BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 144
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 14, 2015
Counsel: Gabriel Caswell
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Bill Quirk, Chair
AB
144 (Mathis) - As Amended March 26, 2015
As Proposed to be Amended in Committee
SUMMARY: Specifies that the fourth violation of illegal dumping
on private property shall be a misdemeanor punishable by up to
30 days in the county jail.
EXISTING LAW:
1)States that it is unlawful to dump or cause to be dumped waste
matter in or upon a public or private highway or road,
including any portion of the right-of-way thereof, or in or
upon private property into or upon which the public is
admitted by easement or license, or upon private property
without the consent of the owner, or in or upon a public park
or other public property other than property designated or set
aside for that purpose by the governing board or body having
charge of that property. (Pen. Code, § 374.3, subd. (a).)
2)Provides it is unlawful to place, deposit, or dump, or cause
to be placed, deposited, or dumped, rocks, concrete, asphalt,
or dirt in or upon a private highway or road, including any
portion of the right-of-way of the private highway or road, or
private property, without the consent of the owner or a
contractor under contract with the owner for the materials, or
in or upon a public park or other public property, without the
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consent of the state or local agency having jurisdiction over
the highway, road, or property. (Pen. Code, § 374.3, subd.
(b).)
3)States that a person violating dumping provisions is guilty of
an infraction. Each day that waste placed, deposited, or
dumped in violation the law is a separate violation. (Pen.
Code, § 374.3, subd. (c).)
4)Provides these provisions do not restrict a private owner in
the use of his or her own private property, unless the
placing, depositing, or dumping of the waste matter on the
property creates a public health and safety hazard, a public
nuisance, or a fire hazard, as determined by a local health
department, local fire department or district providing fire
protection services, or the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection, in which case this section applies. (Pen. Code, §
374.3, subd. (d).)
5)Specifies a person convicted of dumping shall be punished by a
mandatory fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars
($250) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) upon a
first conviction, by a mandatory fine of not less than five
hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand five hundred
dollars ($1,500) upon a second conviction, and by a mandatory
fine of not less than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) nor
more than three thousand dollars ($3,000) upon a third or
subsequent conviction. If the court finds that the waste
matter placed, deposited, or dumped was used tires, the fine
prescribed in this subdivision shall be doubled. (Pen. Code,
§ 374.3, subd. (e).)
6)Provides that the court may require, in addition to any fine
imposed upon a conviction, that, as a condition of probation
and in addition to any other condition of probation, a person
convicted under this section remove, or pay the cost of
removing, any waste matter which the convicted person dumped
or caused to be dumped upon public or private property. (Pen.
Code, § 374.3, subd. (f).)
7)Except when the court requires the convicted person to remove
waste matter which he or she is responsible for dumping as a
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condition of probation, the court may, in addition to the fine
imposed upon a conviction, require as a condition of
probation, in addition to any other condition of probation,
that a person convicted of a violation of this section pick up
waste matter at a time and place within the jurisdiction of
the court for not less than 12 hours. (Pen. Code, § 374.3,
subd. (g).)
8)States that a person who places, deposits, or dumps, or causes
to be placed, deposited, or dumped, waste matter in violation
of this section in commercial quantities shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for
not more than six months and by a fine. The fine is mandatory
and shall amount to not less than one thousand dollars
($1,000) nor more than three thousand dollars ($3,000) upon a
first conviction, not less than three thousand dollars
($3,000) nor more than six thousand dollars ($6,000) upon a
second conviction, and not less than six thousand dollars
($6,000) nor more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) upon a
third or subsequent conviction.
9)Defines "commercial quantities" means an amount of waste
matter generated in the course of a trade, business,
profession, or occupation, or an amount equal to or in excess
of one cubic yard. This subdivision does not apply to the
dumping of household waste at a person's residence.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "Under existing
law, dumping in non-commercial quantities on private property
is only an infraction and subject to a minor fine and no jail
time. Illegal dumping on private property is a serious issue
for property owners, law enforcement agencies, and communities
as a whole. Dumpers impose significant clean-up costs upon the
owners of the afflicted property. Dumping also poses a costly
burden on law enforcement officials whom are called to respond
when an incident occurs. Communities also suffer more than a
nuisance as property values and revenues to local government
AB 144
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suffer due to blight from dumping. While the costs and
negative outcomes associated with illegal dumping on private
property can be high, the penalties for offenders whom are
apprehended are too minor to provide adequate deterrence from
this behavior. This bill would increase the penalty for
illegal dumping on private property in non-commercial
quantities from an infraction to a misdemeanor, subject to
stiffer fines and up to 30-days of jail time, to discourage
illegal dumping."
2)Clarification of No Repeat Misdemeanors: Under existing law,
provisions exist which state that each day that waste placed,
deposited, or dumped in violation the law is a separate
violation. (Pen. Code, § 374.3, subd. (c).) Under current
law, this provision only applies to infractions. This bill
specifically exempts the elevated misdemeanor provision for a
fourth or subsequent violation from this provision.
Therefore, under this bill for example, if waste were present
on private property for and the defendant was guilty of three
or more prior offenses, they would be charged with one
misdemeanor rather than 30 misdemeanors. The bill does not
change existing law in this respect. Persons charged with
infractions may still be charged daily fines for the waste
left on private property.
3)Creates a New Misdemeanor: This bill creates a new
misdemeanor where there is currently an infraction penalty.
Every fourth or subsequent violation of dumping waste on
private property shall now be punishable by a misdemeanor
penalty of up to 30 days in the county jail. As a result of
imposing a misdemeanor penalty, this legislation will permit
accused persons to apply for the aid of a public defender.
Additionally, persons charged with misdemeanor offenses may
demand a jury trial in Superior Court.
4)Keeps Existing Fines in Place: Under current law the existing
fines for illegal, non-commercial, dumping are significant.
The fines are on a graduated scale that increases for repeated
violations of the law. The fines additionally include minimum
mandatory fines. This committee generally does not create
mandatory minimum fines because they infringe upon judicial
discretion. The fine for the misdemeanor offense in this case
AB 144
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does include a mandatory minimum fine of not less than $750
and up to $3,000. This fine is the existing fine imposed for
a third or subsequent infraction. Therefore, the fine is not
increasing as a result of this legislation.
5)Penalty Assessments: The amount spelled out in statute as a
fine for violating a criminal offense are base figures, as
these amounts are subject to statutorily-imposed penalty
assessments, such as fees and surcharges. Assuming a
defendant is fined the maximum fine of $3,000 under Penal Code
Section 502, the following penalty assessments would be
imposed pursuant to the Government and Penal codes:
-------------------------------------------------------
|Base Fine: |$3,000.0|
| | 0|
| | |
| | |
|----------------------------------------------+--------|
| | |
| | |
| | |
|----------------------------------------------+--------|
|Penal Code § 1464 assessment ($10 for every |$3,000.0|
|$10): | 0|
| | |
| | |
|----------------------------------------------+--------|
|Penal Code § 1465.7 assessment (20% | $600.00|
|surcharge): | |
| | |
| | |
|----------------------------------------------+--------|
|Penal Code § 1465.8 assessment ($40 per | $40.00|
|criminal offense): | |
| | |
| | |
|----------------------------------------------+--------|
|Government Code § 70372 assessment ($5 for |$1,500.0|
|every $10): | 0|
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| | |
| | |
|----------------------------------------------+--------|
|Government Code § 70373 assessment ($30 for | $30.00|
|felony or misdemeanor offense): | |
| | |
| | |
|----------------------------------------------+--------|
|Government Code § 76000 assessment ($7 for |$2,100.0|
|every $10): | 0|
| | |
| | |
|----------------------------------------------+--------|
|Government Code § 76000.5 assessment ($2 for | $600.00|
|every $10): | |
| | |
| | |
|----------------------------------------------+--------|
|Government Code § 76104.6 assessment ($1 for | $300.00|
|every $10): | |
| | |
| | |
|----------------------------------------------+--------|
|Government Code § 76104.7 assessment ($4 for |$1,200.0|
|every $10): | 0|
| | |
| | |
|----------------------------------------------+--------|
| | |
| | |
| | |
|----------------------------------------------+--------|
|Fine with Assessments: | |
| |$12,370.00*|
| | |
| | |
-------------------------------------------------------
*In addition to the assessments detailed in the chart, the
defendant could be subject to pay "actual administrative
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costs" related to his or her arrest and booking (Gov. Code, §
29550 et seq.) and victim restitution for damages impose by
the court.
6)The Proposed Amendments: The bill, as introduced, made all
illegal dumping on private property a misdemeanor penalty. As
a result, all persons charged with these offenses would be
permitted jury trials in Superior Court as opposed to routine
infraction and fine offenses. This elevation triggers other
ancillary rights, such as the right to a public defender if
the person charged is indigent. The proposed amendments work
with the existing graduated penalties for the offense. Under
existing law there are graduated fines for a first, second, or
third violation. As amended, this bill would impose a
misdemeanor upon a fourth or subsequent violation of illegal
dumping on private property. Local prosecutors would be more
likely to prosecute these offenses, and the ancillary impacts
of elevating an infraction to a misdemeanor are lessened
because the body of people who could be charged with these
offenses is much smaller. Additionally, this bill now targets
serial illegal dumpers with stronger criminal penalties rather
than people who engage in this conduct on a single occasion.
The amendments removed all opposition from the bill.
7)Prior Legislation: AB 1992 (Canciamilla), Chapter 416,
Statutes of 2006, imposed the graduated penalties and
increased fines for second and third violations of illegal
dumping offenses. AB 1992 went through the Assembly Committee
on Natural Resources Committee and was not heard in the Public
Safety Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None
Opposition
None
AB 144
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Analysis Prepared
by: Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744