Boise cannot require restaurants to provide single-use utensils only by request. Idaho Code 39-7405 preempts cities from regulating auxiliary containers and accessories including disposable forks, knives, spoons, and condiment packets.
Cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, and Berkeley have adopted Skip-the-Stuff or utensils-by-request rules that prohibit restaurants from including plastic forks, knives, spoons, straws, and condiment packets unless the customer asks. Boise has no such ordinance and cannot enact one because Idaho Code 39-7405 preempts auxiliary-container rules and explicitly extends to single-use accessories. Boise restaurants and third-party delivery platforms (DoorDash, Uber Eats) automatically include utensils with takeout orders unless an individual customer toggles the opt-out at the platform level. The state preemption was reaffirmed during 2022 legislative discussions about expanding food-waste policy, with no carve-out for utensils proposed.
No municipal violation available; the city has no authority to require opt-in distribution under state preemption.
Boise, ID
Boise cannot ban or tax plastic carryout bags. Idaho Code 39-7405, enacted in 2016, preempts cities and counties from regulating auxiliary containers includi...
Boise, ID
Boise has no straws-on-request rule and cannot enact one. Idaho Code 39-7405 preempts city regulation of auxiliary containers including straws, so plastic st...
See how Boise's utensils-on-request rules stack up against other locations.
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