BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 144 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 14, 2015 Counsel: Gabriel Caswell ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY Bill Quirk, Chair AB 144 (Mathis) - As Amended March 26, 2015 As Proposed to be Amended in Committee SUMMARY: Specifies that the fourth violation of illegal dumping on private property shall be a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in the county jail. EXISTING LAW: 1)States that it is unlawful to dump or cause to be dumped waste matter in or upon a public or private highway or road, including any portion of the right-of-way thereof, or in or upon private property into or upon which the public is admitted by easement or license, or upon private property without the consent of the owner, or in or upon a public park or other public property other than property designated or set aside for that purpose by the governing board or body having charge of that property. (Pen. Code, § 374.3, subd. (a).) 2)Provides it is unlawful to place, deposit, or dump, or cause to be placed, deposited, or dumped, rocks, concrete, asphalt, or dirt in or upon a private highway or road, including any portion of the right-of-way of the private highway or road, or private property, without the consent of the owner or a contractor under contract with the owner for the materials, or in or upon a public park or other public property, without the AB 144 Page 2 consent of the state or local agency having jurisdiction over the highway, road, or property. (Pen. Code, § 374.3, subd. (b).) 3)States that a person violating dumping provisions is guilty of an infraction. Each day that waste placed, deposited, or dumped in violation the law is a separate violation. (Pen. Code, § 374.3, subd. (c).) 4)Provides these provisions do not restrict a private owner in the use of his or her own private property, unless the placing, depositing, or dumping of the waste matter on the property creates a public health and safety hazard, a public nuisance, or a fire hazard, as determined by a local health department, local fire department or district providing fire protection services, or the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, in which case this section applies. (Pen. Code, § 374.3, subd. (d).) 5)Specifies a person convicted of dumping shall be punished by a mandatory fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) upon a first conviction, by a mandatory fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) upon a second conviction, and by a mandatory fine of not less than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) nor more than three thousand dollars ($3,000) upon a third or subsequent conviction. If the court finds that the waste matter placed, deposited, or dumped was used tires, the fine prescribed in this subdivision shall be doubled. (Pen. Code, § 374.3, subd. (e).) 6)Provides that the court may require, in addition to any fine imposed upon a conviction, that, as a condition of probation and in addition to any other condition of probation, a person convicted under this section remove, or pay the cost of removing, any waste matter which the convicted person dumped or caused to be dumped upon public or private property. (Pen. Code, § 374.3, subd. (f).) 7)Except when the court requires the convicted person to remove waste matter which he or she is responsible for dumping as a AB 144 Page 3 condition of probation, the court may, in addition to the fine imposed upon a conviction, require as a condition of probation, in addition to any other condition of probation, that a person convicted of a violation of this section pick up waste matter at a time and place within the jurisdiction of the court for not less than 12 hours. (Pen. Code, § 374.3, subd. (g).) 8)States that a person who places, deposits, or dumps, or causes to be placed, deposited, or dumped, waste matter in violation of this section in commercial quantities shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than six months and by a fine. The fine is mandatory and shall amount to not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) nor more than three thousand dollars ($3,000) upon a first conviction, not less than three thousand dollars ($3,000) nor more than six thousand dollars ($6,000) upon a second conviction, and not less than six thousand dollars ($6,000) nor more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) upon a third or subsequent conviction. 9)Defines "commercial quantities" means an amount of waste matter generated in the course of a trade, business, profession, or occupation, or an amount equal to or in excess of one cubic yard. This subdivision does not apply to the dumping of household waste at a person's residence. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown COMMENTS: 1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "Under existing law, dumping in non-commercial quantities on private property is only an infraction and subject to a minor fine and no jail time. Illegal dumping on private property is a serious issue for property owners, law enforcement agencies, and communities as a whole. Dumpers impose significant clean-up costs upon the owners of the afflicted property. Dumping also poses a costly burden on law enforcement officials whom are called to respond when an incident occurs. Communities also suffer more than a nuisance as property values and revenues to local government AB 144 Page 4 suffer due to blight from dumping. While the costs and negative outcomes associated with illegal dumping on private property can be high, the penalties for offenders whom are apprehended are too minor to provide adequate deterrence from this behavior. This bill would increase the penalty for illegal dumping on private property in non-commercial quantities from an infraction to a misdemeanor, subject to stiffer fines and up to 30-days of jail time, to discourage illegal dumping." 2)Clarification of No Repeat Misdemeanors: Under existing law, provisions exist which state that each day that waste placed, deposited, or dumped in violation the law is a separate violation. (Pen. Code, § 374.3, subd. (c).) Under current law, this provision only applies to infractions. This bill specifically exempts the elevated misdemeanor provision for a fourth or subsequent violation from this provision. Therefore, under this bill for example, if waste were present on private property for and the defendant was guilty of three or more prior offenses, they would be charged with one misdemeanor rather than 30 misdemeanors. The bill does not change existing law in this respect. Persons charged with infractions may still be charged daily fines for the waste left on private property. 3)Creates a New Misdemeanor: This bill creates a new misdemeanor where there is currently an infraction penalty. Every fourth or subsequent violation of dumping waste on private property shall now be punishable by a misdemeanor penalty of up to 30 days in the county jail. As a result of imposing a misdemeanor penalty, this legislation will permit accused persons to apply for the aid of a public defender. Additionally, persons charged with misdemeanor offenses may demand a jury trial in Superior Court. 4)Keeps Existing Fines in Place: Under current law the existing fines for illegal, non-commercial, dumping are significant. The fines are on a graduated scale that increases for repeated violations of the law. The fines additionally include minimum mandatory fines. This committee generally does not create mandatory minimum fines because they infringe upon judicial discretion. The fine for the misdemeanor offense in this case AB 144 Page 5 does include a mandatory minimum fine of not less than $750 and up to $3,000. This fine is the existing fine imposed for a third or subsequent infraction. Therefore, the fine is not increasing as a result of this legislation. 5)Penalty Assessments: The amount spelled out in statute as a fine for violating a criminal offense are base figures, as these amounts are subject to statutorily-imposed penalty assessments, such as fees and surcharges. Assuming a defendant is fined the maximum fine of $3,000 under Penal Code Section 502, the following penalty assessments would be imposed pursuant to the Government and Penal codes: ------------------------------------------------------- |Base Fine: |$3,000.0| | | 0| | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------+--------| | | | | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------+--------| |Penal Code § 1464 assessment ($10 for every |$3,000.0| |$10): | 0| | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------+--------| |Penal Code § 1465.7 assessment (20% | $600.00| |surcharge): | | | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------+--------| |Penal Code § 1465.8 assessment ($40 per | $40.00| |criminal offense): | | | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------+--------| |Government Code § 70372 assessment ($5 for |$1,500.0| |every $10): | 0| AB 144 Page 6 | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------+--------| |Government Code § 70373 assessment ($30 for | $30.00| |felony or misdemeanor offense): | | | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------+--------| |Government Code § 76000 assessment ($7 for |$2,100.0| |every $10): | 0| | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------+--------| |Government Code § 76000.5 assessment ($2 for | $600.00| |every $10): | | | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------+--------| |Government Code § 76104.6 assessment ($1 for | $300.00| |every $10): | | | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------+--------| |Government Code § 76104.7 assessment ($4 for |$1,200.0| |every $10): | 0| | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------+--------| | | | | | | | | | |----------------------------------------------+--------| |Fine with Assessments: | | | |$12,370.00*| | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------- *In addition to the assessments detailed in the chart, the defendant could be subject to pay "actual administrative AB 144 Page 7 costs" related to his or her arrest and booking (Gov. Code, § 29550 et seq.) and victim restitution for damages impose by the court. 6)The Proposed Amendments: The bill, as introduced, made all illegal dumping on private property a misdemeanor penalty. As a result, all persons charged with these offenses would be permitted jury trials in Superior Court as opposed to routine infraction and fine offenses. This elevation triggers other ancillary rights, such as the right to a public defender if the person charged is indigent. The proposed amendments work with the existing graduated penalties for the offense. Under existing law there are graduated fines for a first, second, or third violation. As amended, this bill would impose a misdemeanor upon a fourth or subsequent violation of illegal dumping on private property. Local prosecutors would be more likely to prosecute these offenses, and the ancillary impacts of elevating an infraction to a misdemeanor are lessened because the body of people who could be charged with these offenses is much smaller. Additionally, this bill now targets serial illegal dumpers with stronger criminal penalties rather than people who engage in this conduct on a single occasion. The amendments removed all opposition from the bill. 7)Prior Legislation: AB 1992 (Canciamilla), Chapter 416, Statutes of 2006, imposed the graduated penalties and increased fines for second and third violations of illegal dumping offenses. AB 1992 went through the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources Committee and was not heard in the Public Safety Committee. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support None Opposition None AB 144 Page 8 Analysis Prepared by: Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744