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.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Birmingham, AL
Birmingham City Code section 11-8-23(16) prohibits creating excessive noise within 500 feet of any school, church, court or institution of learning in use, o...
Birmingham, AL
Birmingham City Code section 11-8-23(7) bars using drums, horns, loudspeakers, amplifiers or public-address systems for commercial advertising when the sound...
Birmingham, AL
Birmingham City Code section 11-8-23 bars sounding a vehicle horn or signal device for more than 30 seconds except as a danger warning, requires effective mu...
Birmingham, AL
Birmingham's noise ordinance expressly exempts noise from the operation of the Birmingham International Airport (City Code sec. 11-8-25(3)). In-flight aircra...
Birmingham, AL
Birmingham City Code section 11-8-23(8) makes amplified sound, stereos, TVs and musical instruments a nuisance when plainly audible 50 feet from a building o...
Birmingham, AL
Birmingham requires off-street handicapped parking spaces under its 2024 Off-Street Parking ordinance, provided in accordance with the adopted International ...
See how Birmingham's plastic straw rules rules stack up against other locations.
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