BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 1583
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 2, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                  AB 1583 (Hernandez) - As Amended:  April 9, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              Business and 
          Professions  Vote:                            9 - 0 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill prohibits any junk dealer or recycler from purchasing 
          or receiving bulk merchandise pallets marked with an indicia of 
          ownership from any person or entity other than the indicated 
          owner. Specifically, this bill: 

          1)Prohibits junk dealers or recyclers from purchasing or 
            receiving bulk merchandise pallets marked with an indicia of 
            ownership from any person or entity other than the indicated 
            owner. 

          2)Broadens the definition of "bulk merchandise pallets" to 
            include any wooden or plastic carrier used by a manufacturer 
            or distributor for bulk transport of merchandise. 

          3)Authorizes a junk dealer or recycler to purchase or receive 
            bulk merchandise pallets if the seller is not the indicated 
            owner, only if the seller or transferor provides a receipt 
            verifying his or her current ownership or a document 
            indicating that he or she is authorized by the owner to sell 
            or transfer the merchandise pallets. 

          4)Requires a junk dealer or recycler to make payment for a 
            single transaction involving five or more bulk merchandise 
            pallets marked with indicia of ownership by mailed check or by 
            cash or check collected by the seller after three business 
            days.

          5)Requires a person or entity purchasing or transporting plastic 
            bulk merchandise containers who is in the business of 
            recycling, shredding, or destruction of plastic bulk 








                                                                  AB 1583
                                                                  Page  2

            merchandise containers, or is in the business of transporting 
            plastic bulk merchandise containers for those purposes, to 
            obtain a proof of ownership record or bill of lading and other 
            identifying information from the person selling or delivering 
            five or more containers, and to retain this information.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Negligible, non-reimbursable costs for prosecution and/or 
          incarceration, offset by fine revenue, for misdemeanor 
          violations of provisions associated with obliterating the 
          indicia of ownership on a merchandise pallet.

           


          COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  . This bill prohibits junk dealers and recyclers from 
            purchasing or receiving bulk merchandise pallets marked with 
            an indicia of ownership from anyone except the indicated 
            owner, unless the seller or transporter provides proof of 
            ownership. The author contends AB 1583 will ensure businesses 
            stop losing their property because the legislation applies to 
            all merchandise pallets, not only to plastic ones used for 
            milk, eggs, and beverages.

            According to the sponsor, MillerCoors, thefts in the San 
            Gabriel Valley alone cost local businesses nearly $10 million 
            annually, MillerCoors typically pays approximately $30 per 
            pallet and estimates its nationwide losses from pallet theft 
            to be in the tens of millions of dollars per year.  

           2)Opposition  . The California Chapters of the Institute of Scrap 
            Recycling Industries (ISRI) writes in opposition, "Frankly, 
            the problem is not the sufficiency of the current law; it is 
            the lack of judicial enforcement of the current law.  Simply 
            stated, few local police agencies have the desire to redirect 
            their scarce resources to enforce the merchandise container 
            laws.  This is not an issue of substantive law.  This is an 
            issue where dairy, bakery, and soft drink industries need to 
            make sure the supermarkets in which their products are sold 
            keep the merchandise containers in a secure location."

           3)Related Legislation  . SB 520 (Governmental Organization 








                                                                  AB 1583
                                                                  Page  3

            Committee), Chapter 349, Statutes of 2007, prohibits junk 
            dealers or recyclers from purchasing or receiving aluminum 
            beer kegs with marks indicating ownership, unless the kegs are 
            being provided directly by the owner.



           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081