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Teresa

SoWal Guide
Staff member
Nov 15, 2004
30,250
9,279
South Walton, FL
sowal.com
Florida Legislature to local governments: You can't ban plastic straws

Florida Legislature to local governments: You can't ban plastic straws

TALLAHASSEE — Local governments won’t be able to ban plastic straws for the next five years under a bill approved by the Legislature and headed to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The measure is the latest example of the constant tug-of-war between the Legislature and cities and counties over home rule.

Currently, 10 cities across the state have rules governing the use of plastic straws, which some say are a threat to the environment.

The House passed the bill (HB 771) last week, If DeSantis signs it, local governments would not be able to enforce any ordinance banning plastic straws until July 2024 at the earliest.

The vote Tuesday in the Republican-controlled Senate was largely along party lines.

Under the bill, the research arm of the Legislature would also be required to conduct a study of “each ordinance or regulation adopted” by local governments related to single-use plastic straws. A report of the study would need to be submitted by December to Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, and House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes.

Rather than focusing on the environmental impacts of plastic-straw bans, the study would focus on the “data and conclusions” used in adopting local ordinances.

This has irked environmental groups, which argue that sufficient evidence already exists that plastic pollution is detrimental to the environment. When lawmakers considered the proposal in committee hearings, groups often brought up a study by the World Economic Forum that said there will be more plastic by weight than fish in oceans by 2050.

State lawmakers have also taken aim at other local regulations that were enacted to protect the environment. One of those efforts is in a bill by Sen. Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine.

That bill targets local ordinances that restrict the sale and use of sunscreens containing certain chemicals that studies have found to damage coral reefs.

Orlando Sentinel
 

Jim Tucker

Beach Fanatic
Jul 12, 2005
1,189
497
Big government prevails and we lose again!

Medical clinics in Africa use disposable syringes over and over and over because they can't afford new ones. A main reason why they still have a problem with AIDS on the Continent.
 

FactorFiction

Beach Fanatic
Feb 18, 2016
494
409
How unfortunate, but private enterprise can decide to do the right thing regardless of what local, state, or federal government decides to do. I hope that plastic and styrofoam both become conveniences of the past in the next decade and that people will look to the future to make decisions for the present. If we don't, there will be little of our beautiful earth left to appreciate in future generations.
 
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