The town council in Dillon this week gave preliminary approval of an ordinance to ban plastic bags and Styrofoam containers, while allowing vendors to put a fee on paper bags.

Summit Daily reported that the ordinance would take effect next August, and contains exemptions for packaging for bulk food items, meats, prescription drugs and newspapers, among other types of products.

In May 2019, a Dillon Valley Elementary School fifth grade class spoke to the council about banning plastic bags. Council members discussed the subject during work sessions in June and July of this year.

Through the ordinance, the council declared that disposable plastic bags have a detrimental effect on wildlife and storm drainage, and that “studies and the experience of other Colorado municipalities document that banning the use of plastic bags and authorizing markets to place a fee on paper bags will dramatically reduce the use of both types of bags.”

Violations of the ordinance beyond a warning include $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second offense and a series of noncriminal penalties for additional violations.

Earlier this year, the General Assembly killed a series of bills to similarly limit packaging waste, including a proposal that would enable local governments to ban the use and sale of “containers, packaging or labeling.” Some other municipalities that have implemented plastic bag bans have interpreted the language to not apply to bags.