Littering, penalty increase

AN ACT Relating to increasing penalties for littering; amending 1
RCW 70A.200.060; creating a new section; and prescribing penalties.2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 70A.200.060 and 2024 c 231 s 2 are each amended to 4
read as follows: 5
(1) It is a violation of this section to: 6
(a) Abandon a junk vehicle upon any property; 7
(b) Throw, drop, deposit, discard, or otherwise dispose of litter 8
upon any public property in the state or upon private property in 9
this state not owned by him or her or in the waters of this state 10
whether from a vehicle or otherwise including but not limited to any 11
public highway, public park, beach, campground, forestland, 12
recreational area, trailer park, highway, road, street, or alley 13
except: 14
(i) When the property is designated by the state or its agencies 15
or political subdivisions for the disposal of garbage and refuse, and 16
the person is authorized to use such property for that purpose;17
(ii) Into a litter receptacle in a manner that will prevent 18
litter from being carried away or deposited by the elements upon any 19
part of the private or public property or waters. 20
H-0062.2
HOUSE BILL 1236
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Klicker, Dye, Barkis, Connors, Rude, Bronoske,
Penner, Barnard, and Caldier
Prefiled 01/10/25. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on Environment & Energy.
p. 1 HB 1236
(2)(a) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, it 1
is a class ((3)) 2 civil infraction as provided in RCW 7.80.120 for a 2
person to litter in an amount less than or equal to one cubic foot. 3
This penalty is in addition to any penalty imposed for a violation of 4
RCW 46.61.645(1).5
(b) It is a misdemeanor for a person to litter in an amount 6
greater than one cubic foot but less than 10 cubic yards. A violation 7
of this subsection may alternatively be punished with a notice of a 8
natural resource infraction under chapter 7.84 RCW.9
(c) It is a gross misdemeanor for a person to litter more than 10 10
cubic yards. 11
(d)(i) A person found liable or guilty under this section shall, 12
in addition to the penalties provided for misdemeanors, gross 13
misdemeanors, or for natural resource infractions as provided in RCW 14
7.84.100, also pay a litter clean-up restitution payment equal to 15
four times the actual cost of cleanup for natural resource 16
infractions and misdemeanors and two times the actual cost of cleanup 17
for gross misdemeanors. The court shall distribute an amount of the 18
litter clean-up restitution payment that equals the actual cost of 19
cleanup to the landowner where the littering incident occurred and 20
the remainder of the restitution payment to the law enforcement 21
agency investigating the incident. 22
(ii) The court may, in addition to or in lieu of part or all of 23
the cleanup restitution payment, order the person to pick up and 24
remove litter from the property, with prior permission of the legal 25
owner or, in the case of public property, of the agency managing the 26
property. 27
(iii) The court may suspend or modify the litter cleanup 28
restitution payment for a first-time offender under this section, if 29
the person cleans up and properly disposes of the litter.30
(3) If a junk vehicle is abandoned in violation of this section, 31
RCW 46.55.230 governs the vehicle's removal, disposal, and sale, and 32
the penalties that may be imposed against the person who abandoned 33
the vehicle. 34
(4) If the violation occurs in a state park, the court shall, in 35
addition to any other penalties assessed, order the person to perform 36
24 hours of community restitution in the state park where the 37
violation occurred if the state park has stated an intent to 38
participate as provided in RCW 79A.05.050. 39
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(5) It is a class 1 civil infraction as provided in RCW 7.80.120 1
for a person to discard, in violation of this section, potentially 2
dangerous litter in any amount. 3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The department of ecology must convene 4
a littering solutions task force to provide policy recommendations to 5
the legislature to reduce littering and litter in Washington. The 6
goal of the policy recommendations is to ensure that at least as much 7
litter is being collected annually in Washington as is deposited. The 8
department of ecology may contract with an independent third-party 9
facilitator to convene the littering solutions task force.10
(2) The department of ecology must select one member to the 11
littering solutions task force from each of the following entities:12
(a) The department of ecology; 13
(b) The department of transportation; 14
(c) The Washington state patrol; 15
(d) The parks and recreation commission; 16
(e) The Washington state association of counties;17
(f) The department of natural resources; 18
(g) The department of fish and wildlife; and 19
(h) Associations representing: 20
(i) Solid waste collection and management companies in 21
Washington; 22
(ii) Retail groceries; 23
(iii) Hospitality businesses; 24
(iv) Convenience stores; 25
(v) Tourism; 26
(vi) Beverage producers; 27
(vii) Tobacco product manufacturers; and 28
(viii) The Washington state association of counties.29
(3) In developing recommendations, the littering solutions task 30
force must, at minimum, consider: 31
(a) The results of the department of ecology's 2022 statewide 32
litter study; 33
(b) How to reduce litter at specific public sites such as 34
roadways, interchanges, rest areas, state and county parks, and 35
public recreation lands managed by the department of natural 36
resources and the department of fish and wildlife;37
(c) How to reduce the most commonly littered types of litter, 38
such as construction and demolition debris and cigarette butts; and39
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(d) How to reduce the cost-per-mile of litter cleanup along state 1
roadways and the root causes of why the average amount of litter per 2
mile far exceeds the average amount of litter per mile along roadways 3
in other states. 4
(4) The department of ecology must submit a status update to the 5
appropriate committees of the legislature by January 15, 2026, and a 6
final report consisting of the recommendations of the littering 7
solutions task force by November 15, 2026. 8
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