Environment

California bans plastic bags, leaded aviation fuel

Newsom signed the legislation Sunday.
A woman walks with a plastic bag in Sacramento, Calif., on Wednesday, May 14, 2014. (AP Photo, File)

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed bills Sunday to ban the distribution of plastic bags at grocery stores and, in a first-in-the-nation law, to ban the sale of leaded aviation fuel at state airports.

The plastic bag ban closes a loophole in a 10-year-old law that sought to limit single-use bags but exempted thick plastic bags designed to be reused. However, the bags were difficult to recycle, often thrown away, and ended up in landfills or polluting the environment.

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