The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 24 : Municipal and County Government

Chapter 061 : Regulatory Provisions; Police Power of Municipalities

Subchapter 008 : RUBBISH AND GARBAGE

• § 2201. Throwing, depositing, burning, and dumping refuse; penalty; summons and complaint

  (a)(1) Prohibition. Every person shall be responsible for proper disposal of his or her own solid waste. A person shall not throw, dump, deposit, or cause or permit to be thrown, dumped, or deposited any solid waste as defined in 10 V.S.A. § 6602, refuse of whatever nature, or any noxious thing in or on lands or waters of the State outside a solid waste management facility certified by the Agency of Natural Resources.

  (2) There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a person who is identifiable from an examination of illegally disposed solid waste is the person who violated a provision of this section.

  (3) No person shall burn or cause to be burned in the open or incinerate in any container, furnace, or other device any solid waste without:

  (A) first having obtained all necessary permits from the Agency of Natural Resources, the District Environmental Commission, and the municipality where the burning is to take place; and

  (B) complying with all relevant State and local regulations and ordinances.

  (b) Prosecution of violations. A person who violates a provision of this section commits a civil violation and shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $800.00.

  (1) This violation shall be enforceable in the Judicial Bureau pursuant to the provisions of 4 V.S.A. chapter 29 in an action that may be brought by a municipal attorney, a solid waste management district attorney, an environmental enforcement officer employed by the Agency of Natural Resources, a designee of the legislative body of the municipality, or any duly authorized law enforcement officer.

  (2) If the throwing, placing, or depositing was done from a snowmobile, vessel, or motor vehicle, except a motor bus, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the throwing, placing, or depositing was done by the operator of the snowmobile, vessel, or motor vehicle.

  (3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the operation of an automobile graveyard or salvage yard as defined in section 2241 of this title, nor shall anything in this section be construed as prohibiting the installation and use of appropriate receptacles for solid waste provided by the State or towns.

  (c) Roadside cleanup. A person found in violation of this section may be assigned to spend up to 80 hours collecting trash or litter from a specified segment of roadside or from a specified area of public property.

  (d) [Repealed.]

  (e) Revocation of hunting, fishing, or trapping license. The Commissioner of Fish and Wildlife shall revoke the privilege of a person found in violation of this section from holding a hunting, fishing, or trapping license for a period of one year from the date of the conviction, if the person fails to pay the penalty set forth in subsection (b) of this section. The Bureau shall immediately notify the Commissioner of Fish and Wildlife of the entry of judgment.

  (f) [Repealed.]

  (g) Amendment of complaint. A person authorized to enforce this section may amend or dismiss a complaint issued by that person by marking the complaint and returning it to the Judicial Bureau. At the hearing, a person authorized to enforce this section may amend or dismiss a complaint issued by that person, subject to the approval of the hearing judge.

  (h) [Repealed.]

  (i) Applicability. Enforcement actions taken under this section shall in no way preclude the Agency of Natural Resources, the Attorney General, or an appropriate State prosecutor from initiating other or further enforcement actions under the civil, administrative, or criminal enforcement provisions of 10 V.S.A. chapter 23, 47, 159, 201, or 211. To the extent that enforcement under this section is by an environmental enforcement officer employed by the Agency of Natural Resources, enforcement under this section shall preclude other enforcement by the Agency for the same offence.

  (j) Definitions. As used in this section:

  (1) “Motor vehicle” shall have the same meaning as in 23 V.S.A. § 4(21).

  (2) “Snowmobile” shall have the same meaning as in 23 V.S.A. § 3801.

  (3) “Vessel” means motor boats, boats, kayaks, canoes, sailboats, and all other types of watercraft.

  (4) “Waters” shall have the same meaning as in 10 V.S.A. § 1251(13). (Amended 1961, No. 164, eff. June 14, 1961; 1965, No. 62, eff. May 19, 1965; 1967, No. 90, § 1, eff. July 1, 1969; 1969, No. 287 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1970; 1971, No. 245 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 2, eff. April 6, 1972; 1989, No. 286 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 1999, No. 63, § 3; 1999, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 29; 2005, No. 23, § 1; 2009, No. 56, § 3; 2013, No. 117 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2017, No. 93 (Adj. Sess.), § 22; 2017, No. 130 (Adj. Sess.), § 15.)