Corpus Christi has not adopted a plastic-straw ordinance and would face the same state preemption issues that struck down Texas plastic-bag rules. Restaurants may distribute straws freely, including unsolicited.
Plastic-straw on-request rules and outright bans are common in coastal U.S. cities, but Corpus Christi has not adopted one. Texas Health and Safety Code Β§361.0961, as construed in Laredo Merchants, casts doubt on a city's power to prohibit or restrict single-use food-service items based on solid-waste concerns. Local restaurants therefore distribute plastic straws by default, often alongside paper alternatives offered to customers who ask. Disability-rights advocates also note that plastic straws remain important for some people with mobility impairments, which has shaped how cities outside Texas designed exemptions in their own ordinances.
No city ordinance regulates straw distribution. Litter from straws remains subject to general littering and beach-cleanup provisions, but distribution itself is unrestricted.
Corpus Christi, TX
Corpus Christi has no polystyrene foam container ordinance. The same Texas Health and Safety Code Β§361.0961 that blocked plastic-bag rules also limits city a...
Corpus Christi, TX
Corpus Christi cannot ban or restrict single-use plastic bags. The Texas Supreme Court held in City of Laredo v. Laredo Merchants Association (2018) that the...
See how Corpus Christi's plastic straw rules rules stack up against other locations.
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