County Seeks Cities' Cooperation on Plastic Bag Ban

Last week, the Board of Supervisors sent a letter to all mayors in the county asking that they back an outright countywide ban on plastic bags, the Mercury News reported.

The city of South San Francisco , which it adopted in April.

That means those large stores are supposed to stop distributing plastic bags for free and charge customers who do use them five or 10 cents for the pleasure—if they choose to.

If it sounds a bit ad hoc, that's because it is, and it's made even more so when you consider the mixed bag of plastic bag policies throughout San Mateo County. , it's possible local customers may see a more uniform policy in the future.

The supervisors only have the power to enact a plastic bag ban in unincorporated parts of the county. But if they can get the cities on board, the county may see a uniform plastic bag ban that would bring together cities ranging from Millbrae, where the city council will vote tonight , to cities like Redwood City and San Mateo, where city leaders have said they'd be willing to consider a ban.

Almost a year ago, South San Francisco decided to abandon enacting a mandatory ban on plastic bags partially out of concern that the plastics industry might sue and force the city to do an environmental impact report, . But council members at the time said

A spokesperson from the California Grocers Association told the Mercury News that widespread ban would be better than a patchwork approach because if it affects all businesses, no one retailer will have a competitive advantage.

"The broader the application, the more environmental gain, the less competitive advantage and the greater predictability for consumers," spokesperson Tim James told the Mercury News.

South San Francisco Mayor Kevin Mullin agreed.

"I would also not want to put our retailers at a competitive disadvantage with an adjoining jurisdiction that did not have a ban. So I think a countywide effort has great merit," Mullin told the Mercury News.

Board of Supervisors President Carole Groom said getting half the cities on board within 30 to 45 days would give the county enough support to move forward. Read more about what other city leaders had to say about the ban at MercuryNews.com.