photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A cart of groceries in plastic bags is pictured Thursday, June 30, 2022, at a Lawrence grocery store.

After recently requesting to take up the issue again, city leaders will soon consider whether to pursue an ordinance that would ban single-use plastic bags.

As part of its meeting Tuesday, the Lawrence City Commission is scheduled to receive a recently approved recommendation from the city’s Sustainability Advisory Board to ban single-use plastic bags provided at checkout and begin an educational campaign about their environmental impact.

The board voted unanimously in June to recommend an ordinance that would ban single-use plastic bags provided by grocery stores and other businesses. The vote was the result of a discussion that goes back to 2018, and board members stressed the importance of taking a step in reducing plastic waste and educating the public about its harms.

Since the discussion on plastic-bag regulations began in 2018, the city has discussed either banning bags or requiring businesses that distribute them to charge customers a fee. A draft ordinance that called for a 15-cent fee for both single-use plastic and paper bags was previously recommended by the board and discussed at the commission level in 2019, but the process was delayed amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential for state legislation prohibiting such regulations. The commission then asked the board to restart the discussion in May.

The commission is scheduled to receive the board’s new recommendation as part of its consent agenda Tuesday. The agenda item is the opportunity for commissioners to direct staff regarding whether they would like to take further steps toward a potential ordinance. A city staff memo to the commission states that neither the city’s legal department or other city staff have conducted a review of the board’s draft ordinance, and that guidance is needed regarding a potential legal review, staff analysis and whether the commission would like to schedule the topic for further discussion.

Interim Sustainability Director Kathy Richardson said the commission may decide to take no action other than to receive the report, or, by pulling the item off the consent agenda, may provide further direction to staff. Richardson said that could include requesting more information from the board, directing the city attorney’s office and other city staff to work on the item, or providing other staff direction or guidance.

The draft ordinance prohibits single-use disposable plastic bags, defined as any bag less than 4 mils thick — about the thickness of a piece of paper — provided to a consumer by an establishment for the purpose of transporting food, beverages, goods or other merchandise. The ordinance would cover grocery stores, restaurants and other businesses that provide single-use bags at checkout. It would not include single-use plastic bags used for produce or reusable bags made of plastic that are designed for repeated use.

The proposed ordinance calls for the ban to begin nine months after the ordinance is passed, and it would require businesses that provide single-use plastic bags to put up signs making their customers aware of the upcoming change that also include some information about environmental and other impacts of plastic bags. The ordinance calls for compliance to be monitored by the city and for fines to be issued to establishments that don’t comply. The board decided that a more specific recommendation regarding how the ordinance should be enforced should come from city staff.

The commission will also receive two other recommendations from the board as part of its consent agenda. One provides recommendations regarding how the city handles noxious weeds, invasive plants and landscaping. The other recommends that the commission reconsider its decision to use natural (methane) gas to heat the new city bus station and instead use an electric-based system.

The Lawrence City Commission will convene at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.