HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0064.001 2010-2012Pete Hoffmann
Vice Chair /Councilman
District 9 - North and South Kohala
HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL
Hawai `i County Building
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, Hawai `i 96720
County of Hawai `i
Phone No. Hilo: (808) 961 -8027
Phone No. Waimea: (808) 887 -2043
Fax No.: (808) 887 -2072
E -Mail: poffmann&o.hawaii.hims
Holomua Center
64 -1067 Mamalahoa Highway, Suite C -5
Waimea, Hawaii 96743
TO: Dominic Yagong, Chair
and Members of the Hawaii County Council
FROM: rte Hoffmann, Vice Chair
Date: January 28, 2011
Subject: Environmental Protection Agency Press Release; Plastic Bag Reduction
Please find attached a United States Environmental Protection Agency press release relating to
the reduction of plastic bags in Kauai and Maui Counties.
Please process this communication in advance of the February 1, 2011, Committee on
Environmental Management meeting.
Thank you.
PH /dh
att
Comm. No. 6 • `
Ref. To: � / Aic
Ref. Date FE B 0 1 2911
U.S. EPA applauds Maui and Kauai for decision to ban
plastic shopping bags
Release date: 01/27/2011
Contact Information: Dean Higuchi, 808 -541 -2711, higuchi.dean @epa.gov
(01/27/11) HONOLULU — The US Environmental Protection Agency today applauds the Mayors,
County Councils and residents of Maui and Kauai counties in Hawaii for enacting restrictions
banning plastic shopping bags — reducing their waste and protecting the environment in a single
action.
"The leadership shown by the Counties of Maui and Kauai in banning these bags will help keep
their environments pristine, said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA's Regional Administrator for the Pacific
Southwest. "This will not only decrease the amount of plastic in the counties, but it will reduce the
number of bags that end up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — an enormous area of floating
plastic waste."
The County of Maui and Kauai join American Samoa in banning plastic shopping bags in the
Pacific area. Other cities like San Francisco, Portland, San Jose, Santa Monica, Marin County,
South Padre, Texas, coastal North Carolina, and other California cities like Malibu, Palo Alto,
Fairfax, and Los Angeles County have bag bans. California cities of Fremont, Sunnyvale, Santa
Cruz, Trent Hills, Long Beach, Santa Clara County, and other areas such as New York City,
Seattle, Boston, Phoenix, Arkansas, Oregon, Vermont, Connecticut, and Maryland are also
considering legislation to ban plastic bags. Other countries that have banned free plastic bags
include China, Bangladesh, Australia, Italy, South Africa, Ireland, and Taiwan.
The 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch' refers to two areas of floating plastic waste in the North Pacific
that have been identified by NOAA and many other organizations. These areas are located in
both the eastern and western Pacific and are composed of marine debris. The main type of
garbage in the patch is plastic litter along with other debris such as derelict fishing nets. Much of
the debris is very small bits of floating plastic debris broken down through photodegradation, and
surveys estimate that there may be as much as six times more plastic than plankton in parts of
the garbage patch. The County of Maui and Kauai's action will help protect many species of
Pacific marine and bird life, which attempt to consume the plastic debris after mistaking it for food.