r-10556City Council Meeting: January 25, 2011 Santa Monica,
California
RESOLUTION NO. 10556
{City Gouncil Series)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA MAKING FINDINGS
NECESSARY TO APPROVE THE SINGLE-USE CARRYOUT BAG ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, an Environmental Impact Report has been prepared which analyzes
the environmental effects of the Santa Monica Single-use Carryout Bag Ordinance in the
City of Santa Monica; and
WHEREAS, on January 25, 2011, the City Council, as Lead City Agency, reviewed
the Final Environmental Impact Report; and
WHEREAS, on that date, the City Council certified that the Final Environmentai
Impact Report was prepared in full compliance with State and City CEOA Guidelines,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION i. Consistent with Article 1V, Section 12 of the City of Santa Monica
CEQA Guidelines and Section 15128 of the State CEQA Guidelines, the Initial
Study/Notice of Preparation, incorporated herein by reference, determined .that the
following environmental impacts were not considered potentially significant and were not
addressed further in the Final Environmental Impact Report ("Final EIR"): Aesthetics,
Agricultural Resources, Construction
Effects, Cultural Resources, Economic and Social Impacts, Geology/Soil, Hazards and
Hazardous Materials, Land Use/Planning, Mineral Resources Neighborhood Effects, Noise,
Population/Housing, Public Services, Recreation, Shadows, and Utilities and Service Systems.
SECTION 2. Consistent with Article VI, Section 12 of the City of Santa Monica CEQA
Guidelines and Sections 15091 and 15092 of the. State of California CEQA Guidelines, the City
Council finds that none of the impacts resulting from the project would result be significant.
More specifically, as detailed in the Final EIR at Sections 4.0-5.0, incorporated herein by
reference, the Santa Monica Single-use Carryout Bag Ordinance would have less than
significant impacts with respect to Air Quality (Section 4.1), Biological Resources (Section 4.2),
Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Section 4.3), HydrologyM/ater Quality (Section 4.4),
Transportation/Traffic (Section 4.5), and Long term impacts (Section 5).
SECTION 3. The City Council is not required to make findings rejecting the alternatives
described in the Final EIR since all of the project's significant impacts will be less. than
significant. However, the City Council does conclude that none of the project alternatives,
including the No Project alternative, are clearly environmentally superior to the proposed
project. The No Project alternative fails to meet the stated objectives of the project. It would
not reduce the number of single-use plastic and paper bags distributed by retailers and used
by customers in Santa Monica and promote the shift toward the use of reusable carryout bags
by retail customers. Instead, millions of single use carry out bags would continue to be
distributed annually ih the City and thereby continue to litter the environment, block storm
drains, foul beaches and seriously impact the marine environment and water quality. The Ban
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on Plastic Bags, No Cost Pass-through alternative also fails to meet the stated objectives of
the project. Without Cost Pass-through, under this alternative customers may be persuaded
to increase the use of single-use paper bags compared to existing conditions since there
would be no monetary incentive to primarily use reusable carryout bags. Thus impacts related
to air quality and greenhouse gas emissions under this alternative would be increased
compared to the proposed ordinance. Among the alternatives studied, the City Council finds
that the Ban on Both Single-use Plastic and Paper Bags Alternative would be environmentally
superior. This alternative would result in beneficial effects to the environment compared to
existing conditions in the areas of air quality, biological resources, greenhouse gas emissions,
hydrology/water quality and transportation/traffic. This alternative would also meet the project
objectives including reducing the number of single-use plastic and paper bags distributed by
retailers and used by customers in Santa Monica; promoting a shift toward the use of reusable
carryout bags by retail customers in Santa Monica; reducing the environmental impacts related
to single-use plastic and paper carryout bags such as air quality, biological resources
(including marine environments), greenhouse gas emissions, water quality and traffic; and,
avoiding litter and adverse impacts to the marine environment. However, this alternative would
preclude customers in Santa Monica from having an option whether to use reusable bags or
paper bags with a cost pass-through forcing retail customers instead only to use reusable
bags. This alternative would be contrary to the objective of the proposed ordinance to
incrementally promote a shift towards the use of reusable carryout bags Requiring immediate
exclusive usage of reusable bags could lead customers to reject the goals of this proposed
ordinance and insist on legislative action to authorize plastic bag usage. Incremental change
can produce greater benefits in the long term.
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SECTION 4. Consistent with Section 21081.6(d) of the California Environmental
Quality Act, the documents which constitute the record of proceedings for approving this
project are located in the Office of Sustainability and the Environment, 1200 Santa Monica
Pier, Suite D, Santa Monica, California. The custodian of these documents is Dean Kubani,
Director.
SECTION 5. Consistent with Public Resources Code Section 21081.6, the City
Council does not need to adopt a Mitigation Monitoring Program, because the Single-use
Carryout Bag Ordinance would not result in any significant effects on the environment, as
detailed in Sections 2 of this Resolution.
SECTION 6. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this Resolution, and
thenceforth and thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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Adopted and approved this 25'h day of January, 2011.
Richard Bloom, Mayor
I, Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that
the foregoing Resolution No. 10556 (CCS) was duly adopted at a meeting of the Santa
Monica City Council held on the 25th day of January, 2011, by the following vote:
Ayes: Councilmembers: McKeown, O'Day,
Mayor Pro Tem Davis, Mayor Bloom
Noes: Councilmembers: None
Abstain: Councilmembers: None
Absent: Councilmembers: Holbrook, O'Connor, Shriver
ATTEST:
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Maria M. Stewart, Ci Clerk