BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 909|
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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*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
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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
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