[HISTORY: Adopted 5-6-2013 Annual Town Meeting, Art. 23. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-6-2013 ATM, Art. 23]
A.
The production and use of thin-film single-use plastic checkout bags
have significant impacts on the environment, including, but not limited
to: contributing to the potential death of marine animals through
ingestion and entanglement; contributing to pollution of the land
environment; creating a burden to solid waste collection and recycling
facilities; clogging storm drainage systems; and requiring the use
of millions of barrels of crude oil nationally for their manufacture.
B.
The purpose of this article is to eliminate the usage of thin-film
single-use plastic bags by all retail establishments in the Town of
Great Barrington.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A testing standard developed by the American Society for
Testing and Materials.
A bag that:
A bag, with handles, that is specifically designed for multiple
use and is made of thick plastic which has a thickness of over four
mils, cloth, fabric or other durable materials.
[Amended 5-1-2017 ATM, Art. 22]
Typically with plastic handles, are bags with a thickness
of four mils or less and are intended for single-use transport of
purchased products.
[Amended 5-1-2017 ATM, Art. 22]
A.
Thin-film single-use plastic bags shall not be distributed, used,
or sold for checkout or other purposes at any retail establishment
within the Town of Great Barrington.
B.
Customers are encouraged to bring their own reusable or biodegradable
shopping bags to stores. Retail establishments may provide reusable
or recyclable thick plastic, paper, fabric or other types of bags
at no charge, or charge a fee for paper or other bags, as they so
desire. Retail establishments are strongly encouraged to make reusable
bags available for sale to customers at a reasonable price.
C.
Thin-film plastic bags used to contain dry cleaning, newspapers,
produce, meat, bulk foods, wet items and other similar merchandise,
typically without handles, are still permissible.
A.
The Board of Selectmen shall establish an application process and
make determinations as to the classification of new single-use bag
products, as they come on the market, to determine if they are compostable
or biodegradable and meet, or exceed, ASTM D6400 for compostable plastic.
B.
The Police Department will be responsible to enforce this article
through the issuance of a violation notice and enforcement may also
be assigned to the Board of Health. A violation notice may be reissued
for each day that the activity persists until the violation is corrected.
[Amended 5-1-2017 ATM, Art. 22]
C.
For each day the violation is in effect, the following penalties
shall apply:
This article shall go into effect as of July 1, 2013, or such
later date upon which it is approved by the Attorney General.
[Adopted 5-7-2018 ATM,
Art. 22]
It shall be unlawful to sell non-sparkling, unflavored drinking
water in single-use PET plastic bottles of one liter (34 ounces) or
less in the Town of Great Barrington on or after January 1, 2019.
Enforcement will begin May 1, 2019.
Sales occurring subsequent to a declaration of an emergency
adversely affecting the availability and/or quality of drinking water
to Great Barrington residents by the Emergency Management Director
or other duly authorized Town, Commonwealth, or United States official
shall be exempt from this article until seven days after such declaration
has ended. Also, emergency services (fire, police and EMS) are exempt.
Enforcement of this article shall be the responsibility of the Town Manager or his/her designee. The Town Manager shall determine the inspection process to be followed, incorporating the process into other Town duties as appropriate. Any establishment conducting sales in violation of this article shall be subject to a noncriminal disposition fine as specified in Chapter 1, General Provisions, § 1-5.1 of Town Bylaws under MGL Chapter 40, § 21D. Any such fines shall be paid to the Town of Great Barrington.
If the Town Manager determines that the cost of implementing
and enforcing this article has become unreasonable, then the Town
Manager shall so advise the Board of Selectmen, and the Board of Selectmen
shall conduct a public hearing to inform the citizens of such costs.
Subsequent to the public hearing, the Board of Selectmen may continue
this article in force or may suspend it permanently or for such length
of time as they may determine.