Five years ago, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed and former Gov. Tom Wolf signed into law a provision establishing Litter Enforcement Corridors. Known as Act 62, it identifies segments of roads that would be listed under this designation, and where they are. As a result, litterers and illegal dumpers are liable for higher fines.

Not every road is eligible to be included as part of this program. The segments that qualify are those that have a high aesthetic or historic value worth preserving and will be marked with signs to notify motorists.

In addition to Act 62’s increasing of fines for roads designated for stronger litter enforcement, it also added community service time to fines for first time-offenders. The act also created these Litter Enforcement Corridors, hailed as a new tool to help Pennsylvania crack down on litter and illegal dumping.

In my drive from Slatington to Lehighton on routes 873 and 248, I was surprised to find an extraordinary amount of litter along these two heavily traveled highways. Neither is a litter enforcement corridor, but to my mind, Route 248 should be because of its scenic beauty.

Under the provisions of Act 62, the first-time offender, in addition to paying a fine, is court-ordered to pick up litter and/or trash for anywhere between 5 and 30 hours. For second and subsequent offenses, the community service time increases to 30 to 100 hours.

The act also adds a new section to Title 75 of the Vehicle Code which doubles fines for depositing waste in a Litter Enforcement Corridor. These include scattering rubbish from a vehicle or not removing all debris following an accident; allowing a load that is not properly secured to escape from a vehicle and scattering rubbish onto any road, another person’s property or into a body of water.

Act 62 also deals with a loophole that had fines against commercial dumpers being less than the fees for proper disposal. Act 62 triples the fine when waste or litter that originates from a commercial business is deposited in a Litter Enforcement Corridor.

In another badly needed provision, Act 62 added protection for workers or volunteers who are picking up trash in a Litter Enforcement Corridor. When drivers are in these areas and see traffic control devices, they must yield the right of way as they might in a construction work zone. State officials suggested that because of this, it would be a good idea to coordinate any cleanup event with local or state officials.

The state-designated scenic highways are now Litter Enforcement Corridors, but there are additional ways that roads can be so designated:

There was recent attention given by the state police and PennDOT in updating the public on litter enforcement efforts in Northeastern Pennsylvania. “Picking up litter takes our crews away from our core maintenance activities,” said Jonathan Eboli, PennDOT assistant district executive.

“Every year, volunteers adopt about 8,000 miles of state highway. This equates to over 111,000 volunteers who collect over 41,000 bags of litter,” said Katie Drumheller, acting district maintenance engineer.

In a key related development last week, the House passed House Bill 95 by a 122-79 vote to steeply increase fines for littering. The bill proposes increasing the maximum fine for first-offenders to $2,000, up from $300. A second conviction could bring a $5,000 fine, up from a maximum of $1,000.

In addition, trash hauler violators who don’t secure their cargo could be fined up to $10,000 for a first offense and $20,000 thereafter. Minimums would remain at $500 and $1,000, respectively.

Reps. Jamie Barton, R-Schuylkill, and Jack Rader, R-Monroe, voted against the bill; Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, voted for it.

It now goes to the state Senate for consideration.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.