TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Anne McIntosh, Community Development Director
Dana Murray, Environmental Programs Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Consider Introduction of Ordinance No. 19-0009 to Reduce Polystyrene Meat Tray Pollution (Community Development Director McIntosh).
INTRODUCE ORDINANCE NO. 19-0009
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that City Council introduce Ordinance No. 19-0009 to reduce polystyrene meat tray pollution.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The recommended action has limited fiscal impact upon the budget. Staff time will be incurred in meeting with stakeholders and conducting outreach.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
On April 17, 2018, City Council discussed updating the City's environmental regulations, including polystyrene reductions (attachment). Following further Council discussion on December 4, 2018 (attachment), and February 19, 2019, City Council requested that staff bring back an ordinance on March 6, 2019, to prohibit the sale, use, and distribution of polystyrene meat trays.
Included in previous staff reports on the topic, and included here, is a report prepared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the California Ocean Protection Council, the 2018 California Ocean Litter Strategy (attachment), which provides data, science, and strategy for addressing ocean litter in California, with a focus on reducing land-based litter at its source.
After the February 19, 2019, City Council meeting, a representative from the California Grocers Association provided additional information on potential impacts of this policy on grocery stores (attachment). In addition, staff met with representatives of Kroger (Ralphs) and Gelson's to better understand how discontinuing the use of polystyrene trays could impact the consumers' choice of meat products in their stores, and how the use of alte...
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