that the City reexamine the need to analyze water quality and biological impacts further, as we disagree with the Initial Study assessment that significant impacts could occur. We urge the City to move forward as quickly as possible in completing the EIR. The urgency for local government to take action has never been greater. The ordinance process has already taken far too long. Every day that passes without an ordinance results in more harmful plastic bag litter in the Pacific Ocean. Santa Monica s proposed ordinance will be a significant step towards advancing the city s sustainability goals. Sincerely, Mark Gold, D. Env. President Kirsten James Water Quality Director 20 Ibid., p