BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 909| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 909 Author: Gray (D) Amended: 9/3/13 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/25/13 AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Block, De León, Knight, Liu, Steinberg SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 8/30/13 AYES: De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-1, 5/30/13 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Metal theft and related recycling crimes SOURCE : Farm Bureau DIGEST : This bill requires, on or after January 1, 2015, the Department of Justice (DOJ) to establish the Metal Theft Task Force Program (MTTFP). ANALYSIS : Existing law: 1.Establishes DOJ, which is headed by the Attorney General and tasked with, among other things, representing California in criminal cases. 2.Provides that any person who feloniously steals, takes, or CONTINUED AB 909 Page 2 carries away the personal property of another, or who fraudulently appropriates property that has been entrusted to him or her, is guilty of theft. 3.Provides that a person who, being a dealer in or collector of junk, metals, or secondhand materials, buys or receives any wire, cable, copper, lead, solder, mercury, iron, or brass that he/she knows or reasonably should know is ordinarily used by, or ordinarily belongs to, a railroad or other transportation, telephone, telegraph, gas, water, or electric light company or county, city, or city and county without using due diligence to ascertain that the person selling or delivering the same has a legal right to do so, is guilty of criminally receiving that property. 4.Provides that the Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare may develop within its respective jurisdiction a Central Valley Rural Crime Prevention Program, which shall be administered by the county district attorney's office of each respective county under a joint powers agreement with the corresponding county sheriff's office. 5.Provides that the parties to each agreement shall form a regional task force known as the "Central Valley Rural Crime Task Force," which includes the county agricultural commissioner, the county district attorney, the county sheriff, and interested property owners or associations. 6.Requires the Central Valley Rural Crime Task Force to develop rural crime prevention programs which contain a system for reporting rural crimes that enable the swift recovery of stolen goods and the apprehension of criminal suspects. This bill: 1. Requires, on or after January 1, 2015, DOJ to establish the MTTFP. 2. Provides that money appropriated to DOJ for the program, after deduction for actual and necessary administrative costs, shall be expended to fund programs that enhance to enhance the capacity of local law enforcement and prosecutors to deter, investigate, and prosecute metal theft and related CONTINUED AB 909 Page 3 metal theft crimes. 3. States that of the funds may, upon appropriation, be used for developing and maintaining a statewide database on metal theft and related recycling crimes for use in developing and distributing intelligence information to participating law enforcement agencies. 4. Requires DOJ to develop specific guidelines and administrative procedures for the selection of regional task forces to receive funds as follows: A. Each regional task force that seeks funds shall submit a written application to DOJ setting forth in detail the proposed use of funds. B. Each regional task force shall be identified by a name that is appropriate to the area it serves. In order to qualify for funds a regional task force shall be comprised of local law enforcement and prosecutors from at least two counties. C. Each task force may consult with experts from the United States military, the California Military Department, the Department of Justice, other law enforcement entities, and various other state and private organizations, including pertinent trade associations , as deemed necessary to maximize the effectiveness of the program. D. Priority shall be given to regional task forces outside of the 13 counties under the existing Central Valley Rural Crime Prevention Program. 1. Provides that the program guidelines shall include all of the following selection criteria that shall be considered by DOJ in awarding grant funds: A. The number of metal theft or related recycling crime cases filed in the prior year. B. The number of metal theft or related recycling crime cases investigated in the prior year. C. The number of victims involved in the cases filed. CONTINUED AB 909 Page 4 D. The total aggregate monetary loss suffered by the victims, including damage caused by theft. E. Local funds available to assist the regional task force. F. The number of licensed recycling facilities in the region. 1. Requires that each regional task force that has been awarded funds authorized under the program during the previous grant-funding cycle, upon reapplication for funds to DOJ in each successive year, shall submit a detailed accounting of funds received and expended in the prior year in addition to any other information required to be submitted. 2. Requires that the accounting of funds received and expended in the previous year contain all of the following information: A. The amount of funds received and expended. B. The use to which those funds were put, including payment of salaries and expenses, purchases of equipment and supplies, and other expenditures by type. C. The number of filed complaints, investigations, arrests, and convictions that resulted from expenditure of the funds. 1. Requires DOJ to regularly review the effectiveness of the program in deterring, investigating, and prosecuting metal theft and related recycling crimes, and shall present a report to the Legislature and the Governor based on information provided by the regional task forces in an annual report to DOJ which shall contain all of the following: A. The number of metal theft or related recycling crime cases filed in the prior year. B. The number of metal theft or related recycling crime cases investigated in the prior year. C. The number of victims involved in the cases filed. CONTINUED AB 909 Page 5 D. The number of convictions obtained in the prior year. E. The total aggregate monetary loss suffered by the victims, including damage caused by theft. F. An accounting of funds received and expended, as specified. 1. Establishes the Metal Theft Task Force Fund (MTTFF) within the State Treasury. Transfers to the MTTFF shall be deposited in the Treasury, or in a state depository bank approved by the Treasurer. These funds upon appropriation by the Legislature will be available for the purposes of the program. 2. Provides that the fund shall consist of moneys deposited into the fund from the federal government, industry, and private sources. General Fund moneys shall not be deposited into the fund nor used to start up, implement or support the continuing administration the program. 3. States that funds provided under this program are intended to ensure that law enforcement is equipped with the necessary personnel and tools to successfully combat metal theft and related recycling crimes, which include, but are not limited to all of the following offenses: A. The theft of metals, including, but not limited to, nonferrous metals. B. The purchase and recycling of stolen metals, including, but not limited to recycled beverage containers, by recyclers. C. The transportation of stolen metals from this state to another state. D. The transportation of stolen metals from another state to this state. 1. States that the MTTFP shall not be implemented until the Department of Finance determines that sufficient funds have been deposited in the MTTFF to implement the program and the CONTINUED AB 909 Page 6 funds have been made available upon appropriation by the Legislature. 2. Provides that DOJ shall be required to implement this program only upon the availability of funds appropriated for this purpose, in an amount sufficient to cover all costs relating to the start up, implementation and continuing administration of this title. 3. Provides that this section shall become operative on January 1, 2015. Prior Legislation The Senate Public Safety Committee passed a nearly identical bill, AB 2298 (Ma) last year (5-0). That bill was held on Appropriations suspense, was amended into an unrelated bill. SB 1387 (Emmerson, Chapter 656, Statutes of 2012) which prohibits junk dealers and recyclers from possessing any fire hydrant, fire department connection, manhole cover or backflow device without a written certification on the letterhead of the agency previously owning the material, and adds fire hydrants, manhole covers and backflow devices to the list of items which, if any person possesses, knowing they were stolen, would receive an additional fine of up to $3,000. In 2011 the Legislature created a separate offense of grand theft of copper material. (AB 316 (Carter), Chapter 317, Statutes of 2011.) In 2009, the Legislature passed the following measures to address the growing problem of metal theft: SB 447 (Maldonado), Chapter 732, Statutes of 2009, assists local law enforcement officials in quickly investigating stolen metal and apprehending thieves by requiring scrap metal dealers and recyclers to report what materials are being scrapped at their facilities and by whom on a daily basis. These rules already apply to pawn shop dealers. SB 691 (Calderon), Chapter 720, Statutes of 2009, requires junk dealers and recyclers to take thumbprints of individuals selling copper, copper alloys, aluminum and stainless steel. CONTINUED AB 909 Page 7 Sellers must also show a government identification (ID) and proof of their current address. Recyclers who violate the law face suspension or revocation of their business license and increased fines and jail time. AB 844 (Berryhill), Chapter 731, Statutes of 2009, requires recyclers to hold payment for three days, check a photo ID and take a thumbprint of anyone selling scrap metals. AB 844 also requires any person convicted of metal theft to pay restitution for the materials stolen and for any collateral damage caused during the theft. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Significant one-time and ongoing costs potentially in excess of $230,000 to $350,000 (Special Fund*) to the DOJ for personnel and equipment costs to implement and administer the statewide program. Any costs in excess of those determined "actual and necessary administrative costs," would be borne by other fund sources. Additional one-time costs potentially in excess of $500,000 to $1 million for the mandated development of a statewide database on metal theft and recycling crimes. Costs would be dependent on the parameters and complexity of the database. Ongoing costs in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars for maintenance and quality control. Major funding from the newly established Metal Theft Task Force Fund in the millions of dollars, consisting of funds from the federal government, industry, and private sources, would be required to support the activities of regional task forces statewide. Potential future cost-savings statewide to the courts, state prison/county jail systems, and law enforcement, as well as to businesses in the form of reduced economic loss, to the extent the operation of the program results in savings realized through crime prevention, crime suppression, and prosecutions resulting from the program. CONTINUED AB 909 Page 8 *Metal Theft Task Force Special Fund SUPPORT : (Verified 8/30/13) Farm Bureau (source) American Pistachio Growers Association of California Water Agencies California Association of Joint Powers Authorities California Business Properties Association California Chamber of Commerce California Cotton Ginners Association California Cotton Growers Association California Grape & Tree Fruit League California State Association of Counties California State Sheriffs' Association Eastern Municipal Water District Friant Water Authority Indio Chamber of Commerce Lassen County Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Pacific Gas and Electric PacifiCorp West Coast Chapter of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Western Agricultural Processors Association Western Plant Health Association ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author: Farmers and ranchers face numerous challenges in providing California and the world with agricultural products, including metal theft. Recent legislation has improved the record keeping requirements for junk dealers and recyclers and changed the way most payments are made for scrap metal. However, the new law has not been enough to stop the dramatic increase in metal theft. Metal theft impacts California farmers, ranchers, utility providers, construction companies, and municipalities. Thieves strip copper wire from irrigation pumps to sell to scrap metal recyclers. The cost of replacing copper wire on an irrigation pump ranges from $1,500 to $4,000 and this cost does not include crop losses caused by lack of CONTINUED AB 909 Page 9 irrigation. Utility lines are cut and stripped of copper wire and construction companies are losing wire and pipes to thieves. Cities and counties are seeing copper wiring stripped from traffic lights and municipal facilities raising significant public safety concerns. AB 909 creates a Metal Theft Task Force program, which will ultimately provide resources to local law enforcement to target metal theft regionally. The program would be voluntary and provide grants to regional task forces. This program is modeled after the Central Valley and Central Coast Rural Crime Prevention Programs and the High Technology Crimes Task Force. A 2002 LAO report found the rural crime prevention programs' rates of arrests, prosecutions and convictions were higher than the statewide average. Additionally, efforts to recover stolen equipment were successful in recovering over half of each dollar reported lost. AB 909 builds on the sturdy foundation of these programs to ensure law enforcement has the ability to bring metal thieves to justice. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-1, 5/30/13 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NOES: Donnelly NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Vacancy JG:nl 9/3/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED AB 909 Page 10 CONTINUED