2022 -- H 7545

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LC004379

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS -- SANITATION IN FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS --

SINGLE USE PLASTIC STRAWS

     Introduced By: Representatives Newberry, Place, Fenton-Fung, McLaughlin, and Noret

     Date Introduced: February 18, 2022

     Referred To: House Environment and Natural Resources

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 21-27-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 21-27 entitled "Sanitation in

Food Establishments" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     21-27-1. Definitions.

     Unless otherwise specifically provided in this chapter, the following definitions apply to

this chapter:

     (1) "Approved" means approved by the director.

     (2) "Commissary" means a central processing establishment where food is prepared for

sale or service off the premises or by mobile vendor.

     (3) "Department" means the department of health.

     (4) "Director" means the director of health or the director's duly appointed agents.

     (5) "Farmers market" means a market where two (2) or more farmers are selling produce

exclusively grown on their own farms on a retail basis to consumers. Excluded from this term is

any market where farmers or others are selling produce at wholesale and/or any market in which

any individual is selling produce not grown on his or her own farm.

     (6) "Farm home food manufacture" means the production in accordance with the

requirements of § 21-27-6.1 of food for retail sale in a residential kitchen on a farm which produces

agricultural products for human consumption and the operator of which is eligible for exemption

from the sales and use tax in accordance with § 44-18-30(32).

     (7) "Food" means: (i) articles used for food or drink for people or other animals, (ii)

chewing gum, and (iii) articles used for components of any food or drink article.

     (8) "Food business" means and includes any establishment or place, whether fixed or

mobile, where food or ice is held, processed, manufactured, packaged, prepared, displayed, served,

transported, or sold.

     (9) "Food service establishment" means any fixed or mobile restaurant, coffee shop,

cafeteria, short-order cafe, luncheonette, grill, tearoom, sandwich shop, drive-through and take-out

establishment, soda fountain, tavern; bar, cocktail lounge, night club, roadside stand, industrial

feeding establishment, cultural heritage education facility, private, public or nonprofit organization

or institution routinely serving food, catering kitchen, commissary or similar place in which food

or drink is prepared for sale or for service on the premises or elsewhere, and any other eating or

drinking establishment or operation where food is served or provided for the public with or without

charge.

     (10) "Mobile food service unit" means a unit that prepares and/or sells food products for

direct consumption.

     (11) "Person" means any individual, firm, co-partnership, association, or private or

municipal corporation.

     (12) "Processor" means one who combines, handles, manufactures or prepares, packages,

and stores food products.

     (13) "Operator" in relation to food vending machines means any person who by contract,

agreement, lease, rental, or ownership sells food from vending machines.

     (14) "Retail" means when eighty percent (80%) or more of sales are made directly to

consumers.

     (15) "Retail peddler" means a food business which sells meat, seafood, and dairy products

directly to the consumer, house to house or in a neighborhood.

     (16) "Roadside farmstand" means a stand or location adjacent to a farm where produce

grown only on that farm is sold at the time of harvest.

     (17) "Vending machine site or location" means the room, enclosure, space, or area where

one or more vending machines are installed and/or operated.

     (18) "Warehouse" means a place for the storage of dried, fresh, or frozen food or food

products, not including those areas associated within or directly part of a food service establishment

or retail market.

     (19) "Wholesale" means when eighty percent (80%) or more of the business is for resale

purposes.

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     (20) "Cultural heritage education facility" means a facility for up to ten (10) individuals

who, for a fee, participate in the preparation and consumption of food, limited to an owner-occupied

site documented to be at least one hundred fifty (150) years old and whose drinking water shall be

obtained from an approved source which meets all of the requirements of chapter 46-13.

     SECTION 2. Sections 21-27.2-1 and 21-27.2-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 21-27.2

entitled "Single-Use Plastic Straws [Effective January 1, 2022.]" are hereby amended to read as

follows:

     21-27.2-1. Definitions. [Effective January 1, 2022.]

     As used in this chapter:

     (1) "Food service establishment" shall have the meaning set forth in § 21-27-1 and include

drive-through and take-out establishments.

     (2) "Single-use plastic straw" means a single-use, disposable tube made predominantly of

plastic derived from either petroleum or a biologically based polymer, such as corn or other plant

sources, used to transfer a beverage from a container to the mouth of the person drinking the

beverage. "Single-use plastic straw" does not include a straw made from non-plastic materials,

including, but not limited to, paper, pasta, sugar cane, wood, or bamboo.

     21-27.2-2. Prohibited practices exception. [Effective January 1, 2022.]

     A food service establishment shall not provide a single-use plastic straw to a consumer

unless requested by the consumer, except with regard to the service received by a drive-through or

take-out establishment.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS -- SANITATION IN FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS --

SINGLE USE PLASTIC STRAWS

***

     This act would exempt drive-through and take-out establishments from providing a plastic

straw only upon request by the consumer.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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