PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Florida legislators are considering a bill that would impact the regulation of single-use plastic containers. Some environmental organizations are already fighting this bill in the Tampa Bay Area.
Kelly Andres walks her dog near Crisp Park every day and tries to clean up litter whenever she sees it.
"I definitely see plastic pollution right around the water line pretty much every time I'm out…whether its fishing line, vape cartridges, single-use plastic water bottles, plastic bags is one I see," said Andres.
"Things like cups, containers, bags," said Justin Tramble with the Tampa Bay Waterkeeper.
Instead, regulatory power would be in the state's hands.
But Justin Tramble with the Tampa Bay Waterkeeper said there is no one size fits all when it comes to regulating plastics in Florida.
"There's that political will that exists to limit plastics from going into the water; because they are coastal communities, they may be governed differently than inland communities," said Tramble.
Tampa Bay Waterkeeper said taking away the local regulations of these single-use containers would negatively impact our waterways.
"A bill like this would no doubt lead to more plastic pollution and marine debris in our water," said Tramble.
ABC Action News did try to contact Senator Martin who is backing the bill, for comment, but we haven't heard back.
Andres believes regulatory power should remain with local municipalities but wishes all municipalities would devise better solutions.
"It would be wonderful if there was a type of way the state and local communities could also work together and kind of build more of a vision of what they would like to see with the environment," said Andres.
“We’re ready for our visitors.”
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