HB1447: Littering; increased specificity as to what constitutes and provides an alternative penalty.
HOUSE BILL NO. 1447
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That 33.1-346 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
33.1-346. Discarding or causing to be discarded litter, etc., on highways, rights-of-way, or private property; penalty.
A. For the purpose of this section:
"Garbage" includes putrescible animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking, and consumption of food;
"Refuse" includes nonputrescible solid waste consisting of both combustible and noncombustible waste; and
"Yard waste" includes grass, leaves, prunings, brush and shrubs, garden materials, Christmas trees, and tree limbs no larger than four inches in diameter.
B. It
shall be unlawful for any person to dump or otherwise dispose of trash litter, garbage, refuse, litter, a companion animal rubbish, yard waste, and all other waste material,
including a tobacco product and any other item primarily designed to hold or
filter a tobacco product for the
purpose of disposal, or other unsightly matter, on public property, including a
public highway, right-of-way, property adjacent to such highway or right-of-way,
or on private property without the written consent of the owner thereof or his
agent.
B. C. When any person is arrested
for a violation of this section, and the matter alleged to have been illegally
dumped or disposed of has been ejected from a motor vehicle or transported to
the disposal site in a motor vehicle, the arresting officer may comply with the
provisions of 46.2-936 in making such arrest.
When a violation of the provisions of this section has been observed by any person, and the matter illegally dumped or disposed of has been ejected or removed from a motor vehicle, the owner or operator of such motor vehicle shall be presumed to be the person ejecting or disposing of such matter. However, such presumption shall be rebuttable by competent evidence.
C. D. A person charged with littering in an amount
less than or equal to 0.7 cubic feet in volume may, in lieu of
appearance in court, pay a fine of $50 and
applicable court costs to the clerk of the court having jurisdiction over such offense.
E. Any Except as provided in subsection C, any person
convicted of a violation of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor
punishable by confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not
less than $250 or more than $2,500, either or both.
In lieu of the imposition of confinement in jail, the court may order the defendant to perform community service in litter abatement activities.
D. F. The governing bodies of
counties, cities and towns are hereby authorized to adopt ordinances not in
conflict with the provisions of this section, and may repeal, amend or modify
such ordinances.
E. G. The provisions of this
section shall not apply to the lawful disposal of such matter in landfills.