Bans

As the coronavirus surges in hard-hit Texas, threatening to overwhelm hospitals, the state supreme court affirmed the right of the governor to preempt local governments from enacting proven health measures to keep residents safe from infection.

August 17, 2021 - Houston Chronicle

On Tuesday night, the City Council of Berkeley, Calif., unanimously voted to ban natural gas infrastructure from new buildings starting next year, the first city in the U.S. to pass such an ordinance. Fifty cities in the state could be next.

July 22, 2019 - San Francisco Chronicle

Thanks to two recent New York State court rulings, disposable food and beverage containers will no longer be made from polystyrene in the nation's largest city. The ban was originally proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in February 2013.

January 4, 2019 - The New York Times

Think "The Graduate," but now the emphasis in the future of plastics may be on restrictions. California may become the first state to restrict access to plastic straws, and balloons could be next due to the harm they cause the marine environment.

August 26, 2018 - San Francisco Chronicle

Seattle's ban took effect Sunday, while San Franciso's proposed legislation, if successful, would begin July 1, 2019. Other cities have plastic straw restrictions, but Seattle's is the first outright ban. Compostable alternatives are permitted.

July 6, 2018 - Huffington Post

Shipping coal from Utah to export to Asia through a new cargo facility in Oakland, California took a significant step forward on May 15 with a strongly worded ruling condemning the adequacy of the city of Oakland's environmental analysis.

May 18, 2018 - KQED: California Report

There is plenty of debate surrounding a proposed law that would prohibit adults from entering city-owned playgrounds unless in the company of children.

January 12, 2017 - Los Angeles Times

The City Council in Oakland, California took its first, substantive steps toward banning the handling and storage of coal in the city.

July 3, 2016 - NBC Bay Area

The sledding ban on Capitol Hill was too much for Washington, D.C. residents to bear. They brought wintertime fun to Congress on yesterday's snow day.

March 6, 2015 - The Hill

Cities simply can't afford the lawsuits that follow sledding injuries. Time will tell how strictly such laws are enforced.

January 11, 2015 - Quartz

Did anyone think the final month of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's third, and final, term was going to wind down quietly? After taking on cigarettes, sodas, and trans fats, Bloomberg is going after plastic-foam food containers.

December 9, 2013 - The New York Times

The city of Baldwin Park, California -- purported home of the world's first drive-thru -- is temporarily banning any new construction of drive-thrus to try to combat obesity.

August 4, 2010 - The Christian Science Monitor

The city has hundreds of houseboats on its waterways, but new shoreline regulations could prohibit any new houseboats.

August 1, 2010 - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Certain fertilizers will be banned from use during summer months and rainy times of the year in Pinellas County, Florida after a recent ruling by the County Commission.

January 21, 2010 - St. Petersburg Times

Community activists are calling for a ban on new convenience stores in South Los Angeles, a lower income part of town that saw a ban on new fast food restaurants last year.

October 13, 2009 - The Los Angeles Times