Feb 21- Sonoma County Agency Adopts Bag Ban for Nine Jurisdictions

In a win for the environment, the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency formally adopted an ordinance on 2/19/2014 to ban plastic bags throughout its jurisdictions. The agency gave initial approval of the ordinance last month.

Ordinance 2014-02, or the Waste Reduction Program for Carryout Bags, bans plastic bags and charges a minimum fee of $0.10 for every paper bag given in all retail establishments like grocery, drug, liquor and convenience stores. The ordinance, similar to those adopted for waste agencies in Alameda County and San Luis Obispo County, covers all of the County’s cities and unincorporated areas--with the exception of Santa Rosa, which will be opting out to adopt its own similar ordinance to enforce within the city. Learn more on the SCWMA's website.

The ordinance will be enforced starting September 1, 2014. The passage of the ordinance covering Sonoma County and 8 incorporated cities (Cloverdale, Cotati, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, Sonoma, and Windsor) brings the number of cities or counties with a local bag ordinance up to 99.

Find out more about the state's efforts to ban plastic grocery bags with SB 270.