Joint Special Council/BFPD
08/1/22 06:00 PM
Environmental Services
Jessica Reed
Resolution
Doc ID: 5088
COUNCIL RESOLUTION
AGENDA MATTER:
RESOLUTION DESIGNATING THE CITY AS THE ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR SINGLE-USE
FOODWARE REGULATIONS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City Council is being asked to re-consider the adoption of a resolution authorizing the city to enforce Assembly Bill 1276, which is a state regulation requiring a significant reduction in single-use foodware accessories provided by food facilities.
DISCUSSION:
On November 18, 2021, the California Legislature enacted Assembly Bill (AB) 1276, which prohibits a food facility, for on-premises dining or when using a third-party food delivery platform, from providing any single-use foodware accessory or standard condiment packaged for single use to a consumer unless requested by the consumer. The bill, which went into effect on January 1, 2022, defines a "single-use foodware accessory" as utensils, chopsticks, condiment cups and packets, straws, and stirrers that are used once and then discarded.
AB 1276 also prohibits single-use foodware accessories from being bundled or packaged in a way that prohibits the customer from taking only the item they want. AB 1276 does not apply to health care facilities, residential care facilities, and public and private school cafeterias. A food facility may ask a drive-through consumer if the consumer wants a single-use foodware accessory if the single-use foodware accessory is necessary for the consumer to consume ready-to-eat food, or to prevent spills of or safely transport ready-to-eat food.
On May 31, 2022, the city received a memorandum from the City Attorney's Office providing notification about the requirement for cities to designate an enforcement agency to enforce these requirements on behalf of the state before June 1, 2022. Given the time constraints, the earliest staff could get this item on the agenda for Council consideration was July 18, 2022.
On July 18, 2022 the resolution was not passed due a 2-1-0-2 vote of the City Council. Because this item was brought forward at the recommendation of our attorney's for the city to be compliant with state law, staff is bringing the item forward again for re-consideration by all voting members, providing clarity on the questions raised at the July 18th meeting. Solid waste staff attended the meeting via zoom but was unable to address the questions live due to technical difficulties.
There were two main questions by the Council about the item:
1. Question as to why certain single-use foodware items such as lids, were listed in the Resolution and not in the Assembly Bill.
The answer is that the resolution provided by the City Attorney's Office listed examples of single-use foodware accessories and included items meeting the definition of "single-use" but not listed under the definition of "single-use food-ware accessory". The resolution has since been updated to include only items listed in the bill as single-use foodware accessories.
Joint Special Council/BFPD
08/1/22 06:00 PM
Environmental Services
Jessica Reed
Resolution
Doc ID: 5088
COUNCIL RESOLUTION
2. Question as to whether the state would reimburse the city for costs associated with conducting enforcement.
The answer is no. The city proposes to incorporate the requirement into an existing process already conducted by current staff. The enforcement program would not create a significant increase in workload and would enable the city to achieve compliance with its responsibility under the law.
As explained in the previous staff report, annual reviews are already being conducted by Community Development staff on these types of businesses, so we would simply incorporate the requirement into the business license/fire permit process, adding a notice on the application and renewal forms so business owners and operators are made aware of the regulations and requiring they provide signed acknowledgement that their operation may be subject to enforcement action if not in compliance.
This approach makes the most sense as it meets the regulations by utilizing a mechanism already in place. This resolution does not preclude the city from later adopting more stringent enforcement measures if the Council desires, or transferring enforcement duties to the County via a separate agreement.
The state law specifies that the first and second violations of these provisions by a restaurant will result in a notice of violation, and any subsequent violation is an infraction punishable by a fine of $25 per day in violation, but not to exceed an annual total of $300.
If adopted, staff would create information on the city website and conduct general outreach to affected businesses. The city does not intend for the enforcement program to be extremely aggressive, but rather to focus on compliance assistance first, leaving the assessment of fines to serious offenders.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council adopt Resolution No. 5097-2022 designating the city as the enforcement agency for state regulations on single-use foodware accessories and standard condiments, and waive the full reading.