SEND A MESSAGE TO BIG OIL: HANDS OFF SEATTLE!

The American Chemical Council, funded by Exxon/Mobil and other major polluters spent more than $250,000 on paid signatures to force this referendum. Now they are spending even more on a misleading campaign to protect industry profits at the expense of Puget Sound wildlife and Seattle’s right to make our own laws. 

Let’s send the message that our elections and environment are not for sale: APPROVE Referendum 1

APPROVE REFERENDUM 1: A COMMON SENSE SOLUTION TO A REAL PROBLEM

Every year, the average Seattle resident uses more than 500 single-use bags— more than 360 million citywide. 

These bags are costly to recycle, and many end up clogging landfills, choking waterways, and threatening the health of marine life in the Sound. In the Pacific Ocean a floating soup of plastic pollution the size of Connecticut is integrating into the marine food chain—including fish we consume.

The law underlying Referendum 1 will curb the use of disposable bags – no wonder the industry is willing to mislead voters to protect their profits.

APPROVE REFERENDUM 1: A STEP FORWARD ON CLIMATE CHANGE, FOREIGN PETROLEUM DEPENDENCE

Curbing plastic bag use is a simple step toward reducing our dependence on foreign petroleum. Production and transport of paper bags also contributes to climate change.
 
Referendum 1 is an easy, convenient way to reduce climate emissions and make progress on other critical issues. Seattle’s leadership has inspired several other cities like Edmonds, Washington, D.C., New York, and Philadelphia to consider or institute similar actions.

APPROVE REFERENDUM 1: AN OPTIONAL AND EQUITABLE SOLUTION

Area grocers, Central Co-op’s Madison Market, PCC, business leaders, Sierra Club, People For Puget Sound, Surfrider Foundation, neighborhood and community leaders support Referendum 1 because it encourages re-use while protecting small businesses and lower income families. The City will use revenues from the fee to provide reusable bags for all Seattle households and many extra bags for those with low or fixed income. 

You only pay the fee if you choose not to bring your own bags. 

Every day we use reusable bags for work, school, and sports.  Tens of thousands in Seattle have already started using convenient reusable bags for shopping as well. 

Some cities have chosen to ban plastic bags outright. Referendum 1 strikes a middle ground: preserve consumer choice but reflect the real cost of these bags through an optional fee.  

APPROVE Referendum 1.

We are asking you to Vote No on Referendum 1 because we are tired of seeing the City of Seattle make the same mistakes over-and-over again.

 

By voting NO on Referendum 1, Seattle residents will send a message to Mayor Greg Nickels and the City Council that we don’t want any more failed programs run by unresponsive city bureaucrats.  And that means saying NO to the so-called advance recovery fee -commonly called the “bag tax.”

 

 

Seattleites have been taking care of the environment for decades. It comes naturally to us. So why do we need a taxpayer funded program when most us already reuse and recycle our bags right now? And without a tax!

 

 

Well, we don’t. And here’s why:

 

 

• The 2,300 word City Ordinance (now Referendum 1) is filled with loop-holes. For example, there are nine different kinds of paper and plastic bags that are exempt. And, somehow, big box stores like Target and Fred Meyer are given special treatment– if you buy groceries at one of these stores the tax does not apply!

 

 

• The ordinance indicates that Our Mayor and City Council will need to hire at least two permanent city employees to “carry out the purpose of the ordinance.”

 

 

• The fiscal note to the ordinance indicates that Our Mayor and City Council will need to spend over $1.4 million in the first two years of the program. $1 million just to “purchase and distribute” reusable shopping bags to Seattle residents.

 

 

• Similar to the hundreds-of-thousands spent for the SDOT consultant, the Mayor and the City Council will spend $150,000 for “public education activities” to tell us how to keep our cloth bags “clean.” [Page 5, Fiscal Note for Non-Capital Projects.]

 

 

• This ordinance will make hard lives even harder.  The poor, seniors, disabled, those living on fixed incomes, and even food banks will be forced to use discretionary income for necessities.

 

 

So why do we need a taxpayer funded program when according to a city poll 91 percent of citizens already reuse and recycle our bags?

 

 

Don’t be fooled about Referendum 1. It is just another City Government program like the millions for the express bus service; the billions to extend the light rail; and, let’s not forget the millions spent on the snow storm fiasco.

 

 

Vote No on Referendum 1. Seattle deserves so much better.

 

The American Chemistry Council and their oil industry allies use these same tired arguments across the country, yet Washington, DC, San Francisco, L.A., even Edmonds recently passed laws to place fees or even ban plastic bags. 

Seattle’s green bag fee reflects a grassroots effort of thousands of Seattle citizens who packed public hearings and sent in emails, calls, and letters to City Hall in support of action.

Referendum 1 isn’t a tax. Many of us won’t even pay the fee. It’s easy and free to bring your own bags, or if you wish to use disposable pay 20 cents to cover production and disposal costs.

In the 1980’s and 90’s, industry used similar arguments against curbside recycling. Two years ago they opposed the ban on Styrofoam food containers. Today they are spending hundreds of thousands to mislead us about Referendum 1.  
Send a message to Big Oil: APPROVE Referendum 1.

Statement Submitted by: Marc Beaudreau, Board President, Central Coop’s Madison Market; Brady Montz, Seattle Group Chair, Sierra Club; Kathy Nyland, Community Leader

__________________________

Seattle Green Bag Campaign
PO Box 2764, Seattle, WA 98111
206-763-2050, 206-381-8597 (Fax)
bradym@balestra.org; www.greenbagcampaign.org

The question before voters is not whether protecting the environment from waste and litter is important – of course it is – but whether Referendum 1 is the right solution. Once voters see what’s really in Referendum 1, they’ll conclude it’s the wrong approach.

 

• It makes NO sense to spend taxpayer dollars on another city-run program that includes $1,000,000 to buy reusable bags and another $150,000 to tell us how to use them! It makes NO sense when 90% of us already reuse and recycle our bags.

 

 

• It’s NOT a step forward to pass a measure full of loopholes. Referendum 1 exempts grocery products purchased at big box stores like Target and Fred Meyer.

 

 

• It’s NOT optional to pay - we ALL PAY for two new city employees to run the program.

 

 

We’re tired of the Mayor and City Government making the same mistakes over-and-over again.

 

 

Reject Referendum 1. 

 

 

Statement Submitted by: Mary Ayline Eversole, Natalie Sessions, Daveda Russell, Gilbert Hancock

 

 

__________________________

 

 

Coalition To Stop The Seattle Bag Tax
1425 Broadway, Box 537, Seattle, WA 98122
206-352-5607, 206-299-9995 (fax)
www.stoptheseattlebagtax.com

 

ORDINANCE 122752 was passed by the City Council and ordered referred by petition.

 

Date passed: July 28, 2008

 

 

Vote: 6-1

 

 

AN ORDINANCE relating to the City of Seattle’s solid waste system, establishing an advanced recovery fee (a green fee) for disposable shopping bags, providing a deduction for the green fee from the City’s business license tax, creating two new positions, and amending Seattle Municipal Code Chapters 21.36, 21.40, and 5.45.

 

 

WHEREAS, the Washington State Legislature in RCW 70.95.010(8)(a) established waste reduction as the first priority for the collection, handling, and management of solid waste; and

 

 

WHEREAS, the Washington State Legislature in RCW 70.95.010(4) found that it is “necessary to change manufacturing and purchasing practices and waste generation behaviors to reduce the amount of waste that becomes a governmental responsibility”; and

 

 

WHEREAS, the Washington State Legislature in RCW 70.95.010(6)(c) found that it is the responsibility of city governments “to assume primary responsibility for solid waste management and to develop and implement aggressive and effective waste reduction and source separation strategies”; and

 

 

WHEREAS, in 2007 the City Council adopted, the Mayor concurring, Resolution 30990, which reaffirmed the City’s 60% recycling goal and set a longer-term goal of 70% recycling along with targets for waste reduction; and

 

 

WHEREAS, Resolution 30990 called for studies on how to reduce Seattleites’ use of hard-to-recycle materials, many of them plastics, and specifically required Seattle Public Utilities (“SPU”) to propose strategies, including bans, to discourage the use of disposable plastic shopping bags; and

 

 

WHEREAS, SPU has completed the first of those studies, finding that the production, use and recycling or disposal of both plastic and paper disposable shopping bags have significant adverse impacts on the environment; and

 

 

WHEREAS, costs associated with the use and disposal of disposable shopping bags in Seattle creates burdens on the City’s solid waste disposal system; and

 

 

WHEREAS, to discourage and decrease the use of disposable shopping bags in the city, it is necessary to regulate such use; and

 

 

WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of the health, safety and welfare of the people that regulation include the imposition of a fee to discourage the use of disposable shopping bags, to reduce the cost of solid waste disposal by the city, to protect the environment, and to recover the costs of regulation; and

 

 

WHEREAS, Seattle has become a national leader among cities in green house gas reduction and seeks to further that effort through waste reduction and increased recycling; NOW, THEREFORE,

 

 

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:

 

 

 Section 1.  Seattle Municipal Code Chapter 21.40 is amended by adding new Section 21.40.075 to read as follows:

 

 

SMC 21.40.075  Advanced recovery fee (green fee) for disposable shopping bags

 

 

A.  Effective January 1, 2009, all grocery stores, drug stores, and convenience stores, each as defined in subsection J, shall charge and collect a twenty cents ($0.20) advanced recovery fee, a Green Fee, for each disposable shopping bag provided to customers.  It shall be a violation of this section for any store that is subject to the requirements of this section to pay or otherwise reimburse a customer for any portion of the Green Fee.

 

 

B.  All grocery stores, drug stores, and convenience stores shall indicate on the customer transaction receipt the number of disposable shopping bags provided and the total amount of the Green Fee charged.

 

 

C.  The Director of Seattle Public Utilities may establish by Administrative Rule, pursuant to Seattle Municipal Code Section 3.12.020, limitations on the application of the Green Fee for sales of non-grocery merchandise at warehouse clubs and supercenters.

 

 

   D.  On a quarterly basis and as otherwise may be required by the Director, all stores required to collect Green Fees under this section shall report and remit the City’s portion of the Green Fees collected to the Director, as provided below, and may retain the remaining portion to offset administrative and other costs incurred in implementing the Green Fee required by this section.

 

 

1.  Grocery stores, drug stores, and convenience stores with annual gross sales of less than one million dollars ($1,000,000) may retain one hundred percent (100%) of the total amount collected.

 

 

2. Grocery stores, drug stores, and convenience stores with annual gross sales of one million dollars ($1,000,000) or more shall remit seventy-five percent (75%) of the total amount collected to the City.

 

 

3.   Payments and receipts shall be reported on forms prescribed by the Director.  The form shall be signed by a responsible officer or agent of the store.  The individual signing the form shall swear or affirm that the information in the form is true and complete. 

 

 

   E.  City revenue generated from the Green Fee on disposable shopping bags shall be deposited in the Solid Waste Fund and used to support solid waste prevention and recycling programs.

 

 

   F.  The Director shall develop and maintain a database of all grocery stores, drug stores,  and convenience stores required to collect the Green Fee and shall collect and deposit payments into the Solid Waste Fund.

 

 

   G.  If payment of any amounts due under this section are not received by the Director on or before the due date, the Director shall add a penalty calculated in the same manner as the penalty imposed under Seattle Municipal Code Section 5.55.110 A, as it now exists or as it may be amended.  Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to deem any fees required under this chapter to be a tax.

 

 

   H.  If the Director determines that any amounts due under this section have been substantially underpaid, as defined in Seattle Municipal Code Section 5.55.110 B, there shall be added a penalty calculated in the same manner as the penalty imposed under Seattle Municipal Code Section 5.55.110 B, as it now exists or as it may be amended.  Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to deem any fees required under this chapter to be a tax.

 

 

   I.  Any fee required by this section that is not paid within ninety (90) days after the due date shall be subject to interest and calculated in the same manner as the interest imposed under Seattle Municipal Code Section  5.55.090 B, as it now exists or as it may be amended.  Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to deem any fees required under this chapter to be a tax.

 

 

   J.  For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply.

 

 

1.  “Advanced Recovery Fee” or “Green Fee” means a charge or regulatory fee levied against the distribution, purchase, or use of a product in order to discourage its use, thereby reducing its presence in the waste stream and its ancillary environmental impacts, and to recover costs associated with the recycling or disposal of the product.

 

 

2.  “Convenience stores” means all retail stores falling under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 445120 (convenience stores) or NAICS code 447110 (gasoline stations with convenience stores).

 

 

3.  “Director” means the Director of Executive Administration or any officer, agent or employee of the City designated to act on the Director's behalf.

 

 

4.  “Disposable shopping bag” means a bag of any material, commonly kraft paper or plastic film, designed for one-time use to carry customer purchases from a store.  “Disposable shopping bag” does not include: bags used by customers inside stores to package bulk items such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, grains, candy, or small hardware items, such as nails and bolts; bags used to contain or wrap frozen foods, meat or fish, whether prepackaged or not, flowers or potted plants, or other items where dampness may be a problem; bags used to protect prepared foods or bakery goods; bags provided by pharmacists to contain prescription drugs; or newspaper bags, door-hanger bags, laundry-dry cleaning bags, or bags sold in packages containing multiple bags intended for use as garbage, pet waste, or yard waste bags.

 

 

5.  “Drug stores” means all retail stores falling under NAICS code 446110 (pharmacies and drug stores) or NAICS code 446191 (food and health supplement stores).

 

 

6.  “Grocery stores” means all food stores falling under NAICS code 445110 (supermarkets and other grocery), or NAICS code 452910 (warehouse clubs and supercenters).

 

 

Section 2.  The purpose of the Green Fee established by this ordinance is to regulate the generation of waste from disposable shopping bags by creating an economic incentive for customers to use reusable shopping bags.  To further promote the use of reusable shopping bags and reduce the quantity of disposable shopping bags entering the City’s waste stream, the Director of Seattle Public Utilities is authorized to make available to the public free-of-charge reusable shopping bags to the extent the director determines that such a program will significantly reduce the costs associated with the recycling and disposal of disposable shopping bags.

 

 

Section 3.  Section 5.45.100 of the Seattle Municipal Code is amended as follows:

 

 

5.45.100  Deductions.

 

 

 In computing the license fee or tax, the following may be deducted from the measure of tax:

 

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

 

      X.  Amounts collected by grocery stores, drug stores, and convenience stores from customers to pay the Green Fee imposed under SMC 21.40.075, including that portion of the fee that the store is entitled to retain to offset costs incurred to implement and administer the Green Fee.

 

 

Section 4.  Section 21.36.922 of the Seattle Municipal Code is amended as follows:

 

 

SMC 21.36.922  Civil infractions.

 

 

A.  The violation of or failure to comply with any section of this subtitle ((chapter)) identified in this section is designated as a civil infraction and shall be processed as contemplated by RCW Chapter 7.80.

 

 

B.   The violation of or failure to comply with any of the following sections shall be a civil infraction and subject as a Class 1 civil infraction under RCW 7.80.120 to a maximum monetary penalty and default amount of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00), not including statutory assessments:

 

 

SMC Section 21.36.420 (Unlawful dumping of solid waste)

 

 

SMC Section 21.40.075  (Advanced recovery fee (green fee) for disposable shopping bags)

 

 

*   *   *   *   *

 

 

Section 5.   To carry out the purposes of this ordinance, the following new positions are created in the Department of Executive Administration.

 

 

Department	Position   Title	Position    Status	Number of     Positions
Department of   Executive   Adminstration	Admin   Spec II-BU	Full Time	1
Department of   Executive   Administration	Tax Auditor	Full Time	1

 

 

         Director is authorized to fill these positions subject to civil service and personnel rules and laws.

 

 

Section 6. To assist implementation of the green fee, SPU shall include the actions in Attachment A in its 2008 and 2009 work plans.

 

 

Section 7.  The provisions of this ordinance are declared to be separate and severable.  If a court of competent jurisdiction, all appeals having been exhausted or all appeal periods having run, finds any provision of this ordinance to be invalid or unenforceable as to any person or circumstance, such offending provision shall, if feasible, be deemed to be modified to be within the limits of enforceability or validity.  However, if the offending provision cannot be so modified, it shall be null and void with respect to the particular person or circumstance, and all other provisions of this ordinance in all other respects, and the offending provision with respect to all other persons and all other circumstances, shall remain valid and enforceable.

 

 

Section 8.  This ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty (30) days from and after its approval by the Mayor, but if not approved and returned by the Mayor within ten (10) days after presentation, it shall take effect as provided by Seattle Municipal Code Section 1.04.020.

 

 

ATTACHMENT A

 

 

GREEN FEE IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS

 

 

The following actions shall be completed to assist implementation of the disposable shopping bag green fee. The deadlines for reporting action results to the Environment, Emergency Management, and Utilities Committee are shown in parentheses after each action. SPU shall:

 

 

A.  Conduct an intensive public education and outreach campaign starting at least 90 days before the effective date of the green fee. SPU shall incorporate within that campaign, messages about the importance of keeping reusable bags clean and properly containing meat to prevent leakage (report on outreach strategy due by September 30, 2008).

 

 

B.   Develop a proposal for minimizing impacts of the green fee on low-income customers and submit a written report to the Environment, Emergency Management, and Utilities Committee. The proposal should evaluate:

 

 

1.   Making free bags available at the checkout stand during 2009 for low-income customers who do not have enough reusable bags to carry their purchases.

 

 

2.   Options such as a City-issued punchcard available for 2009 that pre-pays the green fee for a certain number of shopping bags when low-income customers bring too few reusable bags.

 

 

3.   Methods to minimize the cost to food banks if the projected reduction in use of disposable bags from groceries, convenience stores and drug stores reduces the number of disposable shopping bags donated to food banks. 

 

 

4.  Ways that SPU will work with low-income service providers including food banks, Seattle Housing Authority and other non-profit housing providers to distribute information and multiple reusable bags to low-income households (November 25, 2008).

 

 

C.  Develop business record-keeping and reporting requirements that are as simple as possible to reduce the administrative burden on businesses (December 1, 2008).

 

 

D.  Assess the additional cost to businesses of implementing the green fee and submit a written report (December 1, 2009).

 

 

E.  Evaluate the potential benefits and costs of extending the green fee to all retail businesses and submit a written report (December 1, 2009).

 

 

F.   Evaluate the effectiveness of measures taken to address impacts on low-income customers and submit a written report (December 1, 2009).

 

Simple majority (Seattle City Charter, art. IV, sec. 1.M)