Honolulu City Council Chair Ernie Martin has, as promised, introduced a bill that would have Honolulu join the three neighbor islands in banning plastic checkout bags.

Bill 10, introduced Thursday, would prohibit Oahu businesses from providing “nonbiodegradable plastic bags” to their customers at the point of sale. Businesses can instead provide compostable, reusable or recyclable bags.

Violators would be subject to fines of $100 to $1,000 per day.

Kauai, Maui and Big Island already have similar island-wide bans. The Hawaii Legislature has considered a statewide fee on single-use bags.

Similar efforts here have failed before. When Martin told Civil Beat in December that he intended to introduce a bill, he said he intended to review the issues that created hurdles during previous attempts and intended “to craft a bill that has a reasonable chance of being adopted.”

Does this bill have a “reasonable chance”? It’s up for first reading next week in Kapolei. We’ll start to find out then.

(Photo by Flickr user swanksalot)