Calif. closer to banning plastic bags
By Laurel Rosenhall, Sacramento Bee
Disposable plastic bags would be banned from grocery check-out stands in California and consumers would pay at least a dime for a paper or re-usable plastic bag under a compromise proposal negotiated with key opponents of last year’s bill to ban plastic shopping bags.
Lawmakers plan to unveil the deal Friday at a Los Angeles-area manufacturing plant.
Senate Bill 270 seeks to temper some manufacturing industry opposition by providing $2 million from state recycling funds. Plastic bag makers would be able to apply for grants to re-train their workers or re-engineer their operations to make plastic bags that meet new criteria spelled out in the bill.