{"id":27494,"date":"2020-02-14T10:35:43","date_gmt":"2020-02-14T16:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=27494"},"modified":"2020-02-14T10:35:43","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T16:35:43","slug":"proposal-to-bar-cities-from-banning-single-use-plastics-discussed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=27494","title":{"rendered":"Proposal to bar cities from banning single-use plastics discussed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local governments could not ban single-use plastics and certain other materials under a bill heard Feb. 12 by the Natural Resources Committee.

\"Sen.
Sen. Dan Hughes<\/figcaption><\/figure> <\/p>\n

Introduced by Sen. Dan Hughes of Venango, LB861 would prohibit a county, municipality or agency from adopting, enforcing or administering an ordinance or resolution that prohibits the use of or sets standards, fees or requirements regarding the sale, use or marketing of \u201cconsumer merchandise and containers.\u201d <\/p>\n

The prohibition would not apply to county, municipality or agency recycling or solid waste collection programs.<\/p>\n

The bill defines consumer merchandise, in part, as merchandise that is offered for or provided with sale or lease and \u201cany container used for consuming, carrying, or transporting such merchandise.\u201d<\/p>\n

It defines a container as a single-use or reusable bag, cup, package, container, bottle or other packaging made of cloth, paper, plastic, cardboard, aluminum, glass or certain other materials and that is \u201cdesigned for consuming, protecting or transporting merchandise, food or beverages from or at a food service or retail facility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hughes said LB861 would ensure that Nebraska businesses are not burdened by varying or conflicting regulations on those materials in different jurisdictions. He said local governments have considered bans or taxes on plastic bags, bottles, cups, cutlery and other items that, if enacted, would subject businesses to a regulatory \u201camalgamation.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have made it impossible for them to comply with regulations within their communities, across state lines and the global economy,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Additionally, Hughes said, LB861 would encourage manufacturing methods that reduce waste by creating products that are adaptable to secondary uses through processes such as biomass and pyrolysis, the decomposition of materials at high temperatures.<\/p>\n

Jim Otto testified in support of the bill on behalf of the Nebraska Retail Federation and the Nebraska Restaurant Association. Otto said \u201cpatchwork regulation\u201d complicates container distribution and increases costs for retailers and restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is our position that something this important deserves statewide attention and that the passage of LB861 will encourage the development of a well-thought-out and comprehensive statewide recycling policy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dale Gubbels, president of an Omaha recycling company, also testified in support. He said pyrolysis can help reduce the amount of plastic sent to landfills by turning it into diesel fuel, heating oil and naphtha, from which new plastic products can be made.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would be an in-state end market for something that we\u2019re now paying easily $20 million a year to landfill,\u201d Gubbels said.<\/p>\n

Also testifying in support was Kathy Siefken of the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association. She said bans on single-use plastic bags, such as the one passed by the Omaha city council and vetoed by Omaha\u2019s mayor last year, make \u201cwinners and losers\u201d of stores based on what they sell and ignore the fact that plastic bags take fewer resources to make than paper bags. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe single-use plastic bag is an environmentally friendly item that \u2026 should not be banned in local areas,\u201d Siefken said.<\/p>\n

Ron Sedlacek testified in support of LB861 on behalf of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the National Federation of Independent Business in Nebraska, the Greater Omaha Chamber and the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce. <\/p>\n

Sedlacek said the bill would create a \u201cfriendly climate\u201d for Nebraska retailers as well as manufacturers, processors and distributors. He said approximately 20 states including Colorado, Iowa and Missouri have enacted some type of statewide regulation on containers and packaging. <\/p>\n

Michael J. O\u2019Hara testified in opposition to LB861 on behalf of the Nebraska chapter of the Sierra Club. He said retailers want a \u201cban on bans\u201d and opposed statewide regulation under another bill introduced this session that would impose a 5-cent fee on single-use plastic bags. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo regulation is not statewide regulation,\u201d O\u2019Hara said, \u201cand that\u2019s what this would propose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Megan Jackson testified in opposition to the bill on behalf of the Nebraska Recycling Council, saying it would strip away cities\u2019 authority to regulate or manage plastic pollution in their communities. <\/p>\n

She said cities may have a number of reasons to ban or regulate a particular product, such as the desire to mitigate litter\u2019s effects on ecosystems or wildlife, improve public health or reduce toxins. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis bill isn\u2019t proposing a solution at all,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just limiting our own local governments from creating their own innovative solutions for reduction and recycling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local governments could not ban single-use plastics and certain other materials under a bill heard Feb. 12 by the Natural Resources Committee. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[147],"class_list":["post-27494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-natural-resources","tag-sen-dan-hughes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27494"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27496,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27494\/revisions\/27496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}