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<section number="19-150" name="Legislative Intent" law="code" slug="sec-19-150" node_id="PTIITI17PULOLAPRGECOMA_SUBTITLE_19PO_DIV7NMPSTST_S19-150LEIN">
  <level label="a">
    <text>The County Council adopted the Prince George's County FY 2017-2026 Comprehensive Ten Year Solid Waste Management Plan on May 2, 2017.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>The County Solid Waste goals set forth in the Plan are to: concentrate future growth, prioritize and focus resources, build on strengths and assets, create choice communities, connect neighborhoods and significant places and protect and value our natural resources. Recycling and re-use of materials are a significant part of the Plan.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <text>There is a growing trend among local jurisdictions to ban or significantly reduce the use of non-compostable straws and stirrers as a measure towards more sound environmentally sustainable activities. Plastic straws are a component of roadside and marine litter. Plastic straws have a detrimental negative impact on the waterways and Oceans. Many of those end up in our streams and Oceans, polluting the water and killing marine life.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="d">
    <text>Various County watershed protection and environmental organizations have advocated for reducing or eliminating the use of non-compostable straws and stirrers to help address serious stream degradation in the County, including the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for trash in the Anacostia River.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="e">
    <text>The County Council of Prince George's County concludes that it is in the public interest to join in this effort by prohibiting the use of non-compostable straws and stirrers in Food Service or Retail businesses located in Prince George's County, under certain circumstances.</text>
  </level>
</section>
