california legislature—20 21–22 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 2374
Introduced by Assembly Member Bauer-Kahan
February 16, 2022
An act to amend Section 374.3 of the Penal Code, relating to crimes. legislative counsel’s digest
AB 2374, as introduced, Bauer-Kahan. Crimes against public health and safety: illegal dumping.
Existing law prohibits the dumping of w aste matter upon a road or highway or in other locations, as specified. A violation of this prohibition, generally, is an infraction punishable by specified fines that escalate for subsequent convictions. Under existing law, the court may, as a condition of probation, order the convicted person to remove, or pay for the removal of, the waste matter.
Under existing law, the dumping of commercial quantities of waste, as defined, is punishable as a misdemeanor and also includes escalating fines.
This bill w ould increase the maximum fine for the dumping of commercial quantities of w aste from $3000 to $5000 for the first conviction, from $6000 to $10,000 for the second conviction, and from $10,000 to $20,000 for the third and any subsequent convictions.
This bill would also require, instead of authorize, the court to order a person con victed of dumping commercial quantities of w aste to remove, or pay for the remo val of, the waste matter that was illegally dumped. The bill would authorize the court to order the surrender of a professional or business license that is related to the ille gal dumping activity for which the person has been con victed, as a condition of probation. The bill w ould authorize the court, as a condition of
99 probation, to order the name of a person con victed of dumping commercial quantities of waste to be publicly posted or published.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Section 374.3 of the Penal Code is amended to line 2 read:
line 3 374.3. (a) It is unlawful to dump or cause to be dumped waste line 4 matter in or upon a public or pri vate highway or road, including line 5 any portion of the right-of-w ay thereof, or in or upon pri vate line 6 property into or upon which the public is admitted by easement or line 7 license, or upon private property without the consent of the owner, line 8 or in or upon a public park or other public property other than line 9 property designated or set aside for that purpose by the governing line 10 board or body having charge of that property.
line 11 (b) It is unla wful to place, deposit, or dump, or cause to be line 12 placed, deposited, or dumped, rocks, concrete, asphalt, or dirt in line 13 or upon a pri vate highway or road, including an y portion of the line 14 right-of-way of the pri vate highway or road, or pri vate property, line 15 without the consent of the o wner or a contractor under contract line 16 with the owner for the materials, or in or upon a public park or line 17 other public property , without the consent of the state or local line 18 agency having jurisdiction over the highway, road, or property. line 19 (c) A person violating this section is guilty of an infraction. line 20 Each day that waste placed, deposited, or dumped in violation of line 21 subdivision (a) or (b) remains is a separate violation. line 22 (d) This section does not restrict a pri vate owner in the use of line 23 his or her their own private property, unless the placing, depositing, line 24 or dumping of the w aste matter on the property creates a public line 25 health and safety hazard, a public nuisance, or a fire hazard, as line 26 determined by a local health department, local fire department or line 27 district providing fire protection services, or the Department of line 28 Forestry and Fire Protection, in which case this section applies. line 29 (e) A person con victed of a violation of this section shall be line 30 punished by a mandatory fine of not less than tw o hundred fifty line 31 dollars ($250) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) upon line 32 a first conviction, by a mandatory fine of not less than five hundred line 33 dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand fiv e hundred dollars 99 — 2 — AB 2374
line 1 ($1,500) upon a second con viction, and by a mandatory fine of line 2 not less than se ven hundred fifty dollars ($750) nor more than line 3 three thousand dollars ($3,000) upon a third or subsequent line 4 conviction. If the court finds that the w aste matter placed, line 5 deposited, or dumped w as used tires, the fine prescribed in this line 6 subdivision shall be doubled.
line 7 (f) The court may require, in addition to any fine imposed upon line 8 a conviction, that, as a condition of probation and in addition to line 9 any other condition of probation, a person con victed under this line 10 section remove, or pay the cost of remo ving, any waste matter line 11 which the convicted person dumped or caused to be dumped upon line 12 public or private property.
line 13 (g) Except when the court requires the con victed person to line 14 remove waste matter which he or she is they are responsible for line 15 dumping as a condition of probation, the court may, in addition to line 16 the fine imposed upon a con viction, require as a condition of line 17 probation, in addition to an y other condition of probation, that a line 18 person convicted of a violation of this section pick up waste matter line 19 at a time and place within the jurisdiction of the court for not less line 20 than 12 hours.
line 21 (h) (1) A person who places, deposits, or dumps, or causes to line 22 be placed, deposited, or dumped, waste matter in violation of this line 23 section in commercial quantities shall be guilty of a misdemeanor line 24 punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than six line 25 months and by a fine. The fine is mandatory and shall amount to line 26 not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than three line 27 five thousand dollars ($3,000) ($5,000) upon a first con viction, line 28 not less than three thousand dollars ($3,000) nor more than six ten line 29 thousand dollars ($6,000) ($10,000) upon a second con viction, line 30 and not less than six thousand dollars ($6,000) nor more than ten line 31 twenty thousand dollars ($10,000) ($20,000) upon a third or line 32 subsequent conviction.
line 33 (2) The court shall require, in addition to the fine imposed upon line 34 a conviction, that, as a condition of pr obation and in addition to line 35 any other condition of pr obation, a per son convicted under this line 36 subdivision to r emove, or pay the cost of r emoving, any waste line 37 matter which the convicted person dumped or caused to be dumped line 38 upon public or private property.
line 39 (3) The court may require, in addition to the fine imposed upon line 40 a conviction, that, as a condition of probation, in addition to any 99 AB 2374 — 3 —
line 1 other condition of pr obation, a per son con victed under this line 2 subdivision surrender, for the dur ation of the term of pr obation, line 3 any license or permit to conduct business in the State of California, line 4 including, but not limited to, a license issued by the Department line 5 of Consumer Affairs Contr actors State License Boar d, that is line 6 related to the ille gal dumping activity for whic h the per son was line 7 convicted.
line 8 (4) The court may require, in addition to the fine imposed upon line 9 a conviction, that, as a condition of probation, in addition to any line 10 other condition of probation, that the name of the person convicted line 11 under this subdivision be posted publicly in a manner set forth by line 12 the court.
line 13 (2)
line 14 (5) “Commercial quantities” means an amount of waste matter line 15 generated in the course of a trade, b usiness, profession, or line 16 occupation, or an amount equal to or in excess of one cubic yard. line 17 This subdivision does not apply to the dumping of household waste line 18 at a person’s residence.
line 19 (i) For purposes of this section, “person” means an individual, line 20 trust, firm, partnership, joint stock compan y, joint v enture, or line 21 corporation.
line 22 (j) Except in unusual cases where the interests of justice would line 23 be best served by waiving or reducing a fine, the minimum fines line 24 provided by this section shall not be waived or reduced.
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99 — 4 — AB 2374