California has long been the forerunner in the passing of laws for the betterment of the environment and health safety, hence, the newly passed law affecting Marin County and the City of Richmond.  

 

A material regularly found and used in the packing/transport and protection of food called polystyrene, (found in Styrofoam), has been officially banned because of its known carcinogenic properties which can leach into food. According to the EPA. polystyrene has serious implications on Human health and the overall environment. This new law requires all new container materials to be biodegradable and compostable.

 

The ordinance originally passed by the Marin County Board of Supervisors, was set to take effect January 1, 2010. However, such laws were not reinforced and no active participation with the ordinance was being enacted. Due to this discrepancy, beginning July 1st, the Marin County Health Services Department will begin actively mandating that such laws be followed. To that end, regular inspections will be made and routine restaurant walk-throughs will be scheduled to insure their compliance. If found non-compliant in Marin, restaurants

 will be issued a written warning and given 90 days to become so. If after 90 days, the status still remains out of ordinance, the restaurant will be cited with a violation to their discretion. In Richmond, all restaurants found non-compliant, will be cited.

 

For additional information regarding compliance with the new legislature, please contact Rebecca Ng of the Marin County Environmental Health Services Department at 415-499-6919. For more information on polystyrene and it’s harmful effects, visit the Marin County Website at:
www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/CD/Main/comdev/EHS/food/food.cfm

 

And for additional information for the City of Richmond, please contact Jennifer Ly at 510-621-1554