The new litter laws
The Environmental Protection Act 1994 has been changed to allow for stronger and more flexible and enforceable anti-litter provisions, particularly in relation to littering from vehicles.
New Queensland Litter Laws
Under the new litter laws, authorised officers can issue a greater range of offences and penalties. The changes:
• extend the single on-the-spot fine of $150 for littering with a range of littering offences and fines;
• allow authorised officers to issue an infringement notice to the registered owner of a vehicle from which a littering offence was observed; and
• allow an authorised officer to issue a clean up direction notice for illegal dumping of waste.Definition of litter
Litter is any domestic or commercial waste and any material a person might reasonably believe is refuse, debris or rubbish.
Litter can be almost any material that is disposed of incorrectly. Litter includes cigarette butts and drink bottles dropped on the ground, fast food wrappers thrown out of the car window, poorly secured material from a trailer or grass clippings swept into the gutter. Litter can also be
an abandoned vehicle or an abandoned part of a vehicle.
Littering fines
Table 3: Littering fines in Queensland
Type of litter
|
Examples
|
Penalty to individuals
|
If matter proceeds
|
|
General littering
|
Throwing a cigarette butt into the gutter or food wrappers, bus tickets or food items left on the ground.
|
$150
|
$1500
|
|
Littering from a vehicle (including boats)
|
Throwing a soft drink can, takeaway food packaging or plastic bag from a car or boat; or items falling off the back of a ute or a trailer because of an uncovered load.
|
$225
|
$2250
|
|
Dangerous littering
|
Any litter that can cause harm to humans, wildlife and property. This includes broken glass left in a children’s playground or a lit cigarette in dry grass.
|
$300
|
$3000
|
|
Illegal dumping
|
20L-200L
|
Disposing of waste in an area that is not a dedicated waste facility. For example, large domestic items such as fridges and garden refuse and waste from construction, demolition and excavation activities.
|
$300
|
$3000
|
>200L
|
$1237
|
$12370
|
||
Illegal dumping- failure to clean up waste
|
A person requested to clean up illegally dumped waste does not comply within the timeframe specified. This offence will proceed directly to court.
|
–
|
$7500
|
|
Littering from vehicles
Under the new laws, if an authorised officer observes littering from a vehicle they can issue an infringement notice to the registered owner of the vehicle. The new laws consider the registered owner of the vehicle to have committed the offence in the first instance – even though the actual offender may be someone else.To safeguard the rights of vehicle owners, if the registered owner was not the person responsible for the offence, they can complete a statutory declaration within 28 days of receiving the infringement notice containing an illegal user declaration, a known or unknown user declaration or a sold vehicle declaration.
A vehicle is transportation that is identifiable through a registration number and includes a ship or other water vessel.
Direction to remove litter
It is an offence under the Act for a person to unlawfully deposit more than 20 litres of waste; this is known as illegal dumping.The new laws allow an authorised officer to issue a clean up direction notice for illegal dumping. This may involve the collection, transportation, storage, treatment or disposal of the litter and ensures that the person responsible does not impose a cost burden on the administering authority.
If a person fails to comply with an authorised person’s direction to remove litter, they will face a penalty of $7500. If the person issued with the clean up notice, is not the person responsible they can complete a statutory declaration and follow the same procedures as the other vehicle offences.
Enforcement of the litter laws
Authorised officers from the following areas have the ability to issue littering and waste dumping infringement notices:• all Queensland local governments; and
• Queensland Environmental Protection Agency and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
On receiving an infringement notice, a person has 28 days to:
• pay the fine; or
• elect to have the matter heard in Court; or
• complete a statutory declaration.
If a person fails to pay the fine, the enforcement agency will refer the matter to the State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER) and it will follow standard SPER enforcement procedures.
Commencement of the new laws
Parliament passed the new litter laws in October 2007. However, because there are significant changes to the litter laws, the Government has provided a three-month amnesty period before the laws are enforced. Litterbugs will receive a warning notice rather than a fine during the amnesty. The new laws will come into effect on the 11 February 2008.However, the amnesty period does not mean that authorised officers will be unable to enforce littering offences. The Littering offences under the Environmental Protection (Waste Management) Regulation 2000 will remain in force until the 11 February 2008.
Last updated: 31 January 2008
