BROWNSVILLE, Texas (January 13, 2017) – At a Special Meeting on Thursday, January 12, 2017, the Brownsville City Commission voted to resolve the lawsuit over Ordinance Number 2010-911-F, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against the City of Brownsville on October 12, 2016.

Under the Texas Attorney General’s settlement proposal, the lawsuit against the City of Brownsville will be dismissed, and the City of Brownsville will voluntarily eliminate the fee associated with the ordinance.

No taxpayer funds will be used to resolve the litigation, which, upon formal approval from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, will be dismissed with prejudice as to refiling.

Ordinance Number 2010-911-F became effective on January 5, 2011, and has been extraordinarily successful in reducing the use of plastic bags throughout the community, thus diminishing the hazardous environmental impacts their misuse has caused. Since the ordinance became effective, it has eliminated plastic bags from the waste stream and has reduced the amount of litter on city streets, sidewalks, drainage systems and resaca waterways.

Environmental fees remitted to the City of Brownsville through the ordinance totaled approximately $4.4 million since 2011, and were used towards environmental programs and recycling and clean-up initiatives, including: street sweepers; recycling machinery and equipment; and beautification projects.

Moving forward, the Brownsville City Commission will examine additional options regarding how to diminish the environmental impact caused by plastic bags in the environment.

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