By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Daily Star
Bisbee’s city attorney told Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Tuesday that his community’s regulations on plastic bags are none of the state’s business.
In a sometimes sharply worded letter, Britt Hanson detailed the city’s problem with blowing bags and the eyesore and expense they caused prior to a 2013 city ordinance. That law prohibits retailers from providing free single-use plastic bags to customers; paper bags from recycled material can be provided, with retailers required to charge a nickel.
The result, he said, has been a cleaner community and lower costs for retailers.
Hanson said there was no reason for the Legislature to approve a 2016 law preempting local governments from regulating the bags. Some lawmakers voted for the law to overturn the Bisbee ordinance without ever having been to the community, he said.
