HF 2949

as introduced - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the environment; preventing littering in 
  1.3             state parks and other areas; amending Minnesota 
  1.4             Statutes 2000, sections 85.20, subdivision 6; 144.414, 
  1.5             subdivision 1; 169.42, subdivision 1; 169.421, 
  1.6             subdivision 3; 609.68. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 85.20, 
  1.9   subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 6.  [LITTERING; PENALTY.] (a) No person shall drain, 
  1.11  throw, or deposit upon the lands and waters within a state park 
  1.12  any substance, including partially burned cigarettes, that would 
  1.13  mar the appearance, create a stench, destroy the cleanliness or 
  1.14  safety of the land, or would be likely to injure any animal, 
  1.15  vehicle, or person traveling upon those lands and waters.  The 
  1.16  operator of a vehicle or watercraft, except a school bus or a 
  1.17  vehicle transporting passengers for hire and regulated by the 
  1.18  interstate commerce commission, shall not permit articles to be 
  1.19  thrown or discarded from the vehicle upon any lands or waters 
  1.20  within a state park.  
  1.21     (b) Violation of this subdivision is a misdemeanor.  Any 
  1.22  person sentenced under this subdivision shall in lieu of the 
  1.23  sentence imposed be permitted, under terms established by the 
  1.24  court, to work under the direction of the department of natural 
  1.25  resources at clearing rubbish, trash, and debris from any state 
  1.26  park.  The court may for any violation of this subdivision order 
  2.1   the offender to perform such work under terms established by the 
  2.2   court with the option of a jail sentence being imposed.  
  2.3      (c) In lieu of enforcement under paragraph (b), this 
  2.4   subdivision may be enforced by imposition of a civil penalty and 
  2.5   an action for damages for littering under section 115A.99. 
  2.6      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 144.414, 
  2.7   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.8      Subdivision 1.  [PUBLIC PLACES.] No person shall smoke in a 
  2.9   public place, within 20 feet of the entrance to a public place, 
  2.10  or at a public meeting except in designated smoking areas.  This 
  2.11  prohibition does not apply in cases in which an entire room or 
  2.12  hall is used for a private social function and seating 
  2.13  arrangements are under the control of the sponsor of the 
  2.14  function and not of the proprietor or person in charge of the 
  2.15  place.  Furthermore, this prohibition shall not apply to places 
  2.16  of work not usually frequented by the general public, except 
  2.17  that the state commissioner of health shall establish rules to 
  2.18  restrict or prohibit smoking in factories, warehouses, and those 
  2.19  places of work where the close proximity of workers or the 
  2.20  inadequacy of ventilation causes smoke pollution detrimental to 
  2.21  the health and comfort of nonsmoking employees.  
  2.22     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 169.42, 
  2.23  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.24     Subdivision 1.  [DANGEROUS OBJECT ON HIGHWAY.] No person 
  2.25  shall throw, deposit, place or dump, or cause to be thrown, 
  2.26  deposited, placed or dumped upon any street or highway or upon 
  2.27  any public or privately owned land adjacent thereto without the 
  2.28  owner's consent any snow, ice, glass bottle, glass, nails, 
  2.29  tacks, wire, cans, garbage, swill, papers, ashes, partially 
  2.30  burned cigarettes, refuse, carcass of any dead animal, offal, 
  2.31  trash or rubbish or any other form of offensive matter or any 
  2.32  other substance likely to injure any person, animal or vehicle 
  2.33  upon any such street or highway. 
  2.34     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 169.421, 
  2.35  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  2.36     Subd. 3.  [CIVIL LIABILITY IMPOSED.] If any solid waste, 
  3.1   including litter, glass, nails, tacks, wire, cans, bottles, 
  3.2   garbage, papers, refuse, trash, partially burned cigarettes, or 
  3.3   any form of offensive matter is thrown, deposited, placed, or 
  3.4   dumped from a vehicle upon any street or highway, public land, 
  3.5   or upon private land without the consent of the owner of the 
  3.6   land, a violation of this subdivision occurs and civil liability 
  3.7   is imposed upon the owner of the vehicle.  The driver and 
  3.8   passengers riding in a vehicle are constituted as the agents of 
  3.9   the owner of the vehicle for purposes of this subdivision.  It 
  3.10  is a defense to any action brought pursuant to this section that 
  3.11  the vehicle was stolen.  This section is not applicable to the 
  3.12  owner of a vehicle transporting persons for hire or transporting 
  3.13  school children.  
  3.14     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 609.68, is 
  3.15  amended to read: 
  3.16     609.68 [UNLAWFUL DEPOSIT OF GARBAGE, LITTER, OR LIKE.] 
  3.17     Whoever unlawfully deposits garbage, rubbish, partially 
  3.18  burned cigarettes, offal, or the body of a dead animal, or other 
  3.19  litter in or upon any public highway, public waters or the ice 
  3.20  thereon, shoreland areas adjacent to rivers or streams as 
  3.21  defined by section 103F.205, public lands, or, without the 
  3.22  consent of the owner, private lands or water or ice thereon, is 
  3.23  guilty of a misdemeanor.