Increases fines for littering; requires DOT to develop program for litter reporting.

A2340

ASSEMBLY, No. 2340

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman WILLIAM F. MOEN, JR.

District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)

SYNOPSIS

���� Increases fines for littering; requires DOT to
develop program for litter reporting.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning littering, supplementing Title 39 of
the Revised Statutes, and amending R.S.39:4-63, R.S.39:4-64, and P.L.1985, c.533.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.� (New section)� No later
than one year after the effective date of this section, the Department of
Transportation shall develop a program which allows persons to report acts of
littering to the department.� The program shall allow a person to report littering
by phone and electronically, including on the department's Internet website or
on an application capable of running on mobile electronic devices.� The
electronic means of reporting shall include the ability for a person to
transmit images to the department.� The department shall review all reports
submitted under the program and, if deemed credible, shall send a formal
notification to the person deemed to have littered, which informs the person
about the littering offense and the penalties associated with littering, and
urges the person to help keep New Jersey clean.

���� 2.��� Section 8 of P.L.1985,
c.533 (C.13:1E-99.3) is amended to read as follows:

���� 8.��� a.� A person who throws,
drops, discards or otherwise places any litter of any nature upon public or
private property other than in a litter receptacle commits a petty disorderly
persons offense, and notwithstanding the provisions of N.J.S.2C:43-3 to the
contrary, for every such offense shall be fined not less than
[
$100
]

$200

or more than
[
$500
]

$600

.� The Superior Court and every municipal court shall have jurisdiction to
enforce this section. The State or any municipality may institute proceedings
under this section. If a money judgment is rendered against a defendant,
all
but $100 of
the payment made to the court shall be remitted to the chief
financial officer of the municipality wherein the violation occurred, to be
used by the municipality to help finance litter control activities in addition
to or supplementing existing litter pickup and removal activities in the
municipality.�
The remaining $100 shall be remitted to the Department of
Transportation to fund the litter reporting program developed pursuant to
section 1 of
P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill).

���� b.��� If a person violates
subsection a. of this section the court, in addition to any penalty imposed
under that subsection, may direct the person to perform community service,
including litter pickup and removal from any public property, or any private
property with permission of the owner, upon which the person deposited litter,
for a term of not less than 20 hours nor more than 40 hours.

���� c.���� A person who is
convicted of an offense under subsection a. of this section within six months
after the date of a previous conviction thereunder shall be sentenced to pay a
fine not less than $250 or more than $1,000, may be sentenced to imprisonment
for a definite term not to exceed 60 days, and may be directed to perform
community service, including litter pickup and removal from any public property
or from any private property if permission of the owner has been granted, for a
term of not less than 40 nor more than 80 hours.

(cf:� P.L.2001, c.78, s.1)

���� 3.��� R.S.39:4-63 is amended
to read as follows:

���� 39:4-63.����� A person who
throws, places or deposits, or who permits to be thrown, placed, or deposited
from a motor vehicle, any glass or other sharp, injurious or cutting substance
in or upon a public highway of this State shall, except when acting under the
authority of the governing body of a municipality, be punished by a fine of not
less than
[
$100.00
]

$200

nor more than
[
$500.00
]

$600

and may forfeit his right to operate a motor vehicle over the highways of this
State for a period of 30 days.�
For each fine collected pursuant to this
section, $100 shall be remitted to the Department of Transportation to fund the
litter reporting program developed pursuant to section 1 of
P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill).

(cf:� P.L.1980, c.100, s.1)

���� 4.��� R.S.39:4-64 is amended
to read as follows:

���� 39:4-64.����� a.� No person
shall throw or drop any bundle, object, article or debris of any nature from a
vehicle whether in motion or not when such vehicle is on a highway.� The words
"object, article or debris of any nature" as used in this section
shall be deemed to include a cigarette, cigar, match, or ashes, or any
substance or thing in and of itself likely to cause or fuel a fire, but such
inclusion shall not be deemed to in any way limit the generality of the words
"object, article or debris of any nature." Any person who violates
this section shall be subject to a fine of not less than
[
$200
]

$300

or more than
[
$1,000
]

$1,100

for each offense.�
For each fine collected pursuant to this section, $100
shall be remitted to the Department of Transportation to fund the litter
reporting program developed pursuant to section 1 of
P.L. , c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill).

���� b.��� There shall be a
rebuttable presumption that the registered owner of the vehicle, if present in
the vehicle, or, in his absence, the driver of the vehicle, is presumed to be
responsible for any violation of this section, if:

���� (1)� A bundle, object, article
or debris of any nature is thrown or dropped from the vehicle by an occupant of
the vehicle;�

���� (2)� There are two or more
occupants in the vehicle; and

���� (3)� It cannot be determined
which occupant of the vehicle is the violator.

(cf:� P.L.1992, c.171, s.1)

���� 5.��� This
act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill would require the
Department of Transportation (DOT) to establish a program that enables people
to report acts of littering that they witness. The program would allow reports
to be submitted via phone or electronically, including on the DOT 's website or
using a mobile application.� The electronic reporting methods would allow
people to submit images.� The DOT would be required to review the reports, and,
if credible, to send a formal notice to the litterer about the littering
offense and the penalties associated with littering.� The notice would also
urge the litterer to help keep New Jersey clean.�

���� The bill would also increase
the fees for littering in R.S.39:4-63, R.S.39:4-64, and P.L.1985, c.533 by $100
each.� The extra funds collected would be remitted to the DOT to be used to
fund the litter reporting program.� The program is based on an existing program
in North Carolina, known as "Swat-A-Litterbug."