Michigan Littering Laws: Fines, Liability, and Illegal Dumping

Michigan’s littering laws treat the offense as either a civil infraction or a criminal misdemeanor based on how much you dump, with fines starting at $800 for less than a cubic foot and climbing to $10,000 or more for repeat large-scale offenders. Courts also order convicted litterers to clean up what they left behind and reimburse anyone else who already did. Separate laws hit vehicle passengers’ drivers, people who throw objects at highway traffic, and large-scale illegal dumpers with their own penalty structures.

Fines by Volume for a First Offense

MCL 324.8905a sets the penalties on a sliding scale tied to how much material you leave behind. For a first offense:

Less than 1 cubic foot: civil infraction, fine up to $800.
1 cubic foot to less than 3 cubic feet: civil infraction, fine up to $1,500.
3 cubic feet to less than 5 cubic yards: misdemeanor, fine up to $2,500.
5 cubic yards or more: misdemeanor, fine up to $5,000.

The threshold that matters most is 3 cubic feet. Below it, you’re looking at a civil infraction, which shows up on your record but is not a criminal conviction. At or above it, you’re charged with a misdemeanor, which can affect employment, housing, and professional licensing.¹

For a sense of scale, one cubic foot is about the size of a basketball. Three cubic feet is roughly a large kitchen trash bag. Five cubic yards would fill a small dumpster. A couple of household garbage bags tossed in the woods puts you into misdemeanor territory.

Repeat Offense Penalties

Fines jump sharply for a second conviction and keep climbing after that. In the 3-cubic-foot to under-5-cubic-yard tier, a second offense carries a fine of up to $5,000, with each additional conviction adding $2,500 to the maximum. In the 5-cubic-yard-and-up tier, a second offense jumps to $10,000, and every subsequent conviction adds another $5,000.¹

Cleanup and Reimbursement on Top of Fines

Anyone convicted under the misdemeanor tiers must, by court order, remove the litter and repair any property damage. If the litter landed on railroad property, the court orders the defendant to reimburse the railroad’s cleanup costs instead.¹

Courts can also order reimbursement to any local community group, township, municipality, county, or state department that cleaned up the site or plans to. The reimbursement is capped at actual cleanup and remediation costs, so a judge can’t inflate it as extra punishment. Still, if a township ran up a $3,000 bill on a cleanup crew and equipment rental, that bill lands on top of the statutory fine.¹

What Counts as Litter

The statutory definition under MCL 324.8901 is broad. It covers paper, glass, cans, bottles, trash, and debris, and it also sweeps in “rubbish, refuse, waste material, garbage, offal…or other foreign substances.” Essentially, anything you leave where it doesn’t belong can qualify.²

Abandoned vehicles, vessels, off-road vehicles, and snowmobiles are all specifically included. Leaving a broken-down car on someone else’s property, or sinking a boat in a lake, falls under the same litter framework as tossing a fast-food bag out a window. And because MCL 324.8902 prohibits knowingly leaving litter on public or private property or water, the rules reach Michigan’s lakes, rivers, and streams as well as its roadsides.³

When You’re Liable for Litter Someone Else Threw

MCL 324.8904 creates a rebuttable presumption that the driver of a vehicle or vessel is responsible for any litter thrown, dumped, or left from it. If a passenger tosses a cup out your window, you’re on the hook unless you can prove otherwise.⁴

The statute goes further. If the driver can’t be identified, proof that a specific vehicle or vessel was involved combined with proof that the defendant owned it at the time creates a presumption that the owner was the driver. For leased vehicles and vessels, the presumption shifts to the lessee. Abandoned vehicles carry their own presumption too: if a titled or leased vehicle is found abandoned, the titled owner or lessee is presumed to have abandoned it, and that triggers litter penalties on top of any vehicle code violations.⁴

Throwing Objects at Highway Traffic

MCL 324.8903 treats knowingly causing litter or any object to fall into the path of, or strike, a vehicle on a highway as a standalone misdemeanor. The penalty is up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $500, or both.⁵ The volume-based scale doesn’t apply here. Even a small object can trigger the full one-year maximum, because the danger is the crash risk, not the amount of material.

Large-Scale Illegal Dumping Under Part 115

When dumping crosses into large-scale solid waste violations, Part 115 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act takes over, and the numbers change dramatically. Civil fines run up to $10,000 per day for a first offense and $25,000 per day for a second or subsequent offense.⁶

On the criminal side, a Part 115 violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 per violation plus prosecution costs, with up to six months in jail if the fine goes unpaid. Each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense. Knowingly violating certain provisions escalates the charge to a felony carrying up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.⁶

Courts can also order violators to restore affected natural resources to their original condition or pay the state the equivalent cost, plus all surveillance and enforcement expenses. Environmental remediation for contaminated soil or groundwater can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is what makes this provision so heavy for illegal dump operators.

Federal Land in Michigan

Not all littering in Michigan falls under state law. Federal tracts like the Huron-Manistee National Forests and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore are governed by federal regulations. On National Forest System lands, 36 CFR 261.11 prohibits leaving refuse or debris exposed or unsanitary, placing anything in or near water that could pollute it, and failing to use provided receptacles. Bringing trash from private property onto forest land to dump is separately prohibited unless a designated facility exists.⁷

Violations can bring up to six months in federal custody, a fine under 18 U.S.C. 3571, or both.⁸ National Park sites in Michigan carry similar penalties under 36 CFR 2.14.

How to Report Littering

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources runs the Report All Poaching (RAP) hotline, which also handles littering and illegal dumping. Call or text 800-292-7800 anytime, or use the DNR’s online complaint form. Include the date, location, a description of the people and any vehicle or vessel involved, and registration numbers if you have them. GPS coordinates or nearby landmarks help conservation officers find the site.⁹

For larger environmental dumping involving hazardous materials, chemical spills, or industrial waste, use the EPA channels instead. If there’s an immediate threat to health or the environment, call 911, then the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802. For non-emergencies, the EPA’s online tool at echo.epa.gov lets you describe the violation, name the responsible party, upload photos or video, and note whether the dumping is ongoing.¹⁰

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 324.8905a – Violation as State Civil Infraction; Penal Fine; Misdemeanor
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 324.8901 – Definitions
3
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 324.8902 – Littering
4
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 324.8904 – Rebuttable Presumption; Vehicle or Vessel
5
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 324.8903 – Causing Litter or Object To Fall or Be Thrown Into Path of Vehicle
6
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code Part 115 – Solid Waste Management
7
eCFR. 36 CFR 261.11 – Sanitation
8
eCFR. 36 CFR Part 261 – Prohibitions
9
Department of Natural Resources. Report All Poaching
10
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Report Environmental Violations