"Carryout bag"
means any bag that is provided by a retail establishment at the point of sale to a customer for use to transport or carry away purchases, such as merchandise, goods, or food, from the retail establishment. Carryout bags do not include product bags as defined in this chapter.
"Grocery store"
means any retail establishment that sells groceries, fresh, packaged, canned, dry, prepared or frozen food or beverage products and similar items, and includes, without limitation, supermarkets, convenience stores, liquor stores and gasoline station stores.
"Pharmacy"
means any retail establishment, where prescriptions, medications, controlled or over the counter drugs, personal care products or health supplement goods or vitamins are sold, but excluding any licensed pharmacy located within a hospital.
"Product bag"
means any bag provided to a customer for use within a retail establishment to assist in the collection or transport of products to the point of sale within the retail establishment, or to protect a purchased item from damaging or contaminating other purchased items when placed together in a recycled paper bag or reusable bag.
"Recycled paper bag"
means a paper carryout bag provided by a store to a customer at the point of sale for the purpose of transporting food and merchandise out of the grocery store and that meets the following standards: contains no old-growth fiber and a minimum of forty percent post-consumer recycled content; is one hundred percent recyclable; and has printed in a highly visible manner on the outside of the bag the words "reusable" and "recyclable," the name of the and location of the (country) of the manufacturer, and the percentage of post-consumer recycled content.
"Recycled paper bag cost pass-through"
means the cost that this chapter requires grocery stores and pharmacies to collect from their customers whenever a paper bag is provided to a customer.
"Retail establishment"
means any person, including a corporation, partnership, business, facility, vendor, organization or individual, that sells or provides merchandise, goods or materials, including, without limitation, clothing, food, or personal item of any kind, directly to a consumer. Retail establishment includes, without limitation, any grocery store, department store, hardware store, pharmacy, liquor store, convenience store, outdoor farmers' market, and any other retail store or vendor. Retail establishment does not include restaurants, catering trucks, mobile food trucks, and other similar food establishments.
"Reusable bag"
means a bag with handles that is specially designed and manufactured for reuse and meets all of the following requirements:
(1) 
Minimum lifetime of one hundred twenty-five uses and the capability of carrying a minimum of twenty-two pounds one hundred twenty-five times over a distance of at least one hundred and seventy-five feet;
(2) 
Minimum volume of fifteen liters;
(3) 
Machine washable or made from a material that can be cleaned or disinfected;
(4) 
Does not contain lead, cadmium, or any other heavy metal in toxic amounts, as defined by applicable state and federal standards and regulations for packaging or reusable bags;
(5) 
Printed on the bag or tag: the name of the manufacturer; location where the bag is manufactured; statement bag does not contain lead, cadmium, or any other heavy metal in toxic amounts; and the percentage of post-consumer recycle material used, if any; and
(6) 
If made of plastic, is a minimum of at least two and twenty-five hundredths mil thick.
"Single-use, plastic carryout bag"
means any bag less than two and twenty-five hundredths mil thick and made predominately of plastic derived from petroleum or bio-based sources, such as corn or other plant source, and includes compostable, non-compostable, and biodegradable plastic bags.
(Ord. 1561 § 2, 2012)
(a) 
No retail establishment in the city shall provide a single-use, plastic carryout bag to a person except as otherwise permitted by this chapter.
(b) 
Grocery stores and pharmacies in the city shall not provide any type of carryout bag to a person at the point of sale unless it is a reusable bag or a recycled paper bag being provided pursuant to the terms of this chapter.
(c) 
No person shall distribute a single-use, plastic carryout bag at any city facility, city-managed concession, city-sponsored event, or city-permitted event except as otherwise else permitted by this chapter.
(d) 
Nothing in this chapter is intended to prohibit the distribution of product bags.
(Ord. 1561 § 2, 2012)
(a) 
Subject to subsection (b) of this section, a grocery store or pharmacy may only provide a recycled paper bag to a person if it collects a recycled paper bag cost pass-through from the person for each recycled paper bag provided. All monies collected by the grocery store or pharmacy pursuant to this section will be retained by the store or pharmacy.
(b) 
The recycled paper bag cost pass-through shall not be less than ten cents, unless a grocery store or pharmacy has previously submitted a full accounting to the city, signed by a responsible manager under penalty of perjury that identifies all costs of providing paper bags, including bag purchase, shipping, handling, and storage, showing a lesser actual cost to the store or pharmacy for each paper carryout bag. Any such accounting shall expire one year from the date of original submission and a new accounting must be submitted upon expiration in order for the grocery store or pharmacy to continue collecting a recycled paper bag cost pass-through of less than ten cents.
(c) 
No grocery store or pharmacy issuing a recycled paper bag cost pass-through pursuant to this section shall rebate or otherwise reimburse a person for any portion of the cost pass-through.
(d) 
All grocery stores and pharmacies shall indicate on the customer transaction receipts the number of recycled paper bags provided and the total amount of the recycled paper bag cost pass-through.
(Ord. 1561 § 2, 2012)
(a) 
The city manager, or designee, may exempt a retail establishment from the requirements of this chapter for up to a one-year period upon a showing by the retail establishment that the conditions of this chapter would cause undue hardship. An undue hardship shall only be found if:
(1) 
Circumstances or situations unique to the particular retail establishment are such that there are no reasonable alternatives to single-use, plastic carryout bags or a recycled paper bag cost pass-through charge; or
(2) 
Circumstances or situations unique to the retail establishment are such that compliance with the requirements of this chapter would deprive a person of a legally protected right.
(b) 
If a retail establishment requires an exemption beyond the initial exemption period, the retail establishment must re-apply prior to the end of the exemption period and must demonstrate continued undue hardship if it wishes to have the exemption extended. Extensions may only be granted for intervals not to exceed one year.
(c) 
An exemption application shall include all information necessary for the city to make its decision, including, but not limited to, documentation showing the factual support for the claimed exemption. The city manager or designee may require the applicant to provide additional information to permit the city to determine facts regarding the exemption application.
(d) 
The city manager, or designee, may approve the exemption application, in whole or in part, with or without conditions.
(e) 
Exemption decisions are effective immediately, are final, and are not appealable.
(f) 
The city council may by resolution establish a fee for exemption applications. The application fee shall be an amount sufficient to cover the costs of processing the exemption application.
(Ord. 1561 § 2, 2012)
(a) 
The city manager, or designee, shall have primary responsibly for enforcement of this chapter and shall have authority to issue citations for violation of any provision of this chapter. The city manager, or designee, may establish regulations or administrative procedures and take any and all actions reasonable and necessary to further the purposes of this chapter or to obtain compliance with this chapter, including, without limitation, performing an inspection in accordance with applicable law of a retail establishment's premises to verify compliance with this chapter.
(b) 
Any violation of any of the requirements of this chapter, or of any regulation or administrative procedure authorized pursuant to this chapter shall constitute an infraction. Each and every day that a violation occurs shall constitute a separate violation.
(c) 
The remedies and penalties provided in this chapter are cumulative and not exclusive, and nothing in this chapter shall preclude the city from pursuing any other remedies. The city attorney may seek legal, injunctive, or any other relief to enforce the provisions of this chapter and any regulation or administrative procedure developed pursuant hereto.
(Ord. 1561 § 2, 2012)
(a) 
Any person violating, causing or maintaining a violation of any provision of this chapter may be issued an administrative citation assessing a civil fine as provided in this section. The procedures for the imposition, enforcement, collection, and administrative review of civil fines shall be in addition to, and not in lieu of, any criminal, civil or other legal remedy established by law and available to the city to address violations of this chapter.
(b) 
Upon a first violation of any provision of this chapter, the city manager or designee shall issue a written warning notice of violation to the offending retail establishment. The warning notice of violation shall specify the violation(s), a date by which the violation(s) must be ceased and abated, and the penalties in the event of future violations. If, after the specified correction period following the written warning, the violation is not ceased or abated, the city manager or designee may issue an administrative citation assessing fines in accordance with this section.
(c) 
Each separate violation following the issuance of a warning notice of violation shall be subject to the following administrative fines, which shall be cumulative with each day that a violation occurs constituting a separate violation:
(1) 
A fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for the first violation following the issuance of a warning notice;
(2) 
A fine not exceeding two hundred dollars for the second violation following the issuance of a warning notice;
(3) 
A fine not exceeding five hundred dollars for the third and any subsequent violation that occurs following the issuance of a warning notice.
(d) 
Each administrative citation issued for a violation of this chapter shall at a minimum contain the information specified in Chapter 1.15, Administrative Citations, of this code, and any person receiving an administrative citation may contest the citation, and shall be entitled to an administrative hearing, pursuant to the procedures set forth in that chapter.
(Ord. 1561 § 2, 2012)