HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4720        FILED ON: 4/26/2016

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4262

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Aaron Vega

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act authorizing the city of Holyoke to establish a program for enforcement against illegal dumping.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4720        FILED ON: 4/26/2016

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4262

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Eighty-Ninth General Court
(2015-2016)

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An Act authorizing the city of Holyoke to establish a program for enforcement against illegal dumping.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, it shall be unlawful for any person in the City of Holyoke, directly or indirectly, to dump, place, throw, deposit or discharge any refuse, rubbish, garbage, household goods, appliances or furniture, construction debris, landscaping debris, scrap, trash or other material of any kind on any way, public or private, appearing on the official map of the City of Holyoke, or within 20 yards thereof, or on any land owned or controlled by the City, or on any property owned by another.

SECTION 2. The City of Holyoke may enforce Section 1 by issuing citations with the penalty as described in Section 3 or by prosecuting criminal or civil actions in the housing court, superior court or the district court of Holyoke. The Board of Health, the department of public works or the police department of the City of Holyoke, through their designated agents may issue these citations. No action commenced as a criminal action shall be converted to a civil enforcement action except with the consent of the City.

SECTION 3. A person convicted of a violation of Section 1 shall be punished by a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $10,000 or by imprisonment in the house of correction for not more than 7 days or by both such fine and imprisonment. A person found responsible in a civil action for a violation of Section 1 shall be required to pay a civil penalty of 3 times the amount, up to a maximum of $5,000, estimated or actually paid by the city to remove the dumped material from the property. The court may also issue other orders and injunctions to remedy the circumstances of each case.

SECTION  4. Notwithstanding section 53 of chapter 44 of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, all fines and penalties collected for violations of this act shall be paid to the City of Holyoke. The City shall establish and maintain a Disposal Enforcement Fund into which all these payments shall be deposited. The city treasurer may invest funds in the fund in the manner authorized by sections 55 and 55B of said chapter 44 and any interest earned on the fund shall be credited to and become part of the fund. The City shall appropriate and expend amounts from the fund to finance the enforcement of this act, to remove improperly deposited material from the property subject to this act and to finance programs and personnel involved in the collection and lawful disposal of unwanted household goods generated by residents of the city.

SECTION 5: The General Court may make clerical or editorial changes of form only to the bill, unless the Mayor and City Council approve amendments before enactment by the General Court. The Mayor and City Council are hereby authorized to approve amendments which shall be within the scope of the general public objectives of this petition.

SECTION 6: This act shall take effect upon its passage.