LIHU‘E — Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. signaled his support for a stalled bill that would outlaw plastic checkout bags at retail stores across Kaua‘i, sending a letter to the Kaua‘i County Council that counters business community opposition that caused a
LIHU‘E — Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. signaled his support for a stalled bill that would outlaw plastic checkout bags at retail stores across Kaua‘i, sending a letter to the Kaua‘i County Council that counters business community opposition that caused a deferral last week.
“While I do have a concern about the financial burden this measure may place on our businesses during these difficult economic times, I also believe that such a ban is inevitable,” Carvalho wrote in testimony sent to the council on Monday. “Many communities around the country have already taken this step and many more will follow.”
Carvalho’s endorsement of the legislation clashes with testimony from the Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce and Retail Merchants of Hawai‘i that came in at the 11th hour last week, causing council members to seek a deferral so they could read the correspondence.
Dickie Chang and Jay Furfaro, who both supported the deferral, said in brief interviews after the vote that they expected the bill to pass Sept. 23, but simply wanted to give the new information a full look.
In a letter received during the lunch break of last week’s council meeting, Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce President Randall Francisco wrote that the chamber “strongly believes that with continued education, research, patience and a commitment to continuing to honor our Hawaiian/Kaua‘i sense of place and community, in the very short term … Kaua‘i residents/visitors will continue to move in the direction of using/reusing/recycling biodegradable bags and reusable bags … without a need for further government intervention in the marketplace.
“Our kuleana is always about having a better and more sustainable Kaua‘i and island lifestyle for everyone, without having government’s ‘hand in every pocketbook,’” Francisco wrote.
A day earlier, Retail Merchants of Hawai‘i President Carol Pregill wrote that her organization “stands in strong opposition” to the bill because paper bags are up to 10 times more expensive than plastic and that their larger volume and weight is critical for ocean freight.
“Ultimately, these costs will be passed on the consumer and will increase the cost of food and other products for Kaua‘i residents,” Pregill wrote.
If passed as currently written, the bill would allow retail establishments to provide only recyclable paper, biodegradable and reusable bags as checkout bags, with fines of $100 for the first violation, $200 for the second violation within the same year, and $500 for every subsequent violation in that year. It will still be legal to sell plastic bags, such as garbage bags.
The ordinance would not take effect until July 1, 2010, and even then, companies would be able to apply for an 18-month exemption if they show significant “undue hardship.”
“The delayed implementation of this bill will allow for our businesses to adequately plan for this change in practice,” Carvalho said in his testimony. “I am also hopeful that we as a community will make the effort in the months leading up to the implementation to change our habits and make plastic bags obsolete before they are banned.”
County set to distribute 25,000 reusable bags
To that end, Carvalho said the county has purchased 25,000 reusable shopping bags to be distributed to the public for free starting next month.
The county Recycling Office is currently working on a plan to distribute the bags to the public through retailers, county spokeswoman Mary Daubert said in an e-mail Tuesday. The program details and policies are in the process of being established.
The county conducted a competitive bid process resulting in the purchase of bags from Adapt Ad Specialty in Van Nuys, Calif. The unit cost was $5.60 each, including taxes and delivery, for a total contract price of $140,000, Daubert said.
“The per unit price is high compared to the bags for sale at grocery stores because these bags are machine washable, extremely durable and have a high carrying capacity,” Daubert wrote.
Of the 25,000 bags, 20,000 were purchased with HI-5 funding from a state grant and 5,000 were purchased through the Fiscal Year 2009 county operating budget, Daubert said.
The bags are the same type that the county distributed several years ago at the Farm Bureau Fair, she said.
“Use of these bags will actually eliminate cost to retailers and consumers and will reduce plastic waste at the source,” Carvalho wrote.
The bill is expected to come back on the council’s agenda as a bill for second reading on Sept. 23.
The agenda for today’s County Council meeting, which starts at 9 a.m. at the Historic County Building, includes committee work on bills relating to real property tax appeals, small wind energy conversion systems, farm worker housing, shoreline setbacks and coastal protection, and single-family transient vacation rentals.
• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.com.
