Goodbye plastic bags

<p>Sonoma County supervisors Tuesday moved forward with a countywide ban on plastic bags now given out at grocery stores.</p><p>The ban would apply to grocery stores but not restaurants or bags used for meat and vegetables. The ordinance, which is still being fine-tuned to address questions about enforcement mechanisms and authority, would also levy a 10-cent charge on paper bags. That money would be collected by and go to the grocers.</p><p>The ban has been studied off and on since 2008. Supervisors and environmental advocates on Tuesday said it was time to advance it.</p><p>“The time has come,” said Supervisor Mike McGuire. “We've discussed this for the better part of half a decade now.”</p><p>With the supervisors' action, the board of the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency can begin the process of finalizing a draft of the ordinance and reviewing proposals to conduct the environmental review necessary before the ordinance is put into place.</p><p>The ban would not take effect until the summer of 2013.</p>