MBRA Files Brief Supporting City's Plastic Bag Ban

The city of Manhattan Beach received assistance Friday from a community group typically more inclined to point out its shortcomings.

The Manhattan Beach Residents Association (MBRA), a 20-year grass-roots neighborhood organization, filed an amicus brief with the California Supreme Court, supporting the city's 2008 attempt to ban the distribution of single-use plastic bags in its retail shops and supermarkets.

The ban was suspended by the Los Angeles County Superior Court in early 2009, a decision subsequently upheld by an appellate court. In April of this year, the state Supreme Court decided to pick up the case.

"In general we tend to keep a close eye on what the City Council and what the city's doing, and we're often critical," MBRA President Michelle Murphy said Friday in explaining the reason for the filing. "So we thought by doing an amicus brief, it'd be a chance for us to support them in what they do—to say this is a good thing that you did. We want to help you and be a friend in court and support what you tried to do here."

With the filing, MBRA has joined the city in arguing against the Save the Plastic Bag Coalition—an assortment of plastic bag manufacturers and retailers. The coalition has sought to invalidate the city's ordinance against the bags on the grounds that it did not first conduct a full environmental impact report (EIR) exploring the potential unintended consequences of the ban, namely an increase in paper bag use.

Because the group was successful both at the trial court and appellate level, the threat of litigation has since caused other California cities to allocate money toward preparing an EIR before trying to ban the ubiquitous bags. The city of Santa Monica completed an EIR in June that is 246 pages long.

The MBRA's brief was filed by William Benz of the firm Carico Johnson Toomey on a pro bono basis. Two other statewide organizations also filed briefs supporting Manhattan Beach: The League of California Cities and Californians Against Waste.

"The Manhattan Beach Residents' Association is an organization of folks that care about the quality of life in Manhattan Beach," Murphy said.

"Some folks were actually concerned about not having free bags for picking up after their dogs," she added with a laugh. "But for the most part we all agreed that the health and safety of the ocean were more important."

To view the amicus brief filed by the MBRA, click here.