Huntington Beach One Step Closer to Plastic Bag Ban

Huntington Beach could soon join a growing roster of SoCal cities with bans on single-use disposable plastic bans, and the proposed ordinance got one step closer to reality following a city council vote Monday night.

"The ordinance is expected to come back for a second look at the next council meeting and, if approved, would go into effect about six months after," reports the OC Register. The ban would affect the bags typically distributed at grocery stores, convenience stores, and multi-purpose stores like Target and Walmart. There would be a 10-cent fee for each paper bag requested by the shopper.

Despite the approval vote, the Huntington Beach City Council does not unanimously support the ordinance. One Councilmember says the city should let the state make such legislation, while the city's mayor said in support of the ban that Huntington Beach should serve as a leader and example to other cities and the state.

Huntington Beach was the first Orange County city to consider a plastic bag ban, but it did not move forward under a previous City Council. In the interim, other OC cities have adopted bans, each modeled after the one in Los Angeles County. Dana Point and Laguna Beach have bans in place, and San Clemente is working on theirs.