The fine for littering will go to $500 – under a bill passed in the North Dakota Legislature.
The fine is now $100. And supporters say they hope this will deter people.
Sen. Bill Bowman (R-Bowman) said this bill is actually four years too late.
"If you would have seen the mess we had out there when we had all the heavy, heavy, heavy traffic, it was unbelievable," Bowman said on the Senate floor, as he asked for a "yes" vote. "You know what the worst part of it was? When they pulled into the rest stops at the (Theodore Roosevelt) park, where you look down and take pictures of the beautiful canyon, they would take their garbage and throw it over the hill."
But Sen. Oley Larsen argued the fine for texting while driving is $100 – while littering would be five times that.
"This $500 fine -- I think it's an overreach," Larson said.
The bill passed the Senate 40 to 6. It now goes to Gov. Doug Burgum.
