OLYMPIA – A bill sponsored by Rep. Mark Klicker (R-Walla Walla) aimed at cleaning up Washington, reducing litter, and increasing the fines for those who trash state highways is on its way to the Senate for consideration.
House Bill 1293 raises the state base penalty for littering to a Class 2 civil infraction, a $125 penalty. Throwing trash along a state highway hits a litterer’s wallet even further with an additional $93 penalty. Cities and counties may also have their own local ordinances.
Washington has 42 percent more litter than the national average. The problem is terrible along interstates. The Washington State Department of Ecology found 73,000 pieces of litter per mile, an average of nearly 1,600 pounds per mile…