Officials are expected next week to address the ongoing littering problem in Mojave County by amending local illegal dumping ordinances.
The Mojave County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on a proposed change to the county’s no littering ordinance on Tuesday. A new amendment to the Mojave County Littering Ordinance would make littering or illegal dumping a Class 1 misdemeanor, with a minimum fine of $1,000 for a first offense and a minimum fine of $2,500 for a second offence. will be These fines are in stark contrast to the county’s previous fine of $500 for littering.
According to the amendment, violators are responsible for removing trash on public or private property and face additional misdemeanor penalties if they fail to do so within five days of being notified of the violation.
However, for rental properties within the county, the property owner will also be responsible for providing the tenant with a means of disposing of the waste. The bill would require rental property owners to provide garbage collection services at least once a week. Failure to provide such services is also class 1 misdemeanor. This service may be provided by commercial waste collectors or property owners or agents.
The Mojave County Environmental and Rural Cleanup Enforcement (ERACE) program may offer and promote bounties of up to $500 in exchange for information that may directly lead to the arrest and conviction of criminals.
“The littering problem is evident everywhere you go,” Mojave County Superintendent Gene Bishop said this week. “People have used our deserts as landfills. We try to get them to do the right thing and clean up after themselves.”
Bishop said cleanup of landfills in the Mojave County desert has increased expenses for county officials. And this is something criminals themselves can turn to waste disposal companies for relatively little money, Bishop said.
However, some of the revisions may be familiar. Many of the revisions were proposed in June of last year. But last year’s changes to the county’s littering ordinance may not have been clear enough to county residents, according to an agenda filed by Mojave County Chief Civil Attorney Ryan Esplin.
“We really need to clarify,” Bishop said. “If you’re going to fight people who litter, the ordinance must be clear. County attorneys, judges, and criminals all need to understand exactly what they’re being charged with.” be.”
The Mojave County Board of Supervisors will vote on whether to amend the county’s existing littering ordinance at its next board meeting in Kingman on Tuesday.
