Referendum on California plastic bag ban qualifies for 2016 ballot.

The plastics industry has won an 16-month stall on California's landmark plastic bag ban, if it doesn't kill the ban entirely.

Today the American Progressive Bag Alliance announced its initiative to repeal SB 270, the 2014 bill banning single-use plastic retail bags and instituting a $0.10 charge for paper bags statewide, has qualified for the November 2016 ballot.

That means instead of kicking in this July, the statewide bag ban will be on hold until the election.

As the Weekly reported in December, the referendum won't affect the 100-plus California cities and counties that have adopted local plastic bag bans.

Those include every jurisdiction in Monterey County except the two smallest, Del Rey Oaks and Sand City.

By adopting localized bag bans before SB 270's passage, cities throughout Monterey Bay were able to craft rules even stricter than the state's. Starting next month, single-use plastic bags will no longer be given out in Marina, Pacific Grove or the unincorporated county. Seaside's ban kicks in Sept. 21.

While Sand City officials stand by their pro-plastic stance—the city, pop. 334 and home to two big-box centers, is also the lone holdout allowing expanded polystyrene packaging—Del Rey Oaks is making progress toward its own plastic bag ban.

Last summer the DRO City Council passed a resolution of intent to adopt its own plastic bag ban, but it has yet to do so. According to Deputy City Clerk Kim Carvalho, the council is not going to wait to see what happens with the stalled statewide ban: "They do intend to pass an ordinance regardless."