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IN THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN LEANDRO ORDINANCE NO. 2011-011 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN LEANDRO, AMENDING CHAPTER 3 -8 OF THE SAN LEANDRO MUNICIPAL CODE TO PROHIBIT THE USE OF POLYSTYRENE FOAM FOOD SERVICE WARE BY ALL FOOD VENDORS, CITY DEPARTMENTS, AND CITY CONTRACTORS, AND AT CITY - SPONSORED EVENTS WHEREAS, the City of San Leandro desires to protect the natural environment, its economy, and the health of its residents and visitors; and WHEREAS, CalRecycle estimates that Californians use 165,000 tons of polystyrene foam each year for packaging and food service purposes alone, and currently there is no economically feasible means of recycling this product locally; and WHEREAS, disposable food service ware constitutes a portion of the litter in San Leandro's streets, parks and public places that increases City maintenance costs; and WHEREAS, polystyrene foam is a common pollutant that fragments into smaller, non - biodegradable pieces that are ingested by marine life and other wildlife thus harming or killing them; and WHEREAS, due to the physical properties of polystyrene the EPA states "that such materials can also have serious impacts on human health, wildlife, the aquatic environment and the economy"; and WHEREAS, the City's goal is to replace polystyrene foam food service ware with reusable, recyclable or compostable altematives; and WHEREAS, the City encourages the use of unbleached, non - coated, recycled- content paper food ware and other fiber -based food ware as the most environmentally preferable alternatives when the use of reusable food ware is not feasible; and WHEREAS, this proposed Ordinance will preserve and enhance the environment within the City of San Leandro and is exempt from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act ( "CEQA "), as amended, pursuant to Guideline 15061(b)(3) and Guideline 15308, of the CEQA Guidelines; and WHEREAS, the City supports pending legislation to ban expanded polystyrene food packaging as well as statewide efforts to reduce the prevalence of expanded polystyrene and other plastic litter; and WHEREAS, to date at least 45 cities and counties in California that share this goal have passed ordinances or enacted resolutions banning polystyrene foam food service ware.