[Adopted by the Annual Town Meeting of the Town of Adams 6-20-2016 by Art. 25. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
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 chapter is to eliminate the usage of thin-film
single-use plastic bags by all retail establishments in the Town of
Adams.
As used in this chapter, 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
uses and is made of thick plastic, cloth, fabric or other durable
materials.
Typically with plastic handles, are bags with a thickness
of 2.5 mils or less and are intended for single-use transport of purchased
products.
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 Adams.
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 Inspection Services Department will be responsible to enforce
this chapter through the issuance of a violation notice. A violation
notice may be reissued for each day that the activity persists until
the violation is corrected.
C.
For each day the violation is in effect, the following penalties
shall apply:
This chapter shall go into effect as of March 30, 2017, or such
later date upon which it is approved by the Attorney General.
