Texas Health and Safety Code section 361.0961 and the 2018 Laredo Supreme Court decision preempt city and county regulation of single-use packaging, which restaurant lawyers extend to plastic straws. Harris County has no straw ordinance, and no upon-request rule applies countywide.
Texas does not restrict plastic straws, and Health and Safety Code 361.0961 as interpreted by City of Laredo v. Laredo Merchants Association (2018) preempts local regulation of single-use food-service items. Harris County has never enacted an upon-request straw rule or paper-only mandate. Restaurants in Houston, Pasadena, Baytown, Sugar Land, and unincorporated Harris County freely provide plastic straws by default. Some chains, including Starbucks and McDonald, voluntarily switched to paper or strawless lids countywide. Harris County Public Health nutrition outreach promotes voluntary reduction. Federal accessibility rules under the ADA require restaurants to offer flexible plastic straws to disabled customers if any straw alternative is offered.
Harris County imposes no penalty on plastic straw distribution because no ordinance exists and the county is preempted from creating one. ADA accessibility violations under federal law could carry civil penalties up to seventy-five thousand dollars for first offenses.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Deer Park, TX
Deer Park Code of Ordinances Chapter 74 (Offenses and Nuisances) prohibits unreasonably loud noise that disturbs the peace of others. The city enforces noise...
Deer Park, TX
Deer Park regulates construction noise through its general nuisance provisions in Chapter 74. While no specific construction hours ordinance exists, disrupti...
Deer Park, TX
Deer Park restricts parking of large commercial vehicles in residential districts. Vehicles exceeding one ton rated capacity or bearing commercial markings a...
Deer Park, TX
Deer Park regulates on-street parking through the Code of Ordinances and Texas Transportation Code. Vehicles must comply with posted restrictions, clearance ...
Deer Park, TX
Deer Park requires residential vehicles to be parked on improved surfaces such as concrete or asphalt. Parking on grass, dirt, or other unimproved surfaces i...
Deer Park, TX
Deer Park does not impose a blanket overnight street parking ban. Vehicles may remain on residential streets overnight provided they are registered, operable...
Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in Harris County.
See how Deer Park's plastic straw rules rules stack up against other locations.
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