A bill concerning the purchase and sale of single-use plastic water bottles by state and municipal governments — as well as the mandated installation of free-to-use water refill stations in certain facilities — was rejected by the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee at the request of its sponsor.
LD 1418 — An Act Concerning Single-use Disposable Water Bottles and Water Refill Stations — was introduced last session by Rep. Lori K. Gramlich (D-Old Orchard Beach) and carried over into this year for consideration.
Rep. Gramlich, however, asked the Environment and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday to vote against the bill at this time, as she felt that there would not be enough time this session to adequately develop the legislation.
LD 1418 aimed to primarily accomplish two things: (1) to prohibit the sale of single-use plastic water bottles by food establishments providing services at state or local functions and (2) to require the installation of water refill stations in public facilities, as well as retail establishments that continue to sell single-use plastic water bottles after a set date.
If passed, LD 1418 — as it was originally drafted — would have banned the provision of single-use plastic water bottles at state or local facilities or functions.
The bill also sought to prohibit “an agency, department, board, commission or institution of the State or of a political subdivision” from purchasing single-use plastic water bottles except under a state of emergency declared by the governor.
Additionally, all state and local government facilities would have been required to install a “reasonably accessible” water refill station.
LD 1418 also initially aimed to require the installation of water refill stations that could be used free of charge at retail establishments that choose to sell single-use plastic water bottles to the public.
Gramlich had requested, however, that Committee members amend the bill to strike this requirement in order to allow the government to “model the behavior we want to see” and “give us the chance to examine a longer timeline to work with the private sector to accomplish this goal more broadly.”
Click Here to Read the Full Text of LD 1418
While advocates of environmentalism — including the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) — testified in support of this legislation for its expected benefits to the environment, business and municipal interests have testified in opposition.
During Wednesday’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee meeting, Gramlich expressed her continued commitment to the issues addressed by this bill, citing concerns over a lack of time to properly work on the legislation this session as the reason for her decision to ask that the bill be voted down.
“I didn’t want to minimize the importance of this policy area, nor of my commitment to it,” Gramlich said. “Given the time in this session — and given the work I was hoping to embark upon relative to this policy initiative — I am sadly aware that I’m not going to have the time to complete all that I would like to.”
A bill along these same lines was brought before the Legislature in 2021 — also sponsored by Gramlich — but the Environment and Natural Resources Committee ultimately voted “Ought Not to Pass” on the measure, halting further consideration of the proposal at that time.
It remains to be seen whether or not a bill concerning plastic water bottle usage in Maine will again be taken up by lawmakers during a future legislative session.
Why do proposed solutions always seem to go way overboard?
Ban the plastic bottles, FULL STOP.
This has almost zero economic impact on anyone, though suppliers would grumble about it.
Water needs to be sold in cans, like soda and many other beverages. This is already being done in other areas.
The suppliers already have the technology to do this. Consumers would continue to buy water.
And we would eliminate an enormous amount of plastic waste. And in 6mos, people would be wondering why they didn’t do this 10yrs ago.
But no. They had to talk on this nonsense about free refill stations. So the town hall would need to provide a refill station?…why? They don’t have a refill station now. There’s no way you’ll get this legislation through when people become aware of the cost involved in installing all of the refill stations.
Decouple this, and submit legislation that a) makes sense, and b) actually accomplishes something.
Why do Democrats dislike the American people so much? They do nothing to benefit their constituents.
Isn’t Gramlich a Democrat? And don’t Democrats trace their roots to Thomas Jefferson? Was it Thomas Jefferson or his muse, John Locke, who said, “The best government is that which governs least.” One thing is for certain – Lori Gramlich didn’t say it. And her failure to say it or link to its principles shows the Democrat Party has abandoned its roots.