LIHU‘E — After a two-week delay to huddle with the county attorney and revise the wording to ease enforcement, the Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday morning passed an ordinance that will outlaw single-use plastic checkout bags from the island’s retail
LIHU‘E — After a two-week delay to huddle with the county attorney and revise the wording to ease enforcement, the Kaua‘i County Council on Wednesday morning passed an ordinance that will outlaw single-use plastic checkout bags from the island’s retail establishments despite objections from some members of the business community.
“I feel very pleased that Kaua‘i has made a statement in support of the environment,” Councilman Tim Bynum, who co-introduced the legislation, said outside Council Chambers following the 4-2 vote and a round of applause from citizens in attendance.
Councilwoman Lani Kawahara, who co-introduced the bill with Bynum and “voted proudly in support,” said the ordinance is an important step forward in solving an “environmental crisis” as it helps provide stewardship of the island’s unique environment, including “the waters that run around and through it.”
The bill, soon to be signed into law by Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., will go into effect on Jan. 11, 2011 — the same day a similar ban will take effect on Maui.
“I am pleased with the approval and thank the County Council for bringing up important questions regarding implementation and enforcement,” Carvalho said in an e-mail from spokeswoman Mary Daubert.
The altered implementation date was one of several changes recommended by Deputy County Attorney Mike Dahilig.
Also included in the approved amendment was a loosened definition for “biodegradable bag” that will allow County Engineer Donald Fujimoto and the county Department of Public Works to work with the Office of the County Attorney to craft administrative rules to define the distinction between eligible and ineligible bags.
Removed from the definition was a a requirement that eligible bags conform to the European Standard EN13432, established by the European Committee for Normalisation. That clause was not in the original proposed legislation but was added by the council’s Public Works/Elderly Affairs Committee in August at the urging of Brad Parsons and other concerned community members.
The definition still includes the provision that biodegradable bags will contain “no polymers derived from fossil fuels,” as well as the requirements that they are intended for single use and will decompose at a rate comparable to paper, leaves and food.
The bill was deferred after Council Chair Bill “Kaipo” Asing asked the county attorney to take another look at its enforcement issues.
Bynum said the long-term hope is that all single-use bags will be phased out.
Outside Council Chambers, Dahilig said the definition was changed because science is still “fluid” on types of plastics, and standards for biodegradability differ from Europe to America to Brazil.
Fujimoto said his department plans to incorporate existing standards into their administrative rules — which will be written and adopted through a standard public hearing process. Dahilig said the intention was the county will not need to contract an outside chemist to do testing on different bags to determine their compliance with the law.
“Looking at the wording, we have the utmost confidence that Public Works and the county engineer will be able to enforce this ordinance,” Parsons said outside Council Chambers.
Other changes implemented by the council Wednesday include amendments to sections of the bill dealing with penalties for noncompliance and exemptions for certain businesses.
Offenders will be fined $250 per day for the first notice of violation, $500 per day for the second notice within 365 days of the first, and $1,000 per day for subsequent notices in that same time frame. Previously, those fine amount were to be $100, $200 and $500 per violation within the same year.
While the effective date of the ordinance was pushed back from July 1, 2010, to Jan. 11, 2011, it could actually have a broader impact sooner because a major exemption was eliminated.
Removed from the bill was language that allowed the county engineer to exempt retailers for up to 18 months upon showing “undue hardship,” including situations where there are no acceptable alternatives to plastic bags for reasons unique to that retailer.
Now, only situations where compliance would “deprive a retail establishment of any rights to which it would be entitled” would be granted exemptions. Fundraisers by nonprofit organizations falling under Section 501(c) of the federal Internal Revenue Code or community booster organizations will also be exempt from the ordinance.
Councilman Dickie Chang estimated that support testimony outnumbered opposition by up to 6-to-1. He voted to pass the bill with Bynum, Kawahara and Vice Chair Jay Furfaro.
However, some did speak out against the proposal.
Kaua‘i Chamber of Commerce President Randall Francisco wrote in a September e-mail testimony 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.
The Retail Merchants of Hawai‘i and Hawai‘i Food Industry Association also provided testimony in opposition on the grounds that the environmental concerns are unfounded and that biodegradable and paper bags are considerably more expensive than plastic ones.
Councilman Daryl Kaneshiro said he could not vote in support because he believes the promotion of plastic bag recycling through redemption centers would be better than passing a ban.
“I don’t like government intervention in marketplace, basically,” he said, echoing Francisco’s testimony, adding that the end result is going to cost everybody “in the pocketbook.” He said he would prefer to include a sunset clause to force the council to revisit the issue down the road.
“The problem is not the plastic bags, the problem is people,” agreed Asing, who instead pushed for more education and worried that enforcing the ordinance will prove to be a “huge responsibility” for Public Works.
Kaneshiro and Asing cast the two “no” votes. Derek Kawakami recused himself for the entirety of the bill deliberation due to his role with Big Save supermarkets.
