HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdmin Order 53-19-14-FADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 53-19-14-F
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City Manager Pro Tern of the City of Eugene
AMENDMENT OF PLASTIC BAG USE ADMINISTRATIVE RULE R-
6.850 AND REPEAL OF ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 53-13-03-F.
The City Manager Pro Tern of the City of Eugene finds that:
A. Section 2.019 of the Eugene Code, 1971, authorizes the City Manager to adopt rules
for administration of provisions of the Eugene Code. Pursuant to that authority, on March 18,
2013, Administrative Order No. 53-13-03-F of the City Manager was adopted amending the Plastic
Bag Use Administrative Rule R-6.850.
B. On November 25, 2019, the City Council adopted Ordinance Nos. 20623 and 20624
concerning restrictions on the use of polystyrene containers and single-use checkout bags. Those
Ordinances became effective on December 27, 2019. Due to the adoption of Ordinance Nos.
20623 and 20624 and to meet requirements of House Bill 2509 (2019), it is necessary to amend
the Plastic Bag Use Administrative Rule R-6.850.
C. On November 26, 2019, I issued Administrative Order No. 53-19-14 ordering that
notice be given of the opportunity to submit comments on my proposal to amend Rule R-6.850.
The Notice specified that comments would be received for 15 days from December 1, 2019, the
first date of publication of the Notice.
D. One comment was received stating that the Single-Use Checkout Bag Ordinance
and Rules should not be amended. Response: It was necessary to amend the Ordinance due to
legislative changes made by the State. It should be noted that Ordinances are adopted by the City
Council and cannot be amended by the City Manager. The proposed amendments to the Single-
Use Checkout Bags and Polystyrene Rules are necessary in order to implement the Single-Use
Checkout Bag Ordinance and Polystyrene Ordinance adopted by the City Council. Therefore, no
changes are being made to the Rules as a result of the comment.
E. After the comment period, staff noticed that subsection 1 of R-6.850-A stated that
exemptions from the requirements in EC 6.876 could not last longer than December 27, 2020.
That provision is inconsistent with Ordinance No. 20623 which provides that requests for
exemptions will not be accepted after December 31, 2020. The Rule should be corrected so it is
consistent with the Ordinance. The correction is reflected in the Rules set forth below.
BASED UPON the above findings, the findings in Administrative Order No. 53-19-14,
and pursuant to the authority contained EC 2.019, I order that:
1. Effective December 27, 2019, the Plastic Bag Use Administrative Rule R-6.850 is
renamed and amended as set forth below.
2. Administrative Order No. 53-13-03-F is repealed effective December 27, 2019.
Administrative Order -Page 1 of 3
R-6.850-A
POLYSTYRENE AND SINGLE-USE CHECKOUT BAG
ADMINISTRATIVE RULE R-6.850
Polystyrene --Undue Hardship.
1. EC 6.878 allows for Eugene retail food and beverage establishments to request an
exemption from the requirements set forth in EC 6.876 Polystyrene Container Use for up to a one-
year period. Requests for exemptions will not be accepted after December 31, 2020.
2. Retail food and beverage establishments seeking an exemption shall electronically
submit an Exemption Request to the City of Eugene at wasteprevention@ ci.eugene .or.us. To be
deemed complete , the Exemption Request must include:
a. The name, address and type of the retail food and beverage establishment;
b. A detailed statement describing:
(1) The reason( s) meeting the code requirements would create an undue
hardship or practical difficulty;
(2) Any and all actions taken by the retail food and beverage
establishment to overcome the hardship;
(3) How often the retail food and beverage establishment purchases
polystyrene containers, when the last order of polystyrene containers was made,
and how many polystyrene containers were ordered.
c. If a retail food and beverage establishment is requesting an exemption for
multiple locations, each location must be identified within the Request.
3. The City may deny an exemption request based upon a finding that:
a. The Request is materially incomplete or inaccurate; or
b. The circumstances do not create an undue hardship or practical difficulty
not generally applicable to other retail food and beverage establishments in similar
circumstances.
4. Upon receipt of a complete request, the City shall provide written notice to the
requester of approval or denial of the request. The notice shall state the reason for approval or
denial.
Administrative Order -Page 2 of3
R-6.850-B. Enforcement.
1. Pursuant to EC 2.018 and EC 6.995, and Administrative Civil Penalty
Administrative Rule R-2.018, the City may impose administrative civil penalties on responsible
persons for violation of any provision of EC 6.850 through EC 6.855, and EC 6.874 through 6.878.
2. Each day a violation occurs or continues constitutes a separate violation. Each
violation of EC 6.855(a) and 6.855(b) or 6.876 constitutes a separate violation.
3. Notwithstanding the guidelines for administrative civil penalties contained in
Administrative Civil Penalty Administrative Rule R-2.018 , if a civil penalty is deemed by the City
Manager or designee to be excessive in relationship to the nature of the violation, the City Manager
or designee may reduce the fine based on consideration of the following criteria:
a. Whether the violation results in benefits to the responsible party, economic
or otherwise;
b. Whether the violation was isolated and temporary or repeated and
continuous;
c. The length of time from prior violations;
d. The magnitude and seriousness of the violation;
e. The costs of investigation of the violation;
f. Other relevant, applicable evidence bearing on the nature of seriousness of
the violation.
4. A person against whom an administrative civil penalty has been imposed may
appeal the decision according to the procedures described in EC 2.018.
5. A person against whom an administrative civil penalty has been assessed must pay
the penalty within fifteen days of notice from the City. After the fifteenth day, interest will accrue
on unpaid amounts.
Dated this __ day of December, 2019.
Sarah edary
City Manager Pro Tern
Administrative Order -Page 3 of 3