SLO County ban on polystyrene has survived — but it took a game of hardball to get it done

A countywide ban on polystyrene has survived a repeal attempt, but not before exposing — once again — the deep political divide in San Luis Obispo County.

The new rule, which covers everyday items like Styrofoam cups, foam take-out containers, “peanuts” and other packaging materials, is now in effect, but will not be enforced as yet.

The staff of the Integrated Waste Management Authority (IWMA) was asked to report back with details on how much it will cost to conduct an education campaign targeting affected businesses.

The repeal effort was defeated Wednesday thanks only to a little-known provision in the IWMA joint powers agreement. It allows a member agency to call for a “super-majority” of eight votes of the 13-member board, which includes all five supervisors, a representative from each of the seven cities, and one representative for community services districts.

San Luis Obispo City Councilwoman Jan Marx was the one who called for the super majority rule on the motion to repeal.

The final vote was 7-6 in favor of the repeal — the same as two previous votes already taken on the issue. That meant the motion failed and the polystyrene ban became a countywide regulation.

Objections to the ban, which initially passed on an 8-2 vote in 2019, had been based more on political ideology than substance.

Conservatives on the IWMA board believe it should be up to individual member agencies — which include all seven cities and the county — to pass such a regulation, rather than having one foisted upon them by a countywide board.

Use of the super-majority rule took some members by surprise.

County Supervisor Debbie Arnold — perhaps the most ardent backer of the repeal — said she’d never before seen it used in the eight years she’s been on the board.

Supervisor Lynn Compton, who was also in favor of overturning the polystyrene ban, wondered whether this will now become a frequent tactic.

Marx said she doubts that will happen.

“In my opinion, the super majority vote will not be used very often. The repeal vote was a very unusual situation,” she said in an email.

We hope she’s right.

It makes far more sense to try to win support through compromise, rather than playing the super-majority card.

Unfortunately, in this case efforts to compromise didn’t work; previous attempts to revise the ordinance to make it less stringent or to reduce the penalties for noncompliance were rejected.

When another attempt to broker a compromise was made at Wednesday’s meeting, this time liberals on the board rejected it, which forced the failed vote on the repeal.

It wasn’t a pretty win, but the effort by conservatives to overturn the ban was far worse.

It included a threat to drop out of the IWMA — a move that would have serious repercussions for constituents, since it would almost certainly be substantially more costly to run two separate waste management agencies than a single, combined one.

While conservatives on the Board of Supervisors did not renew that threat at Wednesday’s meeting, other board members spoke to that possibility.

Marx referred to the effort as a waste of taxpayer funds, and urged the Board of Supervisors to do a thorough fiscal and environmental analysis before making such a move.

It shouldn’t have to come to that.

The mere idea of disbanding a cost-effective, countywide agency over ideological hair-splitting is ludicrous. To actually carry through on it would be beyond belief, especially since a polystyrene ban is practically inevitable.

A statewide recycling and plastics reduction measure headed for the 2022 ballot includes a polystyrene ban, among other new requirements, and has a good chance of passing.

It’s beyond time for this regulation.

Polystyrene is harmful to wildlife, it’s been classified as a probable human carcinogen and it adds to the stream of litter that winds up in our landfills, our oceans and along our roadsides.

Passing a countywide ban was the right thing to do.

It’s unfortunate that it required hardball tactics to get it done.

This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 12:10 PM.