UPDATE: California single-use bag bill steps forward

A proposed California measure, known as the most stringent restriction ever imposed on grocery chains and pharmacies by any state in the country, is one step closer to being signed into law.
On May 28, AB 2058 (Levine–Brownley-Davis) passed off the California Assembly floor with 44 votes. If passed, this bill would require large grocery chains and pharmacies statewide to charge a 25-cent fee on single-use plastic and paper bags if a 70 percent reduction in bag usage is not achieved by the end of 2010, according to Santa Monica-based environmental group Heal the Bay.
Similar policies in other countries such as Ireland have been extremely successful and have resulted in reductions upwards of 90 persent, the group says.
"Single-use bags, especially plastic bags, wreak havoc in the marine environment and cause extreme environmental blight. Each year local governments spend millions of dollars to clean-up litter such as plastic bags and to landfill this waste," Heal the Bay says.
The bill now moves to the Senate Environmental Quality Committee.
Having consulted closely with the bill’s authors for the past few months, Heal the Bay is hopeful that the Senate will pass the measure, as it tackles one of the worst sources of marine debris.