14 hours Ago By The Olympian
People caught littering in Washington can expect to pay fines that may be more than double the current amount starting this summer. A bill that Rep. Mark Klicker introduced in the the Washington state Legislature in January to raise the fine for littering was approved by the Legislature on Sunday, the last day of the session.
House Bill 1293 increases the penalty for littering from $50 to a Class 2 civil infraction, which carries a penalty of $125 for tossing a cubic foot or less of material. That’s roughly what would fit in a plastic grocery bag. Litterbugs could be hit with a $93 penalty on top of that, for a total of $218, if they are caught leaving trash on a state highway.
Cities and counties also may charge a fine on top of that. Klicker said increasing the amount of the fine for the first time in 32 years is a step toward addressing “our horrible littering problem.” “I have encountered everything from bottles to cups to plastic bags to paper bags, baby cribs, tires, mattresses and sofas on our interstates,” Klicker said.
A Washington state Department of Ecology study done in 2022 found that Washington does have a worse littering problem than many other states. It looked for litter at a sample of 182 roadways, interchanges, restrooms and parks — including in Benton and Franklin counties — to estimate that 37.8 million pounds are littered per year, or nearly 5 pounds per person.
Interstates were the worst with 73,580 pieces of litter per mile per year. And the most littered items were cigarette butts, construction and demolition debris, and food wrappers and snack bags. The study concluded that Washington roadways and parks had 42% more garbage dumped that the national average.
Washington state Departments of Transportation and Ecology together spend more than $12 million annually on litter cleanup efforts, but they can clean up only a small portion of the material that is littered, according to the study. The legislation still must be signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson to take effect July 27.
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