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As the war to end the use of plastic bags at retail POS (point of sale) rages on in cities across California (and America), the most recent of the 50 states, Hawaii, has become the first in the country to outlaw plastic bags outright.

The statewide ban came as a result of Honolulu, the last holdout among Hawaii’s cities and counties, banning usage of the bags earlier this month.

As reported by the Honolulu Star Advisor, the city’s Mayor Peter Carlisle signed off on the plastic bag ban on May 10 after City Council approved it by a margin of 7 -1 late last month. The Honolulu ban goes into effect on July 1, 2015.

But according to Treehugger, loopholes in the bill render it less than 100 percent effective. Running down the laundry list of exemptions cited by KHON 2, plastic bags can still be used to package loose items (produce, grains, coffee, etc.), prepared foods, frozen foods, flowers and even prescriptions.

"We hope people are going to understand that between now and 2015 we're going to be hoping that more and more of them are going to be bringing their own bags to the grocery stores, reducing the problem that plastic bags are already causing," Honolulu Mayor Carlisle said upon signing the bill.

klearchos/Flickr (Creative Commons-licensed)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has denied a petition to ban a plastic-hardening chemical common to food and drink packaging such as bottles and cans.

The FDA has decided that there is not enough evidence proving that the chemical known as bisphenol A (AKA BPA) is hazardous to human health, and would need to see the data from federal studies currently being conducted before considering such a ban.

“The information provided in your petition was not sufficient to persuade FDA, at this time, to initiate rulemaking to prohibit the use of BPA in human food and food packaging,” David H. Horsey, an acting associate FDA commissioner, said in a letter to the Natural Resources Defense Council as reported in Bloomberg.

Health advocates have been swift to criticize the FDA’s decision.

"We believe FDA made the wrong call," Sarah Janssen, senior scientist in the public health program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement to the Huffington Post. "The agency has failed to protect our health and safety ­-- in the face of scientific studies that continue to raise disturbing questions about the long-term effects of BPA exposures."

According to the National Institutes of Health, BPA mimics female hormone estrogen and may affect the brain and prostate gland in fetuses and young children.

The FDA’s denial of the petition is a win for the chemical industry, and they were also quick to respond to the news.

"FDA's decision today, which has taken into consideration the best available science, again confirms that BPA is safe for use in food-contact materials, as it has been approved and used safely for four decades," said Steven G. Hentges of the American Chemistry Council in a statement to the Huffington Post.

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You won't be seeing these around S.F. much come October.

Plastic bags, man. Seemingly so innocuous, but what once seemed like a convenience have become like our version of Star Trek's “Tribbles,” those cute, fuzzy-ball creatures that reproduced at such an insane rate they threatened to engulf all of the Enterprise.

The city of San Francisco has had enough. With the full support of Mayor Ed Lee, the S.F. Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a new ban on the use of plastic bags in any retail establishment. The rule broadens San Francisco’s previous decision that outlawed big supermarkets and chain pharmacies from using the offending satchels, and would go into effect in October.

The ruling also states that stores charge 10 cents for any bag (paper or plastic) they give customers to use, and pocket the revenue.

There are some exceptions to the rule, including for dry cleaners, the use of fish and my favorite, bulk candy.

While San Francisco had been the America’s first city to rule against the use of plastic bags back in 2007, other locales have gone on to pass even stricter bag bans.

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It just looks so innocent...

What we’ve got here, to paraphrase the Captain from movie Cool Hand Luke, is a failure to communicate.

Like many of you, I was taken aback and more than a little perplexed by yesterday’s news claiming that Frisbee-tossing and football throwing had been deemed a fineable misdemeanor on L.A. County beaches over the summer months.

Doing my due diligence, my research included reading the entire 37-page ordinance explaining the various nuances of this new ban. Turning to Section 28, 17.12.150 on pg. 15, I read the following passage:

“A violation of this chapter is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000, and/or imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding 6 months.”

This is the magic passage that caught my eye. While it seemed excessive, it wasn’t outside of the realm of possibility. Footballs and Frisbees are projectiles, and on a crowded beach could become quite dangerous.

Reading Section 49, 17.12.430 regarding ball-playing restrictions, it reads:

“It is unlawful for any person to cast, toss, throw, kick, or roll any ball, tube, or any light object other than beach ball or beach volleyball upon or over any beach, except for the following…”

It then lists a series of provisions making any of those non-beach ball/volleyballs OK to play with, including specially marked areas, permits, off-season, and more.

But digging deeper into the passage, the fine “not exceeding $1000” is specified for particular instances: nudity & disrobing (17.12.360) and operating “sail boards, kite boards, paddleboards, ocean kayaks, surf skis, rigid-hull surf-craft and similar objects” (17.12.460). 17.12.410 is also mentioned as a violation applicable to the above fine, but is not detailed in the actual ordinance.

Therein lies the rub. So what’s the penalty for throwing a damn football?!

That’s where L.A. County steps in, sending over an email today outlining the details of the ball throwing ordinance:

“The newly revised Beach Ordinance does not ban footballs, soccer balls, or Frisbees on L.A. County beaches.  Instead, the Ordinance provides a set of guidelines for safe ball playing at the beach.”

Which is not entirely true, if you read on to the next passage:

“Beachgoers may throw, kick, or roll any ball or light object on L.A. County beaches during the off-peak season between Labor Day and Memorial Day as long as persons or property are not endangered, and may do so year-round in established and/or designated areas or if they receive permission from the Department of Beaches and Harbors or a lifeguard.”

Which is really just another way of saying that all of the above are indeed forbidden during the actual summer months, or without a special permit. If I were to show up in July and started whipping a Frisbee around, I would be in violation of the ordinance.

But the question remains: what’s the fine for said violation?

“If the ball-playing code section is violated, the violation is an infraction punishable by a fine in accordance with California Government Code section 25132 as follows”, continues today’s email from L.A. County.

“(b) Every violation determined to be an infraction is punishable by (1) a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) for a first violation; (2) a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200) for a second violation of the same ordinance within one year; (3) a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) for each additional violation of the same ordinance within one year."

A-ha! The truth is the light, and it’s getting rather bright around here. Too bad this info couldn’t have been included in the original ordinance, but hey: better late than never.

So there you have it: fun with language, omitted information and the self-righteous indignation that comes with all of it. In the end, we got to the truth, and I have the sweet privilege of being the slain messenger. Not bad for an unusually warm February day. I say a bunch of bloggers meet up on a nearby beach the day after Memorial Day for a game of touch football just to see what happens. Hey, it’s only $100, right?

And I didn’t even mention that it’s now illegal to dig a hole deeper than 18 inches in the sand of L.A. County beaches now, either. But I’m quite happy in the one I’m in now, so have at it.

Brian Watt/KPCC

At least you can still play volleyball.

It’s the prototypical summer scene: shiny, happy people frolicking on the beaches of Los Angeles, playing catch and tossing Frisbees. Now the L.A. Board of Supervisors has passed a sprawling, 37-page ordinance that outlines restrictions on the throwing of the apparently offending objects on L.A. County beaches. 

It’s not a sweeping ban: Specifically, the ordinance frowns upon “any person to cast, toss, throw, kick or roll” anything outside of a beach ball or volleyball on any L.A. beach between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The basic idea is to protect the general public from flying objects during the peak summer months, when beaches are at their most crowded. So those aspiring to be the next Gabrielle Reece are good, but Eli Manning wannabes, not so much. And the Frisbee Olympics are definitely out. The rules are not so stringent over the winter and spring months, so plan accordingly.

Correction, clarification and update: L.A. County is saying the new ban actually loosens an earlier, unenforced restriction that has been in place for a long time. This post originally stated that the fine was $1,000. It's lower than that for football and frisbee-throwing, and the ordinance and its history is also a bit more nuanced than how we originally described it. For further clarification, here's another post.