O25861
City Council Meeting: August 28, 2018 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2586 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA AMENDING CHAPTER 5.44 OF THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL
CODE TO PROHIBIT THE DISTRIBUTION OF NON-MARINE DEGRADABLE
DISPOSABLE FOOD SERVICE WARE
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica (“City”) has been a leader in setting goals
for sustainable resource consumption, including maintaining ecosystems in order to
provide clean water from sustainable sources, keeping marine waters safe for active and
passive recreation, supporting a sustainable climate that supports thriving human life and
a flourishing biodiverse environment, and implementing comprehensive waste disposal
systems that do not degrade the environment; and
WHEREAS, the state Legislature has recognized that littered plastic products have
caused and continue to cause significant environmental harm and have burdened local
governments with significant environmental cleanup costs (California Public Resources
Code Section 42355); and
WHEREAS, the state Legislature has further declared its intent to ensure that
environmental marketing claims, including claims of biodegradation of plastics, do not
lead to an increase in environmental harm associated with plastic litter by providing
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consumers with a false belief that certain plastic products are less harmful to the
environment (California Public Resources Code Section 42355); and
WHEREAS, over one hundred municipalities in California, including the City, have
adopted ordinances prohibiting or restricting polystyrene food service ware and requiring
the utilization of cost-effective reusable, recyclable, or biodegradable alternatives, which
have reduced the volume of polystyrene products in our waste streams and throughout
our natural environment; and
WHEREAS, the City wishes to prohibit the distribution of certain non-marine
degradable disposable food service ware by food and beverage providers within the City
in order to promote health, safety, and general welfare.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 5.44 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby amended
to read as follows:
Chapter 5.44 NON-MARINE DEGRADABLE DISPOSABLE FOOD SERVICE
WARE
5.44.010 Definitions.
(a) “Director” means the Director of Public Works or his or her designee.
(b) “Disposable food service ware” means disposable products intended for
single or limited number of uses, used in the restaurant and food service industry for
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serving or transporting prepared, ready-to-consume food or beverages. Disposable food
service ware includes, but is not limited to, plates, cups, bowls, trays, hinged or lidded
containers, straws, stirrers, lid plugs, lids and utensils. This does not include disposable
packaging for unprepared foods.
(c) “Food or beverage provider” means any business, organization, entity,
group, or individual providing prepared food or beverages for public consumption on or
off its premises within the City of Santa Monica.
(d) “Marine degradable” means products recognized as “marine degradable”
under California state law, Public Resources Code Section 42357, or designed to
biodegrade under the marine environmental conditions of aerobic marine waters or
anaerobic marine sediments in less than 120 days. Products predominantly made with
plastics, either petroleum or biologically based, shall not be considered marine
degradable.
(e) “Polystyrene” means a synthetic material made from polymerizing styrene.
This type of plastic can be identified as Plastic #6.
(f) “Prepared food” means any food or beverage prepared on the food
provider’s premises, using any cooking or food preparation technique. This does not
include any raw uncooked meat, fish or eggs unless provided for consu mption without
further food preparation. Prepared food may be eaten either on or off the premises.
5.44.020 Prohibition on the use of non-marine degradable disposable food
service ware.
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(a) Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, a food or beverage provider
shall dispense prepared food or beverages to customers only in marine degradable
disposable food service ware.
(b) A food or beverage provider shall provide marine degradable disposable
straws and utensils to customers only upon request. A food or beverage provider may
ask customers whether disposable straws or disposable utensils are needed.
(c) All City facilities, whether owned or leased by the City, City-managed
concessions, City-sponsored events, and City-permitted events shall use only marine
degradable disposable food service ware to dispense prepared food or beverages.
(d) Food and beverage providers, as well as City facilities, City-managed
concessions, City-sponsored events, and City-permitted events, may retain and dispense
plastic straws as an accommodation to people with disabilities who request them to enjoy
equal access to food and beverage services within the City.
5.44.030 Exemptions.
(a) The Director may exempt a food or beverage provider from the
requirements of this Chapter, in whole or in part, upon showing by the food or beverage
provider that complying with the requirements of this Chapter would cause significant
economic hardship to the food or beverage provider and no reasonable alternative exists
that is consistent with the requirements of this Chapter and would mitigate such significant
economic hardship.
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(b) Exemptions shall be granted only by the Director for one-year and only upon
written application by the food and beverage provider setting forth the factual basis for
the exemption. Further exemptions may only be granted by the City Council.
(c) Exemption decisions shall be effective immediately and shall not be subject
to administrative appeal.
5.44.040 Regulations.
(a) The Director is authorized to promulgate regulations to implement the
provisions of this Chapter.
5.44.050 Enforcement, penalties, and fines.
(a) Any person violating any provision of this Chapter, including any
administrative regulation authorized herein, shall be guilty of an infraction, which shall be
punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred and fifty dollars per violation.
(b) Any person violating any provision of this Chapter, including any
administrative regulation authorized herein, may be subject to administrative citations
pursuant to Chapter 1.09 of this Code.
(c) The City Attorney may seek legal, injunctive, or any other relief to enforce
this Chapter, including any administrative regulation authorized herein.
SECTION 2. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or appendices
thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such
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inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to
effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any
court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed
this Ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not
declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance
would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 4. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage
of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the official
newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become effective on
January 1, 2019.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_________________________
LANE DILG
City Attorney
Approved and adopted this 28th day of August, 2018.
_____________________________
T e d W i n t e r e r , M a y o r
State of California )
County of Los Angeles ) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do
hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 2586 (CCS) had its introduction
on August 14, 2018, and was adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting
held on August 28, 2018, by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Himmelrich, McKeown, O’Connor, O’Day, Vazquez,
Mayor Pro Tem Davis, Mayor Winterer
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ATTEST:
_____________________________________ _________________
Denise Anderson-Warren, City Clerk Date
A summary of Ordinance No. 2586 (CCS) was duly published pursuant to
California Government Code Section 40806.
Ted Winterer (Sep 20, 2018)
Ted Winterer
Sep 20, 2018