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Town of Great Barrington, MA
Berkshire County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Code
New Laws (0) Index Notes (4)
[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:
ASTM STANDARD
A testing standard developed by the American Society for Testing and Materials.
BIODEGRADABLE BAG
A bag that:
A. 
Contains no polymers derived from fossil fuels; and
B. 
Is intended for single use and will decompose in a natural setting at a rate comparable to other biodegradable materials such as paper, leaves, and food waste.
REUSABLE BAG
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]
THIN-FILM SINGLE-USE PLASTIC BAGS
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:
(1) 
Fifty dollars per day for each day the violation persists;
(2) 
One hundred dollars per day for each day that a new violation occurs after the first violation;
(3) 
Two hundred dollars per day for each day of any future violations that occur after the second violation.
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.