READ THE LEGAL MEMO AND LOCAL CONTROL ONE-PAGER

As currently drafted, SB 1053 and AB 2236 will face serious legal and operational issues in the cities and counties that have adopted their own valid ordinances on single use plastic carryout bags and/or recyclable plastic bags. The bills would prohibit stores from selling, distributing or providing a “bag” other than a recycled paper bag, without preempting existing local ordinances on plastic carry out bags or creating a mechanism by which cities and counties can amend their local ordinances to comply with the new law. Consequently, the bills, if enacted, will not be enforceable in the state’s most populous cities and counties unless those government bodies repeal existing ordinances adopted under Section 42227. Moreover, the current framework of the bills may lead to litigation over whether the preemption provisions of the current statute remain in effect, or if the legislature intended to repeal those sections of the current law. As such, the proposed law will likely face legal and enforcement obstacles in many of California’s largest cities and counties which have adopted plastic bag regulation ordinances under section 42227 and where the threat of plastic pollution is the highest. Learn more.