Title: Disposable Plastic Bags

Summary: Authorizes certain municipalities to establish pilot programs to regulate or ban disposable plastic bags; provides program criteria; provides for program expiration; directs participating municipalities to collect data & submit reports to municipal governing bodies & DEP; defines term "coastal community."

Full Text:
An act relating to disposable plastic bags; creating s. 403.70325, F.S.; authorizing certain municipalities to establish pilot programs to regulate or ban disposable plastic bags; providing program criteria; providing for expiration of the program; directing participating municipalities to collect data and submit reports to the municipal governing body and the Department of Environmental Protection; defining the term "coastal community"; republishing s. 403.7033, F.S.; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Section 403.70325, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 403.70325 Municipal pilot program fo rregulation or ban of disposable plastic bags.-(1) Notwithstanding s. 403.7033, a municipality with a population of fewer than 100,000 which is a coastal community may establish a pilot program to regulate or ban disposable plastic bags. A municipality establishing a pilot program shall enact an ordinance for the regulation or ban of disposable plastic bags that takes effect no earlier than January 1, 2017, and expires no later than June 30, 2019. Such ordinance may not include any new taxes or fees on the use or distribution of HB 2016 disposable plastic bags. (2) A municipality that establishes a pilot program shall: (a) Collect data pertaining to the impact of such regulation or ban. (b) By April 1, 2019, submit a report on the impact of such regulation or ban to the governing body of the municipality at a public hearing that is open to comments from the public. (c) Provide a copy of the report to the department. (3) As used in this section, the term "coastal community" means a municipality that abut sor borders the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, or a bay. Section 2. Section 403.7033, Florida Statutes, is republished to read: 403.7033 Departmental analysis of particular recyclable materials.-The Legislature finds that prudent regulation of recyclable materials is crucial to the ongoing welfare of Florida's ecology and economy. As such, the Department of Environmental Protection shall undertake an analysis of the need for new or different regulation of auxiliary containers, wrappings, or disp osable plastic bags used by consumers to carry products from retail establishments. The analysis shall include input from state and local government agencies, stakeholders, private businesses, and citizens, and shall evaluate the efficacy and necessity of both statewide and local regulation of these materials. To ensure consistent and effective implementation, the department shall submit a report with HB 2016 conclusions and recommendations to the Legislature no later than February 1, 2010. Until such time that the Legislature adopts the recommendations of the department, no local government, local governmental agency, or state government agency may enact any rule, regulation, or ordinance regarding use, disposition, sale, prohibition, restriction, or tax of such au xiliary containers, wrappings, or disposable plastic bags. Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.