HB 514 Filed, Would Restore Local Government Rights to Ban and Restrict Single-use Bags

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, Americans use 100 billion plastic bags a year, which require 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture, and the average American family takes home approximately 1500 plastic shopping bags a year. The most staggering statistic estimates consumers’ use of plastic bags is 12 minutes, and it takes more than 500 years for a plastic bag to degrade in a landfill.

There are many campaigns created to raise awareness about plastic bag pollution that is adversely affecting marine life, clogging our septic systems, developing hazards in our landfills and some would argue that plastic pollution destroys human hormones. Nonprofit organizations like Earth Day Network are focused on changing our attitudes and behaviors toward plastic waste.

One of the initiatives of the Earth Day Network is to educate and mobilize citizens throughout the world to demand action from governments and corporations to diminish plastic pollution. State Representative Gina Hinojosa, a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives in the 49th District proposed HB 514 to hold local government accountable.

Representative Hinojosa of Austin filed HB 514, a bill that proposes the restoration of the local government’s right to restrict single-use bag pollution in their communities. According to a statement released from Hinojosa, the Texas Supreme Court struck down at least 10 such ordinances in communities across the state in June 2018. The HB 514 would undo the pre-emption they found in Texas law.

Texas Municipal League, Rio Grande International Study Center, Texans for Clean Water, Texas Campaign for the Environment.

The Legislative Director for Texas Campaign for the Environment Andrew Dobbs said, “Bag pollution is bad for Texas, and if the state government isn’t going to take action to eliminate it, then they need to stand out of the way of local governments ready to lead on the issue. Texas businesses and tax-payers foot the bill for these unnecessary products, and HB 514 will help our local leaders save us those resources.”

Many retail giants are blamed for contributing to the issue by continued use of plastic bags for nearly every purchase made by customers in their stores. Robert Stewart, co-owner of Stewart’s Food Store in Olney said the store policy requires the cashiers to ask the customers if they prefer paper or plastic bags. “We leave it up to the customer to decide how they want us to bag their groceries. Whichever option they choose, we have three large recycling bins located on our parking lot,” said Stewart.

While customers have the option to recycle, not many do. Waste Management estimates that only 1 percent of plastic bags are returned for recycling. The 1 percent equates to one family recycling 15 plastic bags a year with the remaining portion going to the landfill as litter. With more than 8 million metric tons of plastic entering the ocean alone every year, it is up to individuals to preserve the environment while waiting for the government to enforce applicable laws.

“Single-use bags kill livestock and wildlife, ruin Texas agricultural products, damage stormwater and recycling infrastructure, and cause persistent blight and litter,” Robin Schneider, Executive Director for Texas Campaign for the Environment said. “Local ordinances were very successful in reducing this pollutionandreducingtheseharms,sowe are thrilled that Rep. Hinojosa has taken the lead on this crucial issue.”

Hinojosa’s bill addresses the concern expressed in the opinion of two justices, Eva Guzman and Debra Lehrmann. These Republican justices issued a concurring opinion which urged the Legislature to act on this issue. “Having expressly reserved the power to make such decisions, the ball is sequestered in the Legislature’s court,” Guzman wrote in the opinion Lehrmann also endorsed. “I urge the Legislature to take direct ameliorative action or … create a specific exception to pre-emption of local control. Standing idly in the face of an ongoing assault on our delicate ecosystem will not forestall a day of environmental reckoning—it will invite one.”

HB 514 supports the justice’s opinions and serves as a call to action demonstrated by numerous business, cities, and community advocates that filed briefs to the Supreme Court urging them to uphold single-use bag laws because of the negative impacts of bag pollution on their interests. These included: Texas Cotton Ginners’ Association, Black Bass Unlimited, Bicycle Sport Shop, Natural Grocers, Bee County Judge and former State Representative Jose Aliseda (R), Senator Judith Zaffirini (D), City of Houston, City of Galveston,