Policy

The law is designed to reduce the production of methane, which contributes to climate change, and will help the state achieve its climate goals.

Starting July 1, 2019, the law restricts the distribution of single-use plastic straws, including compostable plastic straws. Food and beverage vendors may no longer provide the following single-use plastic accessories: plastic beverage plugs, plastic cocktail sticks, plastic stirrers, and plastic toothpicks. This law also applies to event producers and retailers operating in San Francisco.

The Food Service and Packaging Waste Reduction prohibits the sale of food service ware and other specified products including packing materials that are made from polystyrene foam or that are non-recyclable and non-compostable.

The Clean Construction Ordinance contains requirements for project sites in the Air Pollutant Exposure Zone.

Restricts the sale or distribution on City property of drinking water in plastic bottles of 21 ounces or less.

Ordinance amending the Environment Code, by adding Chapter 23, to require new buildings that have drinking fountains to provide bottle filling stations.

The Healthy Air And Clean Transportation Ordinance is intended to assist the City in achieving its air pollution and greenhouse gas reduction goals by: promoting the use of vehicles that have zero or super ultra-low emissions, achieve high energy efficiency and use alternative fuels with a low carbon impact; implementing policies to minimize the use of single occupancy vehicles and reduce the total number of passenger vehicles and light-duty trucks in the municipal fleet; maximizing the use of outside sources to fund such programs; encouraging the creation, expansion, and maintenance of alternative fueling infrastructure in the City and at City facilities; encouraging trip reduction, carpooling, and public transit, and to increase bicycle commuting by providing cyclists with the opportunity to securely park their bicycles in or close to their workplaces.

A Mayo Clinic study issued in June 2013 found that nearly 70 percent of Americans take one prescription drug, up from 48 percent in 2007-2008. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health care providers in the United States wrote 259 million prescriptions for painkillers in 2012, enough for every American adult to have a bottle of pills. Municipal wastewater treatment plants are not designed to treat complex drug compounds that end up in the sewer system after being flushed down toilets and sinks. As a result, drugs can pass through wastewater treatment systems and contaminate receiving waters.

Beginning 15 days after the Department of the Environment adopts the regulations required under Section 1104(d), cell phone retailers must display in a prominent location visible to the public, within the retail store, an informational poster developed by the Department of the Environment as referenced in Section 1104.

No person may sell, offer for sale, or otherwise Distribute within the City (1) any Food Service Ware that is not either Compostable or Recyclable, (2) any Food Service Ware made, in whole or in part, from Polystyrene Foam, (3) any single-use stirrers, splash sticks, cocktail sticks, or toothpicks made with plastic, including compostable, bio- or plant-based plastic, or (4) beginning January 1, 2020, any Food Service Ware that is Compostable and not Fluorinated Chemical Free.

Except as provided in this Chapter, no Person, other than the owner or resident of the property where the C&D Debris was generated, a City department, or an entity performing activities approved and funded through the City’s refuse rate-setting process, may Transport or cause the Transport of, and no Person may accept or cause acceptance for processing of, C&D Debris unless the transporting and/or accepting Facility has valid permit(s) and/or registration(s) as required by this Chapter. Except as provided in this Chapter, all C&D Debris must be Transported to and processed at a Facility registered under this Chapter and may not be Transported directly to landfill. No Person shall direct or cause the Transport of C&D Debris to landfill unless the material is documented to have been received as Beneficial Reuse, or the material is Processed Residual from a Facility registered under this Chapter. This provision is not intended to preclude or inhibit Source-Separation or carrying of Source-Separated materials to appropriate facilities, or the carrying of Processed Residual to landfill.