TO: | Honorable Byron Cook, Chair, House Committee on Environmental Regulation |
FROM: | John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
IN RE: | HB857 by Laubenberg (relating to the penalty for certain outdoor burning violations.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted |
The bill proposes to reduce the current criminal penalties for violations of the outdoor burning rules to a Class C misdemeanor with a fine up to $500 except where the violation is a repeat offense or involves the burning of a tire or insulation on copper wire. Repeat offences on the same property would be charged with a Class B misdemeanor with a $2,000 fine and/or 180 days confinement, burning tires or insulation on electrical wire would be a Class A misdemeanor with a $4,000 fine and or one year confinement. Under current law, violators pay a $1,000 to $50,000 fine and or confinement not to exceed 180 days for an individual violating outdoor burning rules and a $1,000 to $100,000 fine for a person other than an individual violating the rules.
The bill's passage is not expected to have a significant fiscal impact to the state.
Source Agencies: | 582 Commission on Environmental Quality
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LBB Staff: | JOB, SZ, TL, WK
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