We should adopt this law in the UK ..... ROCKFORD — Beginning Jan. 1, you’ll face up to a $1,500 fine in Illinois if caught flicking a cigarette butt out the car window, onto the ground or anywhere in public. Cigarette butts are the most commonly discarded piece of waste worldwide, according to Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. An estimated 1.69 billion pounds of butts wind up as toxic trash each year. Former State Rep, Deb Mell, now a Chicago alderman, sponsored HB 3243. The amendment to the state’s Litter Control Act designates cigarette butts as litter. Gov. Pat Quinn signed the bill this month. Lori Gummow, executive director of Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful, wonders why it took lawmakers so long to deem cigarette butts litter. A carelessly discarded smoldering cigarette butt can cause devastating damage when tossed out a car window onto dry grass, or it can simply remain on the side of a road undetected for years. “Cigarette butts are not biodegradeable,” Gummow said. “They’re made of cellulose acetate, (a plastic). They get stuck in storm water sewers, and birds eat them and can’t digest them. Run over them with a lawn mower, and they just puff out.” As unsightly as a cigarette butt is to a well groomed flower bed, Gummow said trash in general can devalue property by 7 to 10 percent. However, creating a law is one thing, enforcing it is another. Gummow said she hopes police officers will take the law seriously. “It’s the whole broken windows thing,” she said noting an unkempt community draws crime. Rockford Park District Police Sgt. John Piccolin said he has no problem enforcing the law. “If I’m driving down the street and I see someone do that (flick a butt out the window), I would take enforcement action.” A first time conviction is a class B misdemeanor with a fine not exceeding $1,500. A second conviction is a class A misdemeanor with fine not exceeding $1,500. Third or subsequent convictions? That’s a class 4 felony, punishable by a fine of $25,000 and imprisonment not less than one year and not more than three years. In 2005, Rockford aldermen passed an ordinance making it illegal to litter within the city or on any body of water, or for residents to allow litter to accumulate on their property. The law is punishable by a fine of $100 to $500 and 10 hours of community service for your first offense. Rockford Police Lt. Dane Person said it is within the officer’s discretion to charge the offender with violation of the city ordinance or state law. Read more: rrstar/news/x1843578270/Butt-flickers-face-hefty-fines-after-Illinois-litter-law-takes-effect#ixzz2dOoAiqkU
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 22:18:02 +0000
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