ROSSLAND, B.C – In January, businesses who repeatedly hand out plastic checkout bags could face fines ranging up to $10,000.
The much-anticipated bylaw was passed after third reading by a unanimous city council.
“We just do not need them. There are other alternatives. This is an object that had its purpose, but it had unintended consequences”, mayor Kathy Moore told MyNelsonNow.com.
Although the initiative has been celebrated widely, there are still legal questions that will need to be straightened out after a recent ruling in B.C’s Court of Appeals on a similar bylaw in Victoria.
The court ruled in favor of the Canadian Plastic Bag Association, CPBA, who argued the bylaw did not regulate businesses as stated but was in fact an environmental policy outside municipal jurisdiction.
That would mean such a ban would have required provincial approval first, leaving the bylaw invalid.
However, according to media reports, several businesses in Victoria voluntarily remain plastic bag-free, which echoes Rossland’s already established practice.
According to Mayor Kathy Moore, most shoppers come prepared and decline to receive their purchases in plastic bags.
Enforcement of the bylaw as it currently is written would leave a business that hands out a bag with a $100 fine per time, and repeated offenses could lead to a substantial fine of up to $10,000.
Moore says enforcement will not begin until January to allow businesses and customers to adapt.