By Daniel Ritz
During a meeting on May 22, the Dana Point Ocean Water Quality Subcommittee voted unanimously to support State Assembly Bill 1884, which would prohibit specified food facilities, where food may be consumed on-site, from providing single-use plastic straws to consumers unless requested by the consumer.
Rick Erkeneff, a director at South Coast Water District, explained that more than 500 million plastic straws are used per day in the United States.
“This is an impactful move,” City Council member and Ocean Water Quality Subcommittee Chairman Paul Wyatt said. “I don’t see it being a big deal for business owners.”
Wyatt noted that the bill only pertains to plastic straws, and not all single-use plastics.
The bill, introduced by Assembly members Ian Calderon and Richard Bloom in January, specifies that the first and second violations of these provisions would result in a warning and any subsequent violations would be an infraction punishable by a fine of $25 for each day of the food facility is in violation, not to exceed $300. A full version of the bill can be read here.
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