BILL NUMBER: AB 2313 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 10, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 21, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Nestande and Olsen
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Gray)
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to add and repeal Title 11.8 (commencing with Section
14190.15) of Part 4 of the Penal Code, relating to metal theft, and
making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2313, as amended, Nestande. Metal theft and related recycling
crimes.
Existing law provides that any person who feloniously steals,
takes, or carries away the personal property of another, or who
fraudulently appropriates property that has been entrusted to him or
her, is guilty of theft. Existing law also 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 or 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.
Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to
administer a comprehensive statewide domestic violence program to
establish a targeted or directed program for the development and
establishment of domestic violence service in currently unserved and
underserved areas, and establishes a grant program administered by
the Office of Emergency Services for the distribution of financial
and technical assistance to domestic violence shelter service
providers for this purpose.
This bill, until December 31, 2020, would require the Office of
Emergency Services to establish a Metal Theft Task Force Program to
provide grants to applicant agencies for the purpose of providing
local law enforcement and district attorneys with the tools necessary
to successfully interdict the commission of metal theft and related
metal recycling crimes. The bill would establish the Metal Theft Task
Force Fund, to be administered by the Office of Emergency Services,
and would continuously appropriate all moneys in that fund to the
department for the purposes of the program. The bill would impose a
fee, to be deposited into the fund, not to exceed 1% of the purchase
price for each junk sale, which involves the sale of scrap metals and
alloys, on the seller of junk for the purpose of regulating that
seller, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would exempt a junk
sale or transaction, which involves the sale of scrap metals and
alloys, between junk dealers and recyclers, as defined, from the
above-described fee. The bill would exempt a junk sale or
transaction, which involves the sale of scrap metals and alloys, by
automobile dismantlers, as defined, from the above-described fee. The
bill would also specify that the provisions regarding the
above-described fee would not apply to any secondhand dealers, coin
dealers, and licensed pawnbrokers, as defined.
The bill would require agencies receiving funding from the program
to submit an annual report, as specified, and would require the
Office of Emergency Services to use the information in those reports
to review the program and report to the Governor and the Legislature.
The bill would require the Office of Emergency Services to submit a
comprehensive report to the Legislature, no later than December 31,
2019, on the status and progress, since the year 2016, of the program
in deterring, investigating, and prosecuting metal theft and related
recycling crimes. The bill would specify that the program would not
be implemented until the Office of Emergency Services determines that
sufficient moneys have been deposited in the fund to implement the
program.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Title 11.8 (commencing with Section 14190.15) is added
to Part 4 of the Penal Code, to read:
TITLE 11.8. THEFT AND RECYCLING OF METALS
14190.15. For the purposes of this title, the following
definitions shall apply:
(a) "Agency" means a regional task force, a local law enforcement
agency, or a district attorney.
(b) "Department" means the Office of Emergency Services.
(c) "Fund" means the Metal Theft Task Force Fund.
(d) "Program" means the Metal Theft Task Force Program.
14190.20. (a) The Metal Theft Task Force Fund is hereby
established within the State Treasury. Office
of the Controller. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, the fund is hereby continuously appropriated to the
department for the purposes set forth in this title. Transfers to the
Metal Theft Task Force Fund shall be deposited in the State
Treasury, or in a state depository bank approved by the Treasurer.
with the Controller.
(b) The fund shall consist of moneys deposited into it from the
federal government, industry, and private sources, and from fees
collected pursuant to Section 14190.45. General Fund moneys shall not
be deposited into the fund nor used to start up, implement, or
support the continuing administration of the provisions of this
title.
(c) The fund shall be administered by the department.
(d) Moneys distributed from the fund pursuant to the program
established pursuant to Section 14190.25 are intended to ensure that
local law enforcement and district attorneys are 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:
(1) The theft of metals, including, but not limited to, nonferrous
metals.
(2) The purchase and recycling of stolen metals, including, but
not limited to, recycled metal beverage containers, by recyclers.
(3) The transportation of stolen metals from junk dealers and
recyclers in this state to another state.
(4) The transportation of stolen metals from another state to this
state.
(5) Unlicensed Illegal
recycling operations.
14190.25. (a) The department shall establish the Metal Theft Task
Force Program. Administration of the overall program and the
evaluation and monitoring of all grants made pursuant to this title
shall be performed by the department.
(b) Moneys appropriated to the department for the program shall be
expended for programs that enhance the capacity of local law
enforcement and prosecutors to deter, investigate, and prosecute
metal theft and related recycling crimes.
(c) After deduction of the department's actual and necessary
administrative costs, the moneys in the fund shall be expended for
programs to enhance the capacity of local law enforcement and
prosecutors to deter, investigate, and prosecute metal theft and
related recycling crimes.
(d) Moneys distributed under this program shall be expended for
the exclusive purpose of deterring, investigating, and prosecuting
metal theft and related recycling crimes. Agencies that receive
moneys pursuant to the program may consult with experts from the
United States military, the California Military Department, law
enforcement entities, and various other state and private
organizations, including pertinent trade associations, as necessary
to maximize the effectiveness of this program.
14190.30. (a) The department shall develop administrative
procedures for the selection of agencies to receive a grant under
this program, which shall include, at a minimum, the following
requirements:
(1) That each agency seeking a grant submit a written application
to the department setting forth in detail the proposed use of the
grant funds.
(2) That, if an applicant agency is a regional task force, the
task force shall be identified by a name that is appropriate to the
area that it serves and, in order to qualify for a grant, shall be
comprised of local law enforcement and prosecutors from at least two
counties.
(3) That 65 percent of each grant issued shall be dedicated to the
investigation and prosecution of unlicensed junk dealers.
(4)
(3) That priority be given to applicant agencies in
areas with high rates of reported metal thefts.
(b) The department shall develop specific guidelines for the
selection of agencies to receive a grant under this program. The
guidelines shall include, at a minimum, all of the following
selection criteria, which shall be considered by the department in
awarding grants:
(1) The number of metal theft or related recycling crime cases
filed in the immediately preceding year.
(2) The number of metal theft or related recycling crime cases
investigated in the immediately preceding year.
(3) The number of victims involved in the cases filed.
(4) The total aggregate monetary loss suffered by the victims,
including damage caused by the theft.
(5) Local moneys available to assist the agencies.
(6) The number of licensed recycling facilities in the area.
(7) The estimated number of illegal recycling operations in the
area.
14190.35. (a) Each agency that has been
awarded a grant under the program during the previous funding cycle
shall, upon reapplication for funds to the department in each
successive year and in addition to any other information required by
this title, submit a detailed accounting of moneys received and
expended in the immediately preceding year.
(b) The accounting shall include all of the following information:
(1) The amount of moneys received and expended.
(2) The use to which those moneys were put, including payment of
salaries and expenses, purchase of equipment and supplies, and other
expenditures by type.
(3) The number of filed complaints, crime
reports, investigations, arrests, and convictions for metal
theft and related recycling crimes that resulted from expenditure of
the funds.
14190.40. (a) The department shall regularly review the
effectiveness of the program in deterring, investigating, and
prosecuting metal theft and related recycling crimes and shall,
notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, submit a
report to the Legislature and Governor that is based on reports
submitted to the department pursuant to subdivision (b).
(b) Agencies receiving funding from the program shall submit an
annual report to the department that details all of the following:
(1) The number of metal theft and recycling crime cases filed in
the immediately preceding year.
(2) The number of metal theft and recycling crime cases
investigated in the immediately preceding year.
(3) The number of victims involved in the cases filed.
reported.
(4) The number of convictions obtained in the immediately
preceding year.
(5) The total aggregate monetary loss suffered by the victims,
including damage caused by the theft.
(6) The number of illegal recycling operations or illegal junk
dealers, or both, shut down.
(6)
(7) An accounting of moneys received and expended in
the immediately preceding year, which shall include all of the
following:
(A) The amount of moneys received and expended.
(B) The uses to which those moneys were put, including payment of
salaries and expenses, purchase of supplies,
benefits, operating expenses, equipment purchases, and
other allowable expenditures.
(C) Any other relevant information requested.
(c) By no later than December 31, 2019, the department shall,
notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, submit a
comprehensive report to the Legislature on the status and progress,
since the year 2016, of the program in deterring, investigating, and
prosecuting metal theft and related recycling crimes. The report
shall be based on each annual report submitted to the department
pursuant to subdivision (b).
14190.45. (a) Except as provided in subdivision
subdivisions (b), (c), and (d), a
fee, determined by the department, not to exceed 1 percent of the
purchase price for each junk sale, which involves the sale of any
scrap metals or alloys, shall be assessed on the seller of junk for
the purpose of regulating that seller. The fee assessed pursuant to
this section shall be collected by junk dealers and recyclers at the
time each sale is conducted, and shall be submitted to the
Treasurer Controller for deposit into the fund.
(b) Each junk sale or transaction, which involves the sale of any
scrap metals or alloys, between junk dealers and recyclers shall not
be subject to the fee described in subdivision (a).
(c) Each junk sale or transaction, which involves the sale of any
scrap metals or alloys, by an automobile dismantler, as defined in
Section 220 of the Vehicle Code, shall not be subject to the fee
described in subdivision (a).
(d) This section does not apply to any of the following:
(1) Secondhand dealers or coin dealers, or both, as defined in
Section 21626 of the Business and Professions Code.
(2) Pawnbrokers licensed pursuant to Chapter 3 of Division 8 of
the Finance Code.
(c)
(e) For purposes of this section, the following
definitions shall apply:
(1) "Junk" has the same meaning as set forth in Section 21600 of
the Business and Professions Code.
(2) "Junk dealer" has the same meaning as set forth in Section
21601 of the Business and Professions Code.
(3) "Recycler" has the same meaning as set forth in Section 21605
of the Business and Professions Code.
14190.50. (a) The program established pursuant to this title
shall not be implemented until the department determines that
sufficient moneys have been deposited in the Metal Theft Task Force
Fund to implement the provisions of this title.
(b) The department shall only be required to implement the
provisions of this title upon the availability of moneys in the fund
in an amount sufficient to cover all costs relating to the startup,
implementation, and continuing administration of the provisions of
this title.
14190.55. The department may adopt regulations as needed to
administer this title.
14190.60. This title shall remain in effect only until December
31, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before December 31, 2020, deletes or extends
that date.