Lansing, MI – A recent law signed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer is aimed at deterring illegal roadside trash dumping in the state. Public Act 6 was known as House Bill 4325 when it was in the legislature. Under the previous law, litterers faced potential penalties of just fines.
With the new law, the first two penalties were kept, but it gets steeper from there. Under the new law, two of the levels of penalties include a misdemeanor. Littering on each level was previously known as a civil offense, but anything over three cubic feet is now a misdemeanor. This puts more weight on the offense and creates the possibility for higher fines.
The state now directs the court, as part of sentencing the misdemeanors, to order the person to clean up their litter and pay for any damage to the property that resulted from it. If the mess was already cleaned up by a local community group or government, the violator may have to pay for it, in addition to or in lieu of their fines.
The law also gives property owners the right to seek damages for the cleanup or other expenses related to the littering. These civil damages would be on top of the criminal fines. The Lenawee County Solid Waste Department posted about the law in a recent blog here: https://www.lenawee.mi.us/Blog.aspx?IID=89#item
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