IMC TO ADD TO THE SCHEDULE OF INFRACTIONS; AUTHORIZING THE ADMINISTRATION TO CONDUCT A REUSABLE BAG DISTRIBUTION AND

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1 ORDINANCE NO AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ISSAQUAH, WASHINGTON, REGULATING THE DISTRIBUTION OF RETAIL CARYOUT BAGS, REQUIRING RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS TO COLLECT A PASS-THROUGH CHARGE FROM CUSTOMERS REQUESTING RECYCLABLE PAPER CARYOUT BAGS, AND ADOPTING A NEW CHAPTER IN THE ISSAQUAH MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER RETAIL CARYOUT BAGS; AMENDING SECTION IMC TO ADD TO THE SCHEDULE OF INFRACTIONS; AUTHORIZING THE ADMINISTRATION TO CONDUCT A REUSABLE BAG DISTRIBUTION AND PUBLIC EDUCATION EFFORT; PROVIDING FOR SEVERAILITY; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, the Washington State Legislatue in RCW (8)(a) established waste reduction as the first priority for the collection, handling, and management of solid waste; and WHEREAS, the Washington State Legislature in RCW (4) found that it is "necessar to change manufactung and purchasing practices and waste generation behaviors to reduce the amount of waste that becomes a governental responsibility"; and WHEREAS, the Washington State Legislatue in RCW (6)(c) found that it is the responsibility of city and county governents "to assume primar responsibility for solid waste management and to develop and implement aggressive and effective waste reduction and source separation strategies"; and WHEREAS, it is the City's desire to conserve and protect resources, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, waste, litter and marine litter and pollution and to protect public health and welfare; and WHEREAS, less reliance on caryout bags provided by retail establishments works toward those goals; and WHEREAS, the post consumer environmental effects of plastic caryout bags are detrimental to marne life, wildlife and public health; and WHEREAS, plastic carout bags are made from nonrenewable resources and do not biodegrade, but only break down into smaller and smaller paricles which seep into soils or are cared into rivers and lakes, Puget Sound and the world's oceans, posing threats to animal life and the natual food chain; and Page 1 of6

2 WHEREAS, paper carrout bags are made from renewable resources and do not pose the same litter and, in paricular, marne litter problems as plastic carrout bags, but nevertheless require significant resources to manufacture, transport and recycle or dispose; and WHEREAS, costs associated with the use, recycling and disposal of disposable paper and plastic carrout bags in Issaquah creates burdens on the City's solid waste disposal system, including, in the case of plastic caryout bags, machine down time at materials recovery facilities; and WHEREAS, to conserve and protect resources, it is in the City's interest to discourage the use of single-use, throw-away items of all types which can be accomplished through price signals; and WHEREAS, to reduce the use of plastic and paper carrout bags in the City, it is necessary to regulate such use; and the people ofthe City of Issaquah to reduce plastic caryout bags and encourage greater use of reusable bags, and to protect the environment; WHEREAS, it is in the best interest ofthe health, safety and welfare of NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ISSAQUAH DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. New Chapter Added. The Issaquah Municipal Code is amended by adding a new Chapter 8.05, Retail Carrout Bags, to read as follows: Chapter 8.05 Retail Carryout Bags Section Section Section Section Section Section Section Definitions Types of Retail Carout Bags Permitted Recycled Paper Bag Pass-Though Charge Enforcement and Penalties Severability No Conflict with Federal or State Law Phased Implementation Definitions A. "Carout bag" means a bag that is provided by a retail establishment at the check stand, cash register, point of sale or other point of departre to a customer for the purpose of transporting food, goods or merchandise out of the establishment. Carout bags do not include: (a) bags used by customers inside stores to package bulk items such as frit, vegetables, nuts, grains, candy, greeting cards, or small hardware items, such as nails and bolts, or to contain or wrap frozen foods, meat or fish, whether Page 2 of6

3 prepackaged or not, or to contain or wrap flowers or potted plants, or other items where dampness may be a problem, or to contain unwrapped prepared foods or bakery goods, or to contain prescription drugs, or to safeguard public health and safety during the transportation of prepared take-out foods intended for consumption away from the retail establishment; or (b) newspaper bags, door-hanger bags, laundry-dry cleaning bags, or bags sold in packages containing multiple bags intended for use as garbage, pet waste, or yard waste bags. B. "Pass-through charge" means a charge to be collected by retailers from their customers when providing recyclable paper bags, and retained by retailers to offset the cost of bags and other costs related to the passthrough charge. C. "Recyclable paper bag" means a paper carout bag that meets the following requirements: (a) contains a minimum average of 40 percent post-consumer recycled materials, (b) the paper carrout bag is accepted for recycling in the City's recycling and composting program and ( c) displays the minimum percent of post-consumer _content on the outside of the bag. D. "Retail establishment" means any person, corporation, parnership, business venture, public sports or entertainment facilities, governent agency, street vendor or vendor at public events or festivals or organizations that sell or provide merchandise, goods or materials including, without limitation, clothing, food, beverages, household goods, or personal items of any kind directly to a customer. Examples include but are not limited to deparment stores, clothing stores, jewelry stores, grocery stores, pharacies, home improvement stores, liquor stores, convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, food vending trcks, farmers markets and temporar vendors of food and merchandise at street fairs and festivals. Food bans, food assistance programs and organizations providing services specifically for low-income households are not considered to be retail establishments for the purposes ofthis chapter E. "Disposable plastic carout bag" means any carout bag made from plastic or bioplastic, including materials marketed or labeled "biodegradable" or "compostable," that is not a reusable bag. F. "Reusable bag" means a bag made of cloth, fabric or other materal with handles that is specifically designed and manufactured for long-term multiple reuse and meets all of the following requirements: 1. Has a minimum lifetime of 125 uses, which for the purposes of this section, means the capability ofloading, carng and Page 3 of6

4 unloading a minimum of 22 pounds over a distance of at least 175 feet a minimum of 125 times; 2. Is washable, whether by machine or hand; 3. If made of plastic, meets all ofthe requirements above and is a minimum of 2.25 mils thick. Section Prohibition on Disposable Plastic Carrout Bags A. No retail establishment in the City, or any of its employees, managers or owners, shall provide a disposable plastic carrout bag to any customer. Section Recycled Paper Bag Pass-Though Charge A. No retail establishment in the City shall provide a paper carrout bag with a manufacturer's stated capacity of one-eighth barel (882 cubic inches) or larger that is not a recyclable paper bag. All retail establishments in the City shall collect a pass-through charge of not less than five-cents for each recyclable paper carrout bag provided to customers that has a manufactuer's stated capacity of one-eighth barrel (882 cubic inches) or larger. It shall be a violation of this section for any retail establishment to payor otherwise reimburse a customer for any portion of the pass-through charge; provided that retail establishments shall not charge or collect a pass-though charge from anyone with a voucher or electronic benefits card issued under the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) or Temporar Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) support programs, or the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as Basic Food), or the Washington State Food Assistance Program (F AP). B. All retail establishments shall indicate on the customer transaction receipt the number of recyclable paper carrout bags provided and the total amount of the pass-through charge Enforcement and Penalties. A. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this Chapter shall be cited and liable for a civil infraction as set forth in Chapter 1.36 IMC, provided however, that the Code Enforcement Officer shall instead issue a wrtten waring to any person he determines is violating any provision of this Chapter when such violation is the first instance of noncompliance known to the Code Enforcement Officer. If after issuing a written waring, the Code Enforcement Officer becomes aware of subsequent non-compliance, he shall apply for or impose the sanctions described in this section. Page 4 of6

5 B. Any person may request a temporary waiver from the requirements of this Chapter by filing a request with the City Administrator or designee. The City Administrator or designee may waive any specific requirement ofthis Chapter for a period of up to twelve months if the person seeking the waiver has shown that strct application of the specific requirement would create an undue hardship, practical difficulty or other material concern not generally applicable to other persons or retail establishments in similar circumstances. The City Administrator's or designee's decision to grant or deny a waiver shall be in writing, shall be final and not subject to appeal Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Chapter is for any reason held to be invalid, or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Chapter No Conflict with Federal or State Law. Nothing in this Chapter shall be interpreted or applied so as to create any requirement, power, or duty in conflict with any Federal or State law Phased Implementation Retail establishments with a building square footage of 7,500 square feet or larger shall have until March 1, 2013 to comply with the provisions of this Chapter. All other retail establishments shall have until March 1,2014 to comply, provided, however, that retail establishments may voluntarly implement the restrctions on retail caryout bags allowed, as described herein, and may concurrently implement a pass-through charge. Section 2. Section Amended. A new subsection is hereby added to the schedule in Section (A) to read as follows: " Retail Carout Bags $250" Section 3. Reusable Bag Distribution and Public Education Authorized. To further promote the use of reusable shopping bags and reduce the quantity of disposable carryout bags in use, the Offce of Sustainability, or other designee as determined by the City Administrator, in the initial implementation of this ordinance is authorized to make reusable carout bags available to the public at low cost or free-of-charge, targeting such programs to reach lowincome households and to promote broad awareness in the community of the use and benefits of reusable shopping bags. Page 5 of6

6 Section 4. Effective Date. This ordinance or a summar thereof consisting ofthe title shall be published in the offcial newspaper of the City, and shall take effect and be in full force five (5) days after publication. Passed by the City Council ofthe City ofissaquah, the 4th day of June, Approved by the Mayor of the City of Issaquah the 6th day of June, APPROVED: ~~~ j ch.. AVA FRISINGER, M OR ATTEST/AUTHENTICATED: ( (Vi" fw ~ CHRISTINE ~GERS, CITY CLERK APPROVED AS TO FORM: OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY: BY (! ~ '- VWüA- WAYNED. ANAK PUBLISHED: June 13,2012 EFFECTIVE DATE: June 18,2012 ORDINANCE NO.: 2652/AB 6381 Page 6 of6

7 Legal Notice No Affidavit of Publication STATE OF WASHINGTON COUNTY OF KING SS ì I, Mariana Skakie, being first duly sworn on oath, depose and say that i am the deputy clerk of The Issaquah Press, a weekly newspaper. That said newspaper is a legal newspaper of general circulation and is now and has been for more than six months prior to the date of the publications hereinafter referred to, published in the English language continuously as a weekly newspaper in Issaquah, in King County, Washington, and it is now, and during all of said time was printed in an office maintained at the aforesaid place of publication of said newspaper. That the said The Issaquah Press was on the eighteenth day of January 1900, approved as a legal newspaper by the Superior Court of said King County. This is a true copy of legal notice # , Notice of Ordinance Passed, #2652. As it was published (and not in supplement form) of said newspaper each week for a period of one week startin~ on the 13th day of June, 2012 and ending on the 13 day of June, 2012 as was regularly distributed to its subscribers during all of said period. That the amount of the fee charged for the foregoing publication is the sum of $ bat the rate of $15.00 per column inch. ît_ï1~ te of Washington Mariana Skakie Chief Clerk The Issaquah Press Subscribed and sworn to me the 13th day of June, LEGAL NOTICE CITY OF ISSAQUAH NOTICE OF ORDINANCE PASSED BY ISSAQUAH CITY COUNCIL Following is a summary of the ordinance passed by the Issaquah City Council on June 6, 2012, to be published in the Issaquah Press on June 13, 2012, effective date of June 18,2012. ORDINANCE NO AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ISSAQUAH, WASHINGTON, REGULATING THE DISTRIBUTION OF RETAIL CARRYOUT BAGS, REQUIRING RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS TO COLLECT A PASS- THROUGH CHARGE FROM CUSTOMERS REQUESTING RECYCLABLE PAPER CARRYOUT BAGS, AND ADOPTfr-lG A NEW CHAPTER IN THE ISSAQUAH MUNICIP AL CODE CHAPTER RETAIL CARRYOUT BAGS; AMENDING SECTION IMC TO ADD TO THE SCHEDULE OF INFRACTIONS; AUTHORIZING THE ADMINISTR.A.TION TO CONDUCT A REUSABLE BAG DISTRIBUTION AND PUBLIC EDUCATION EFFORT; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE. Complete text of the ordinance is posted at City Hall, 130 E. Sunset Way and the Issaquah Public Library, 10 v-. Sunset Way. Upon request to the City Clerk's Office ( ), a copy will also be mailed for a fee. Published in The Issaauah Press on 6/13/12 WENDY C. ENDEN STATE OF WASHINGTON NOTARY PUBLIC MY COMMISSION EXPIRES

8 DISTRIBUTION SCHEDULE City of Issaquah AS 6381 Ordinance No Subject: n/a Regulating the Distribution of Retail Carryout Bags Date passed by City Council Signed by Mayor Signed by Council President Signed by City Clerk Date posted Date(s) published (normally by title only) - \D\D-' '" Date effective Copies of executed document distributed as follows: x Ordinance/Resolution file (original) x MRSC (per RCW 35A ) - (electronic; copy only) x Code Publishing Co. (upload files to their website; followed by hard copy) x City Attorney (electronic copy only) x Originating Department: David Fujimoto. OS n/a Other: 2 Posting City Hall Lobby and KC Library x Certified Copies: _ 2 Total photocopies needed (Reviewed by City Clerk ~) (Date WV\!y (O-G-\L- (Date) * If ordinance includes exhibit(s) - make sure you label the last page of the ordinance, explaining that the exhibit(s) is(are) on fie with the City Clerk. Updated 6/7/2006 R:\Agenda Bils for Proposed Council Agendas\Ordinances\Distribution Schedules\2012 Distribution Schedules\#2652.docx