GREATER LAKE TAHOE AREA, Nev. – A senate bill has been introduced to the Nevada legislature this session that could prohibit the sale of plastic water bottles in Nevada Lake Tahoe communities, if passed.

The bill is similar to the City of South Lake Tahoe’s ordinance that went into effect on Earth Day of last year and the Town of Truckee’s ordinance, taking effect this upcoming Earth Day. Both ban the sale of certain plastic water bottles and both municipalities lies on the California side of Lake Tahoe.

Senate Bill 324 would introduce similar restrictions in communities that abut the Nevada portion of the Lake Tahoe Watershed. The proposed bills prohibits sale of disposable plastic water bottles under four liters.

The bill was initially written to allow the attorney general to enforce the ban and inspect for compliance with those in violation guilty of a misdemeanor.

After hearings and work sessions in the Senate’s committee on Natural Resources, proposed amendments direct the local health district or health department to enforce the bill instead of the attorney general. The amendments also propose administrative fines for violations, rather than the misdemeanor charges.

In addition, proposed amendments push the effective date from Oct. 1 2025, to Jan. 1, 2026.

Senatore Melanie Scheible and Senator Rochelle Nguyen are the bill’s sponsors.

The League to Save Lake Tahoe has voiced support for the bill. Their government affairs manager, Noa Banayan, said at the April 1 Senate Natural Resources committee hearing that during 2023 and 2024, volunteers conducted 417 cleanups on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. In doing so, volunteers removed over 2,000 plastic water bottles, in addition to 4,000 plastic bottle caps, and 17,000 miscellaneous pieces of plastic that likely could have come from the degradation of those bottles over time.

Banayan said plastic bottles and plastic bottle caps accounted for more items than plastic food wrappers, and more than metal cans, metal bottle caps and pull tabs combined.

“Based on our plastic findings during beach cleanups, alone,” Banayan said, “it’s clear that we need to do something to limit the number of plastic bottles and particles making their way into the lake, our beaches, and other popular outdoor recreation sites.”

The Tribune is still working to ascertain where exactly the boundary for the ban would lie and will provide updates as the bill progresses through the legislature.

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