UPDATE: Harsher statewide plastic bag ban fails

But weaker bill passes that would impose a 15-cent charge if grocers don't meet recycling requirements:
Here's some enviro news that might have been missed last month, or at least I failed to update it.
The most restrictive ban ever on plastic bags used in grocery stores and drug stores California, spearheaded by Los Angeles County and environmental group Heal the Bay, was actually voted down in the legislature last month, after an ordinance was passed by the Santa Monica City Council.
AB 2829, the CA bill to impose a statewide 25-cent fee on plastic shopping bags, stalled in the Legislature on Monday, April 14, according to healthebay.org.
The Web site states that a weaker competing bill, AB 2058, was approved which would implement a 15-cent bag fee only if recycling goals are not met. However, proposed changes to AB 2058 look promising.
The Assembly Natural Resources Committee considered two competing bills targeting plastic bags. The committee voted against AB 2829, a bill that would have imposed a mandatory fee on plastic carryout bags, authored by Assemblymember Mike Davis (D-Los Angeles) the bill proposed a statewide fee of 25 cents per bag by 2009, that would have been marked as the "most aggressive action by any state legislature in the nation to curb the proliferation of plastic bags and limit their negative impacts on the environment."
However, the committee passed its competing bill, AB 2058, authored by Assemblymember Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), which is weaker because, Heal the Bay states, the bill would "give grocery chains and large drug stores three years to meet recycling goals to reduce plastic carryout bag pollution, with an eventual fee of 15 cents if the future targets are not met."
"Although Heal the Bay is disappointed that the committee denied the stronger of the two bills, the future looks promising for statewide plastic bag legislation in California. In negotiations surrounding the hearing, Assemblymember Levine agreed to:
• Bring on Assemblymembers Davis and Brownley (D-Santa Monica) as joint authors of AB 2058.
• Amend the bill to increase the fee from 15 to 25 cents.
• Streamline the the bill's recycling targets.
• Include language in the bill repealing previous legislation that preempts local governments from placing a fee on plastic carryout bags.
The new bill comes just a few months after the Santa Monica City Council approved an ordinance on Feb. 26 that would ban all "single use" plastic bags from stores in the city, and impose a for customers who would prefer to use them.
The council's decision had been delayed until staff had further recommendation, but now it is final.
However, many grocery companies have debated over whether plastic is being given a "bad wrap," so to speak, since paper bags burn more fuel in production and cause more of a CO2 concern in landfills, if not just as much. Some consultants have said the concern is over the customers' responsibility for handling the plastic bags.
Studies have estimated that more than 1 million sea birds, 100,000 marine mammals and countless fish die annually through ingestion of and entanglement in marine debris, including plastic bags.