California is one step closer to a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags.

Last Friday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee passed AB 1998 and will be voted upon this Friday by the full Assembly.

If passed and signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger, who has shown support for the move, the law would go into effect Jan. 1, 2012.

San Francisco made history when it became the first city to officially ban plastic shopping bags in 2007, making it a pioneer of the outlawing of common to-go plastic products.

Read more at Earth911.com. Photo: Amanda Wills, Earth911.com