Council drafting recyclable bag regs
BY MELISSA KARSH Staff Writer

RED BANK - The borough may join the ranks of other environmentally friendly cities like San Francisco by 2009 if the Borough Council approves a recyclable bag ordinance.

Mayor Pasquale Menna removed the ordinance from the Nov. 26 agenda in favor of allowing the parties that would be affected by the measure, namely store owners, to have more time to look over the provisions and give their input.

"I really want to give it some time for the business owners as well as residents to respond, and I just think it's got to be out there in the public domain," said Menna. "More importantly, we should get the comments from the people who are going to be most affected by it."

The measure, however, was discussed as it had been in the past during the workshop portion of the meeting.

"We don't want to introduce this until Jan. 1, so it gives the businesses an opportunity to look at it, criticize the ordinance, maybe tweak the plan a little bit. But I think that if you look at all of the information, all of the effects it has on the environment, and then the cost [to] the borough … it makes sense," said Councilman Michael DuPont, who has been championing this initiative over the last several months and led the Nov. 26 discussion.

DuPont also had some statistics about plastic bags and their environmental impact.

"Each year an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide, which is over 1 million bags per minute, of which billions end up as litter each year," said DuPont.

The dissenting voice in the crowd came from Councilman John Curley.

"I have some grave concerns about legislating at the local level. I just don't think it accomplishes anything. We should look at a resolution to the state of New Jersey," said Curley.

DuPont's draft of the ordinance states, the "Mayor and council of the borough of Red Bank believe that environmental issues can, and should, start at the local level" and that because of the borough's location along the Navesink River, the borough "has a special responsibility to preserve and enhance the cleanliness and beauty of the Navesink River, which can be achieved by reducing the amount of discarded plastic bags which may eventually find their way into the river."

Curley said he thought the ordinance would cause too much of a burden on code enforcement.

"It's not going to happen overnight - the elimination of these plastic bags, so what we are thinking about doing is staggering the implementation of this ordinance," DuPont said.

He said the draft of the ordinance includes an 18-month timeline for the measure to be implemented.

"[The staggering] gives merchants an opportunity to promote reusable bags as well as biodegradable bags; also you have some implementation over a period of time, which gives RiverCenter as well as all businesses an opportunity to implement it."

The measure includes criteria for what constitutes recyclable and reusable bags and a penalty schedule for those who violate the terms of the ordinance.

The ordinance also stipulates that by June 1, 2009, all stores should only provide reusable, compostable or recyclable bags at checkout.

"By 6/1/09, there will be no plastic bags permitted here in the borough of Red Bank. We're paying about 17 cents per bag that Red Bank disposes [of] in the landfill. So we are going to be saving money," said DuPont.

He added, "I think that this ordinance has a plan of action; it has an implementation plan, and more importantly, it has already promoted the environmentally safe business practices."

The penalties for those who violate the ordinance include a fine no greater than $100 for a first violation, a fine no greater than $200 for a second violation within the same year, and a fine no greater than $500 for each additional violation within the same year.

According to the ordinance, "The borough attorney may also seek legal, injunctive, or other equitable relief to enforce this ordinance. All fines or penalties collected as a result of this ordinance shall be dedicated to borough-sponsored environmental programs, or initiatives."

DuPont said he worked with Councilwoman Mary-Grace Cangemi and the Red Bank Environmental Commission on the measure.

Cangemi, who is the liaison to the commission, said, "The idea was to start at the holiday season, as DuPont suggested, with getting people on board with buying the canvas bags and sort of getting people on the right page with this."

She also suggested that representatives from Red Bank RiverCenter meet with the environmental commission to get input from business owners.

She added, "Obviously it's a win for the environment; it would be a win for the borough. We need to make it a win for the vendors as well. I think that we can do that if we all sit down together."