Oak Bluffs is attempting to figure out how to enforce its ban on the sale of single-use plastic drink bottles four years after it was passed at town meeting. 

Members of the select board went to the town board of health on Tuesday to get input on the languishing bylaw, which was overwhelmingly approved in 2021 following a grassroots effort spearheaded by Island school children seeking to cut down on plastic waste.

The town has since struggled to implement the bylaw, and the board of health voiced its adversity to taking on the task of tracking stores in town. 

“It’s just too much for us right now,” said William White, the chair of the board of health.

The bylaw bars the sale of single-use plastic bottle water or soft drinks in town that are smaller than 34 ounces. In the regulation, enforcement is tasked to the select board or the board’s designee. 

Select board members Dion Alley and Emma Green-Beach wanted to get input from the board of health on its ability to add the ban to its existing inspections of establishments in town, and take in other suggestions on how to get the bylaw off the shelf. 

“One of the things we’re trying to do is to update and then also ensure enforcement of the current bylaws that we have,” Mr. Alley said. “Whatever the future might be on the plastic water bottle bans, that will be up to the townspeople, but it’s the board’s responsibility to enforce this bylaw.” 

The board of health and its staff felt the two-person department was already weighed down with a long list of tasks, handling everything from septic and tobacco inspections to communicable disease tracking. 

“We are under pressure for so many other really critical things,” said Alexa Arieta, the health agent.

“I’m not trying to say that’s not a problem, but the public health crises that we are dealing with and that we are tasked with addressing ourselves right now are critical,” she said.  

Ms. Green-Beach said she didn’t envision the task to be overly burdensome, and to be undertaken largely on a complaint by complaint basis.

Ms. Arieta and Mr. White, said there are issues with the bylaw that make it hard to enforce. The board of health said it would need to create a new regulation if it were to enforce the bylaw. The bylaw was developed through a citizen’s petition, meaning it wasn’t developed by town officials as most bylaws are.

“There’s a lot of holes in it,” Mr. White said. “It’s really not tight the way it should be and then we have to go through all these steps on top of it. I’m not comfortable with it.”  

All six towns have passed a version of the bylaw after the Plastic Free MV group made a push to reduce plastics between 2019 and 2022. Other towns previously told the Gazette that they had designated the task to their boards of health or would hand it down to the building department. Others said the duty would be assigned if a complaint came in.

Ms. Green-Beach was the board member who raised the issue of non-enforcement last year, and she said Tuesday that she was looking into bringing possible revisions to the bylaw to town meeting, though she found no major issues with how the bylaw is written. 

The bylaw has drawn some pushback in town, and the owners of Reliable Market previously submitted a petition to the town asking for the town to forgo enforcement. 

The potential extra work for the board of health did raise the possibility of dedicating more resources to the department.

“I don’t minimize the amount of work that is required of our two staff people in our board of health,” said James Butterick, a board of health member. “I mean, the list of responsibilities is prodigious, but maybe we’re being short-sighted here. I’m not necessarily assuming that our existing people are the ones that would be doing this.” 

Mr. Alley also broached the potential of adding a staff member to aid health staff, and said that increased education could also help cut back on waste. 

That the town was not enforcing a law passed by residents was upsetting to some. Samantha Look, the executive director of the Vineyard Conservation Society, which backed the bylaws, urged Oak Bluffs to take on enforcement, even if it felt like the bylaw wasn’t perfect. 

She said the town doesn’t need to have someone constantly monitoring for infractions, but it can be added to the annual inspection duties.

“No one is expecting this to be a massive lift for the board of health,” she said. “Perfect doesn’t need to be the enemy of good....All that we’re asking for is that there’s a system of notifying businesses and that there’s responsiveness to complaints.” 

The board of health and the select board expect to meet next month on the issue.