Connecticut DEEP: More Park Usage Leading To Increased Littering

ACROSS CONNECTICUT — The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection sent a pointed request to the public Tuesday about increased instances of litter in state parks and forests.

"With increased usage of our parks, we're seeing increased trash left behind," DEEP officials said in social media posts. "We need everyone's help to keep our natural spaces clean and free of litter."

The announcement also included a stern request with its own hashtag and public service announcement poster:

"Make sure you take out everything you bring into the parks, bring your own garbage bag and #RecreateResponsibly:"

Prohibits people from throwing, scattering, spilling, placing, or causing to be blown, scattered, spilled, thrown, or placed, litter:

• On state public property
• On state public land
• On private property belonging to another
• In state waters

The prohibition extends to public highways and parks, beaches, campgrounds, forest land, recreational areas, mobile home parks, highways, roads, streets, and alleys. Public land is a state park or forest, municipal park, or any other publicly-owned land open to the public for active or passive recreation.

Litter is any discarded, used, or unconsumed substance or waste material, including (1) bottles, cans, jars, and their detachable tops; (2) unlit cigarettes, cigars, and matches; (3) any flaming or glowing material, or (4) any garbage, trash, refuse, debris, rubbish, grass clippings, lawn or garden waste, newspapers, magazines, or glass, metal, plastic or paper containers, or other packaging or construction material (CGS §22a-248(4)).

Littering does not occur if a person is authorized to dispose of waste on property the state or a municipality has designated for such use, or if someone properly deposits waste in a receptacle.

By law, litter thrown, blown, scattered, or spilled from a motor vehicle is prima facie evidence that the operator littered.

Penalties for Littering

Anyone who violates the littering law may be fined up to $199. One-half the fine must be paid to the municipality in which the arrest was made, unless a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officer or patrolman made the arrest, in which case one-half the fine must be paid to DEP. The other half of the fine must be paid to the state.

By law, the court must also impose a surcharge on people convicted of littering on public land, equal to one-half the amount of the fine. The surcharge must be paid to the municipality in which the arrest was made, unless a DEP officer or patrolman made the arrest, in which case the surcharge must be paid to DEP (CGS § 22a-250).