Salem Weighs Plastic Bag Ban

From The City of Salem: At the August 27 City Council meeting, the Salem City Council voted to hold a public hearing on September 10, at 6 p.m. on an ordinance to reduce single-use plastic bags. Residents are welcome to provide comments during the meeting, or to submit their testimony in writing by emailing cityrecorder@cityofsalem.net.

Residents who aren’t able to attend the meeting in person can watch the meeting live online on the City of Salem’s Facebook Page (facebook.com/CityofSalemOR), or on the Capital Community Television YouTube Channel (youtube.com/user/cctvsalem). The meeting will also be broadcast on cable channel 21.

What is Being Proposed?

Retailers would be prohibited from providing plastic bags at checkout. Most retailers would be required to charge at least five cents per recyclable paper bag and note the charge on the transaction receipt.

Retailers with 10 or fewer full-time-equivalent employees may charge for provided paper bags but are not required to do so. If they do charge for paper bags, they are exempt from the requirement to note the pass-through cost on receipts.

Retailers would not be required to charge this fee if the customer is low-income and receives government assistance in the form of WIC, or receives benefits as part of the SNAP program, such as Oregon Trail cards.

Retailers will be encouraged to promote the use of recyclable and reusable bags.

The new rule would not affect bags for:

• Bulk items such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains, candy, or small hardware items;
• Wrapping flowers, potted plants, or other items where dampness is a problem;
• Pharmacy prescriptions;
• Laundry dry-cleaning, or bags sold in packages containing multiple bags intended to be used for home food storage, garbage waste, pet waste, or yard waste; and
• Prepared take-out foods, produce, and meats.

Timeline

• Council voted to hold a public hearing on September 10. After the hearing, Council may choose to hold a final vote at a later date.
• If the ordinance is ultimately approved, a phased implementation would be proposed with larger retailers complying by April 1, 2019 and all other retail establishments by September 1, 2019.
• Click this link to read the complete staff report and ordinance.

Background and Purpose

May 14, 2018 — City Council meeting, staff was directed to research and prepare an ordinance to prohibit single-use plastic bags for carryout purchases.

• Nine cities in Oregon already have similar ordinances in place:
  • Ashland (since 2014)
  • Corvallis (since 2013)
  • Eugene (since 2013)
  • Forest Grove (since 2016)
  • Hood River (since 2017)
  • Manzanita (since 2017)
  • McMinnville (since 2017)
  • Milwaukie (since 2018)
  • Portland (since 2011)
    • Fairview, Troutdale, and Wood Village are also considering a plastic bag ban.
• The goal of the rule is to protect the environment, animal and human health, and to reduce litter.

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