Birmingham cannot require restaurants to switch to paper straws or adopt straws-on-request rules because Alabama's 2019 auxiliary container preemption (AL Code 22-22B-1) covers single-use straws within its broad definition.
AL Code 22-22B-1 sweeps broadly enough to capture single-use plastic straws under its auxiliary-container definition. Birmingham therefore cannot pass an upon-request-only straw ordinance similar to those adopted in California and other home-rule jurisdictions. Restaurants may voluntarily move to paper, metal, or compostable straws and may train staff to ask before providing them. The Americans with Disabilities Act protects access to flexible plastic straws for patrons with disabilities at any establishment. State and federal law continue to govern litter from discarded straws on public property and in waterways within the city limits.
No municipal straw-related penalties apply in Birmingham. Restaurants are not fined for offering plastic straws. Littering straws falls under Title 10 anti-litter rules and Alabama state litter penalties.
See how Birmingham's plastic straw rules rules stack up against other locations.
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