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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3249 Relating to the Distribution of Single-Use Plastic Straws and Coffee Stirrers and Adding Chapter 6.28 tp the Port Townsend Municipal Code Ordinance 3249 Page I of'2 Ordinance 3249 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON, RELATING TO THE DISTRIBUTION OF SINGLE-USE PLASTIC STRAWS AND COFFEE STIRRERS AND ADDING CHAPTER 6.28 TO THE PORT TOWNSEND MUNICIPAL CODE Recitals: A. The Washington State Legislature in RCW 70.95.010(8)(a) established waste reduction as the first priority for the collection, handling, and management of solid waste. B. The Washington State Legislature in RCW 70.95.010(4) found that it is "necessary to change manufacturing and purchasing practices and waste generation behaviors to reduce the amount of waste that becomes a governmental responsibility." C. The Washington State Legislature in RCW 70.95.010(6)(c) found that it is the responsibility of city and county governments to "assume primary responsibility for solid waste management and to develop and implement aggressive and effective waste reduction and source separation strategies." D. The production, use, and disposal of single-use plastic straws and stirrers has significant adverse impacts on the environment. E. The City desires to conserve resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, waste, litter, and marine litter and pollution and to protect the public health and welfare. F. The City needs to conserve energy and natural resources and control litter, and less reliance on single-use plastic straws and stirrers provided by food-service establishments works towards that goal. G. Single-use plastic straws and stirrers are made of nonrenewable resources, and plastic never biodegrades and only breaks down into smaller and smaller particles that seep into soils or are carried into rivers and lakes, Puget Sound, and the world's oceans posing a threat to animal life and the natural food chain. H. To prevent waste generation, the City has an interest in discouraging the use of single-use, throw-away items of all types. I. This ordinance will serve the interest of public health, safety, and welfare as well as the environment by reducing litter and pollutants on the land and into the waters of the City and beyond. J. Notifying the local food industry now of the single-use plastic utensil ban that will take effect in January 2021 will provide the food industry a fair opportunity to use up their current supplies of single-use plastic straws and stirrers before the ordinance takes effect. Ordinance 3249 Page 2 of 2 NOW, THEREFORE,the City Council of the City of Port Townsend ordains as follows: SECTION 1. A new Chapter 6.28 - Single-use plastic straws and stirrers of the City of Port Townsend Municipal Code is hereby as shown on Exhibit A. This ordinance amends Chapter 6 of the PTMC to add a new section 6.28. SECTION 2. It shall be a violation of this ordinance for any retail establishment to penalize, discipline, or discriminate against any employee for performing any duty necessary to comply with the ordinance. SECTION 3. If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance should be held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity of any other section, sentence, clause, or phrase of this ordinance. SECTION 4. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force on January 1, 2021 which is more than five days after the date of its publication in the manner provided by law. ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Port Townsend, Washington, at a regular meeting thereof, held this 20th day of July 2020. Michelle Sando-v" Mayor Attest: Approved as to Form: Joanna Sanders, MMC l le d i ,1. en_:o od City Clerk City Attorney Ordinance 3249 Exhibit A Page I of 2 EXHIBIT A Single Use Plastic Straws 6.28.010 Definitions. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply: A. "Plastic straw" means a tube of plastic for transferring a beverage from its container to the mouth of the drinker. B. "Food service business" means full-service restaurants, fast food restaurants, cafes, delicatessens, coffee shops, home delivery services, non-profit food providers, vending trucks or carts, farmers markets, business or institutional cafeterias, or other similar businesses selling or providing food within the City for consumption on or off the premises. C. "Single-use" means a non-compostable straw or stirrer that is made from plastic and that is neither intended nor suitable for continuous re-use. D. "Commercially compostable utensils" means utensils that are capable of being completely broken down into stable products in a controlled, aerobic, commercial process that results in a material safe and desirable as a soil amendment or when discharged into stormwater. 6.28.020 Single-Use Plastic Straws and Stirrers Prohibition. A. Effective January 1, 2021, food service businesses shall not provide single-use or commercially compostable plastic straws or stirrers to their customers, and if a customer requests a straw, they will be provided with a paper, biodegradable, or reusable straw. B. The prohibition shall not apply to: 1. Single-use or commercially compostable straws or stirrers provided to customers when needed due to medical or physical conditions and for whom paper, biodegradable, or reusable straws or stirrers are unsuitable; and 2. Bulk sales in retail stores; 3. Medical and dental facilities; and 4. During a locally declared emergency. C. Undue Hardship. The City Manager, or designee, may exempt any Food Service Business or person from the requirements of this Chapter for a one-year period, upon written request by applicant Ordinance 3249 Exhibit A Page 2 of'2 that the conditions of this Chapter would cause undue hardship following the operative date of the ordinance codified in this Chapter, as follows: 1. A request for an exemption shall be filed in writing with the City Manager or designee and shall include documentation of the reason for the claimed exemption and any other information necessary for the City to make its decision. An exemption application shall include all information necessary for the City to make its decision, including, but not limited to, documentation showing the factual support for the claimed exemption. The City may require the applicant to provide additional information as necessary to make the required determinations. 2. The City Manager or designee may approve the exemption application for one year, with or without conditions, upon finding that compliance would create an undue hardship. Undue hardship shall be construed to include, but not limited to, situations when: a. Situations unique to the food service business or individual when there are no reasonable alternatives to plastic straws or stirrers and compliance with this Chapter would cause significant economic hardship to that restaurant or individual; b. Situations where no reasonably feasible available alternatives exist to the use of plastic straws or stirrers. 3. A Food Service Business granted an exemption by the City must reapply prior to the end of the one-year exemption period and demonstrate continued undue hardship, if it wishes to have the exemption extended. Extensions may only be granted for intervals not to exceed one year. 4. Exemption decisions by the City Manager or designee are effective immediately and final and are not appealable. 5. The City Council may by resolution establish a fee for exemption applications. The application fee shall be an amount sufficient to cover the costs of processing the exemption application. 6.28.030 Violations. A violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute a Class I civil infraction pursuant to Chapter 7.80 RCW. Issuance and disposition of infractions issued for violations of this chapter shall be in accordance with Chapter 7.80 RCW. The penalty for violation of a provision of this chapter shall be $100.00. The penalty for a second or subsequent offense in violation of the provision of this chapter within two years of any previous offense shall be $250.00.