Cities can no longer ban retailers from bagging purchased items in single-use plastic bags. The Texas Supreme Court recently ruled that the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act preempted any attempts by a municipality to regulate the use of plastic bags. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Port Aransas became the 10th city in the state to ban plastic bags when the city council in this vacation community approved the third — and final — vote on the matter recently. Merchants and consumers have exactly one year to get ready for the ban, which begins Jan. 1. 2016.
Merchants are being asked to voluntarily give up the bags over the next year. Single use bags will still be permitted for vendors selling fishing bait, seafood and other raw foods.
The council voted 5-1 to ban the bags, which clutter beaches and end up caught in trees and bushes. Restaurant owner Edwin Myers cast the only no vote.
The bags are harmful to wildlife as well, stated Tony Amos at the council meeting last week. Amos is director of the Animal Rehabilitation Keep (ARK) at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas. Littered bags can kill sea turtles, birds and other marine animals, Amos said. Animals either consume the plastic or get tangled in the remains.
Other cities in Texas banning plastic single-use bags include Austin, Dallas, Brownsville, Freer, Laredo, South Padre Island and Fort Stockton. Dallas merchants charge 5 cents per bag. Brownsville charges $1 per bag. Revenue from the $1 a bag sales is used for litter control programs. San Francisco began the bag banning trend in 2007.
In Texas, Brownsville passed the first ban, which took effect in 2011. California became the first state to enact a statewide ban as of September 2014. That ban takes effect July 2015.
An attempt to pass a similar ban in Corpus Christi failed with a 4-4 council vote earlier this year.
