New rules passed to cut down on trash in S.F. Bay

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Dozens of cities surrounding San Francisco Bay are facing new rules intended to cut down on the amount of trash that ends up in bay.

The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board voted in favor Wednesday of regulations that would require 70 cities to take steps to make sure that fewer plastic bags, chemicals and other pollutants get into storm drains and creeks, and ultimately into San Francisco Bay.

The new rules require cities to reduce the amount of storm water trash by 40 percent by July, 2014.

After seven years, the amount of trash would have to be reduced by 70 percent, with a 100 percent elimination of trash in 12 years.

A water board official says cites that don’t meet the requirements would be facing fines ranging from $25,000 per day to $10 per pound of trash.

originally published at: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/10/14/state/n220542D43.DTL