BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1802
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 23, 2004
Counsel: Harry Ermoian
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Mark Leno, Chair
AB 1802 (Bogh) - As Amended: March 18, 2004
SUMMARY : Increases the mandatory fine for unlawful dumping of
commercial quantities of waste matter, rocks, or dirt and
removes the discretion of the court to determine whether, as a
condition of probation, the convicted person must remove or pay
the cost of removing the waste matter, rocks, or dirt.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Raises the mandatory fine for dumping commercial quantities of
waste matter, rocks, or dirt as follows:
a) For a first conviction, raises the minimum fine from
$500 to $1,000 and the maximum fine from $1,500 to $3,000;
b) For a second conviction, raises the minimum fine from
$1,500 to $3,000 and the maximum fine from $3,000 to
$6,000; or,
c) For a third or subsequent conviction, raises the minimum
fine from $2,750 to $6,000 and the maximum fine from $4,000
to $10,000.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that it is unlawful to dump or cause to be dumped any
waste matter in or upon any public or private highway or road,
including any portion of the right-of-way, any private
property without consent of the owner, or any public property
other than public property set aside for dumping. [Penal Code
Section 374.3(a).]
2)Provides that it is unlawful to place, deposit, or dump, or
cause to be placed, deposited, or dumped, any rocks or dirt in
or upon any private road, including any portion of the
right-of-way, any private property without consent of the
owner, or any public property without consent of the state or
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local agency with jurisdiction over the property. [Penal Code
Section 374.3(b).]
3)Provides that a violation of these provisions is an infraction
and that each day the waste remains is a separate violation.
[Penal Code Section 374.3(c).]
4)Provides that a private owner on his or her private property
may dump waste matter so long as the dumping does not endanger
public health and safety, create a public nuisance, or cause a
fire hazard. [Penal Code Section 374.3(d).]
5)Provides that any person convicted of these provisions shall
be punished by a mandatory fine of:
a) For a first conviction, not less than $200 and not more
than $1,000;
b) For a second conviction, not less than $500 and not more
than $1,000; or,
c) For a third or subsequent conviction, not less than $750
and not more than $2,500. [Penal Code Section 374.3(e).]
6)Provides that if the court finds that the waste matter dumped
was used tires, the penalties prescribed in Penal Code Section
374.3(e) shall be doubled. [Penal Code Section 374.3(e).]
7)Provides that placing, depositing, or dumping or causing to be
placed, deposited, or dumped waste matter in commercial
quantities is a misdemeanor punishable by not more than six
months in county jail and a mandatory fine of:
a) For a first conviction, not less than $500 and not more
than $1,500;
b) For a second conviction, not less than $1,500 and not
more than $3,000; or,
c) For a third or subsequent conviction, not less than
$2,750 and not more than $4,000. [Penal Code Section
374.3(h)(1).]
8)Authorizes the court to require as a condition of probation
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that any person convicted of a violation of this section
remove or pay the cost of removing any waste matter for which
he or she was convicted of dumping or causing to be dumped.
[Penal Code Section 374.3(f).]
9)Authorizes the court when it does not mandate clean up of
dumped waste to require as a condition of probation that the
convicted person pick up waste matter at a time and place
within the jurisdiction of the court for not less than 12
hours. [Penal Code Section 374.3(g).]
10)Defines "waste matter" as "discarded, used, or leftover
substance including, but not limited to, a lighted or
nonlighted cigarette, cigar, match; any flaming or glowing
material; any garbage, trash, refuse, paper, container,
packaging or construction material; any carcass of a dead
animal; any nauseous or offensive matter of any kind; or any
object likely to injure any person or create a traffic
hazard." [Penal Code Section 374(a).]
11)Defines "commercial quantities" as the amount of waste matter
generated in the course of a trade, business, profession, or
occupation, or an amount equal to or greater than one cubic
yard. Commercial quantities do not, however, include
household waste dumped at a person's residence. [Penal Code
Section 374.3(h)(2)]
12)Defines "person" as an individual, trust, partnership,
corporation, firm, joint venture, or joint stock company.
[Penal Code Section 374.3(i).]
13)Provides that the court may waive or reduce the mandatory
fines only in unusual cases where the interests of justice
would be served. [Penal Code Section 374.3(j).]
14)Provides that every person who provides information leading
to the arrest and conviction of a person for illegal dumping
pursuant to Penal Code Section 374.3 or shooting a firearm
from or upon a road pursuant to Penal Code Section 374c is
entitled to a reward in the amount of 50% of the fine levied
and collected. (Penal Code Section 374a.)
15)Provides that maliciously discharging, dumping, releasing, or
causing the discharge, dumping, or release of a substance
capable of causing substantial damage to a public sewer
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facility or the unauthorized deposit of commercial quantities
of any other substance into a public sanitary sewer system
without written authorization of the appropriate agency shall
be a misdemeanor punishable by not more than one year in
county jail and/or a fine of up to $25,000. A subsequent
violation shall be an alternate felony-misdemeanor with a fine
of at least $5,000 and not more than $25,000. (Penal Code
Section 374.2)
16)Provides that littering upon any public or private property
is an infraction and a first conviction has a mandatory fine
of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000; a second
conviction has a mandatory fine of not less than $500 nor more
than $1,000; and a third or subsequent conviction has a
mandatory fine not less than $750 nor more than $1,000.
(Penal Code Section 374.4.)
17)Provides that any person who litters or dumps any waste
matter into any bay, lagoon, channel, river, creek, slough,
canal, lake, reservoir, or other stream or body of water, or
upon a bank, beach, or shore within 150 feet of the high water
mark of any stream or body of water is guilty of a misdemeanor
and has a mandatory fine of not less than $100 nor more than
$1,000 upon a first conviction; a mandatory fine of not less
than $500 nor more than $1,000 upon a second conviction; and a
mandatory fine of not less than $750 nor more than $1,000 upon
a third or subsequent conviction. (Penal Code Section 374.7.)
18)Provides that knowingly causing a hazardous substance to be
deposited into or upon any road, street, highway, alley,
railroad right-of-way, or upon the land of another, without
the permission of the owner, or into the waters of California
is punishable as an alternate felony-misdemeanor; by a fine of
not less than $50 nor more than $10,000; or by both the fine
and imprisonment, unless the deposit occurred as a result of
an emergency that the person promptly reported to the
appropriate regulatory authority. (Penal Code Section 374.8.)
19)Provides that throwing, depositing, releasing, discharging,
or exposing or attempting to do so in any theater, business,
restaurant, place of amusement, or place of public assemblage
any substance or matter that is injurious to person or
property, or is nauseous or offensive to the senses or
manufacturing, preparing, or possessing any such substance
shall be a misdemeanor subject to not less than three months
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and not more than one year in county jail and/or a fine of not
less than $500 nor more than $2,000. A violation that
involves a substance that may cause serious illness or
permanent injury, or uses tear gas, mustard gas, acid or
explosives is a felony. (Penal Code Section 375.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "Riverside
County has experienced continued problems with the illegal
dumping of trash. Trash is being dumped on open lands,
canyons, and private property in the Inland Empire and
statewide. This is unhealthy and unsightly. This illegal
dumping contaminates lands and water.
"Though dumping trash is currently illegal, the fines are low
and serve as no deterrent.
"I've authored this bill which:
a) "Will raise the fines for first, second and third
illegal dumping offenses.
b) "Will strengthen the law by consistently requiring that,
in addition to any fine imposed, the offender remove or pay
for the cost of removing the waste that was dumped.
c) "Makes state law tougher by giving cities and counties
more tools to enforce laws prohibiting illegal dumping.
d) "Helps deter illegal dumping that is occurring not only
on Riverside county lands and in its canyons, but
statewide."
2)Scope of the Problem : Although the California Integrated
Waste Management Board (IWMB) is one of the lead state
agencies on the issue of illegal dumping and attempts to
maintain information about waste sites, IWMB does not have
statistics on the statewide scope of the problem. However,
IWMB staff was able to provide examples of city and county
responses to illegal dumping, including the City of Oakland
reporting that it annually removes approximately 15,000 tons
of waste from illegal dumpsites. Sacramento County reported
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it annually removes approximately 1,500 tons of illegally
dumped solid waste, but notes that there are 68 ongoing
chronic dumping locations that Sacramento County is unable to
control.
3)State Assistance : The IWMB administers several grant programs
and has conducted training seminars regarding clean up of
illegally dumped waste materials. Through these efforts, the
IWMB is able to track sites that are brought to its attention
for clean-up funding.
a) Farm and Ranch Cleanup Program. The Farm and Ranch
Cleanup Program provides grants of up to $50,000 per
clean-up project to local governments, resource
conservation districts, and Native American tribes for the
clean up of illegal solid waste sites on farm or ranch
property. This program has provided more than $1.8 million
for the clean up of over 180 sites.
b) Solid Waste Disposal and Codisposal Cleanup (SWDC)
Program. The SWDC provides grants to local governments
with funds to finance clean up or matching funds to assist
in clean up at landfills. The SWDC has provided
approximately $30 million to fund the clean up of 353
illegal disposal sites. The program has funded removing
approximately 220,000 tons of illegally disposed solid
waste, recycling13,000 tons of metal and wood, transporting
over 5,000 tons of waste tires to permitted facilities, and
properly disposing 525 tons of hazardous waste.
c) Training Program. In years past, the IWMB has offered
training courses for local officials to share
recommendations and learn about available resources for
prevention, response, and clean up of illegal dumping.
IWMB conducted five general sessions on illegal dumping in
1999-2000 and a session specifically addressing illegal
dumping on Tribal Lands in 2003.
4)Local Response : Over the past year, at least three cities
have passed local ordinances authorizing the seizure and sale
of vehicles involved in acts of illegal dumping. The
ordinances appear to be modeled on the ordinance the City of
Oakland used to combat the solicitation of prostitution and
the sale of drugs. The Cities of Colton, Los Angeles, and
Riverside have adopted ordinances that provide broad authority
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to combat illegal dumping of waste. Various media reports
indicate that these cities have used these new ordinances
sparingly. Additionally, media reports indicate that other
cities and counties are considering adopting similar
ordinances.
5)Additional Penalty Assessments Amount of 240% of that Fine,
plus $20 : In addition to the mandatory fines imposed by Penal
Code Section 374.3, existing law also imposes several penalty
assessments. Penal Code Section 1464 levies a state penalty
assessment of $10 for every $10 or fraction thereof of every
fine, penalty or forfeiture imposed by and collected by the
courts for criminal offenses. Government Code Section 76000
levies a county penalty assessment of $7 for every $10 or
fraction thereof upon every fine, penalty, or forfeiture
imposed and collected by the courts for criminal offenses. In
2002, the Legislature passed the Trial Court Facilities Act of
2002, which provides an additional state court facilities
construction penalty assessment of up to $5 for every $10 or
fraction thereof of every fine, penalty or forfeiture imposed
by and collected by the courts for criminal offenses
(Government Code Section 70372). Also, in 2002, through the
Budget Act, the Legislature provided for a 20% state surcharge
on the base fine (Penal Code Section 1465.7). Finally, in
2003, the Legislature provided an additional $20 assessment on
every criminal offense to fund court security (Penal Code
Section 1465.8). When applying the penalty assessments to
this bill, an individual required to pay the increased minimum
fine of $1,000 would in actuality be required to pay up to a
total of $3,420. On the high end, if the court were to order
a third-time offender to pay the maximum of $10,000, that
person would in actuality be required to pay up to a total of
$34,020.
6)Argument in Support : According to the Riverside County Board
of Supervisors, "Riverside County is repeatedly faced with
repeat offenders of illegal dumping who are not deterred from
the small fines that currently exist. . . . Illegal dumping
is not only ugly and creates blight, but it also a health
hazard. Tires breed mosquitoes that now carry West Nile
Virus. Illegal dumping is also a public safety threat to our
firefighters who put their lives on the line everyday to make
our lives safer. Also, firefighters often encounter roads in
areas that are completely blocked from woody waste that was
illegally dumped making passage impossible and putting
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innocent lives at risk."
According to the League of California Cities, "The problem of
illegal dumping is a serious one. Illegally dumped trash
litters our streets and alleys, clutters our canyons and open
space, and contaminates our waterways. The illegally dumped
waste contributes to blight in our communities, contaminates
our roads and waterways, and contributes to unsafe conditions
in our cities. In response, local governments are forced to
divert scarce resources to cleaning up the waste."
7)Previous Legislation : AB 1799 (Migden), Chapter 50, Statutes
of 1998, increased the fines proposed to be increased by this
bill. At that time, the penalties, which had been set in
1994, were raised from $300 to $500 for the first conviction
minimum and from $1,000 to $1,500 for the first-conviction
maximum fine. The fines for the third or subsequent
convictions were raised from $2,250 to $2,750 for the minimum
and from $3,000 to $4,000 for the maximum.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California District Attorneys Association
California Farm Bureau Federation
League of California Cities
Norcal Waste Systems, Inc.
Office of the Attorney General
Riverside County
Riverside County Sheriff
Sierra Club California
Waste Management
Opposition
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
Analysis Prepared by : Harry Ermoian / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744