BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 485
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 13, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Susan A. Bonilla, Chair
SB 485 (Ron Calderon) - As Amended: August 5, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : Weighmasters: junk dealers and recyclers.
SUMMARY : Requires a junk dealer or recycler to submit
additional information regarding its junk dealer business to the
Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA) when applying for a
weighmaster's license or a renewal license, requires the DFA to
complete an investigation of the information on the application
or renewal within a specified period of time and revoke the
license if the information submitted in the application or
renewal is materially inaccurate, increases the fees that junk
dealers or recyclers pay for each fixed location, and sunsets
these provisions on January 1, 2019. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that in addition to any other requirements for
issuance of a weighmaster's license, if the applicant is a
recycler or junk dealer the DFA shall require the applicant to
furnish all of the following information accurately on any
application for a new license or the renewal of a license:
a) A copy of the applicant's current business license;
b) A statement indicating that the applicant has either
filed an application for a stormwater permit or is not
required to obtain a stormwater permit;
c) A statement indicating that the applicant has the
equipment necessary to comply with the photographic and
thumbprinting requirements for the purchase and sale of
nonferrous material, as specified, or a statement
indicating that applicant will not be purchasing or selling
nonferrous materials and is not required to comply as
specified; and,
d) The name or names of any deputy weighmasters.
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2)Requires the DFA to issue a license to a junk dealer or
recycler upon receipt of an application for a new license or
renewal of a license that contains the required information
and is accompanied by the appropriate fee.
3)Requires that, on or before December 31, 2014 and upon
issuance of a license to a junk dealer or recycler, or renewal
of such a license, the DFA must make a thorough investigation
of all of the information contained on the application within
90 days, and specifies that if the license is issued or
renewed on or after January 1, 2015, the DFA shall make a
thorough investigation of all the information contained in the
application within 90 days for a new license, and within one
calendar year for a renewal of a license.
4)Specifies that if the DFA determines that the information
submitted is materially inaccurate, the DFA shall revoke the
license issued to a junk dealer or recycler unless the junk
dealer or recycler complies with the specified requirements
within 14 days of notice from the DFA of a proposed
revocation, as specified.
5)Provides that a junk dealer or recycler whose license has been
revoked is entitled to a hearing, as specified.
6)Authorizes the Secretary of the DFA to enter into a
cooperative agreement with any county sealer to carry out the
specified provisions.
7)Requires a weighmaster who is a recycler or junk dealer or is
performing services on behalf of a recycler or junk dealer, in
addition to specified license fees, to also pay to the DFA the
following license fee for each license year as applicable to
the operation:
a) $500 if the weighmaster is operating at a fixed
location;
b) $500 for each additional fixed location at which the
weighmaster is operating; and,
c) $500 if the weighmaster is operating at other than a
fixed location.
8)Specifies that license fees collected shall be deposited in
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the DFA fund to be expended by the DFA for administration and
enforcement.
9)Specifies that the above provisions shall remain in effect
until January 1, 2019.
10)Makes legislative findings and declarations relative to
requirements for commercial scrap recycling transactions and
the role of the Division of Measurement Standards (DMS) and
county sealers in the review and inspection of weighing and
measurement devices.
11)Makes other minor technical and clarifying changes.
EXISTING LAW
1)Specifies that the DFA is generally responsible for the
supervision of weights and measures and weighing and measuring
devices sold or used in the state. (Business and Professions
Code (BPC) Section 12100)
2)Provides that the duty of carrying out and enforcing its
provisions and requirements is vested in the Secretary of DFA
and in each sealer acting under the supervision and direction
of the Secretary. (BPC 12103.5)
3)Authorizes the Secretary of DFA to inspect the work of the
local sealers, and to inspect the weights, measures, balances
or any other weighing or measuring devices of any person. (BPC
12105)
4)Defines a weighmaster as "any person who, for hire or
otherwise, weighs, measures, or counts any commodity and
issues a statement or memorandum of the weight, measure or
count which is used as the basis for either the purchase or
sale of the commodity or charge for service." (BPC 12700)
5)Specifies that no person shall perform weighmaster acts unless
licensed as a weighmaster and unless the current license fee
and any penalty has been paid, and requires the weighmaster to
submit the name or names of deputy weighmasters with the
appropriate fees. (BPC 12703)
6)Requires a weighmaster to obtain and pay a license fee. (BPC
12704)
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7)Requires all license fees collected to be deposited in the DFA
fund to be expended by the DFA for the administration and
enforcement. (BPC 12709)
8)Defines junk to mean "any and all secondhand and used
machinery and all ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals and
alloys, including any and all secondhand and used furniture,
pallets, or other personal property other than livestock, or
parts or portions thereof." (BPC 21600)
9)Defines a junk dealer as including "any person engaged in the
business of buying, selling and dealing in junk, any person
purchasing, gathering, collecting, soliciting or traveling
from place to place procuring junk, and any person operating,
carrying on, conducting or maintaining a junk yard or place
where junk is gathered together and stored or kept for
shipment, sale or transfer." (BPC 21601)
10)Requires every junk dealer and recycler to keep a written
record of all sales and purchases made in the course of his or
her business. (BPC 21605)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of this bill . This bill requires junk dealers to
provide additional information to the DFA when applying for or
renewing a weighmaster's license in order to reduce the number
of non-compliant dealers, and hopefully deter fraudulent
transactions and decrease the sale of stolen metal property.
This bill also creates new license fees for a weighmaster who
is a recycler or junk dealer in order to operate at specified
locations. The provisions of SB 485 will sunset on January 1,
2019. This bill is sponsored by the West Coast Chapter of the
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries.
2)Author's statement . According to the author, "In 2008, AB 844
(Berryhill) (Chapter 731, Statutes of 2008) was signed into
law which created stringent reporting requirements for
recycling companies when purchasing non-ferrous materials,
such as copper and stainless steel. The purpose for creating
such strict reporting requirements was to discourage metal
theft, promote honest competition within the scrap metal
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recycling industry, and most importantly to provide law
enforcement with photographic evidence of material if the
material purchased by a recycler was determined to be stolen.
Unfortunately, the reporting requirements have not stopped the
theft of metals. Instead, it has created unscrupulous and
non-compliant recyclers within the industry? [This bill] is an
effort to better identify recyclers that operate outside of
the law, and who often deal in stolen recyclable materials
[and further] seeks to address the issue of monitoring
recyclers who do not follow the law by establishing additional
requirements for recyclers who submit an application for a new
weighmaster license or the renewal of a weighmaster license
with [DFA]."
3)The ongoing problem of metal theft . According to the author,
metal theft continues to be a serious problem in California.
The Riverside Press Enterprise reported on March 10, 2013 that
"metal thieves are hitting inland freeways hard-often during
the day-and occasionally making off with surprisingly large
items from construction sites?in another case, a freeway light
pole, which was knocked down in a crash, was stolen before
workers could repair it."
In another article from the Riverside Press Enterprise, it
reported that in "Corona, like other cities, private
residences and businesses have been hit hard by metal thieves.
Scrap yards will pay almost 3 dollars for non-insulated
copper wire and almost 2 dollars per pound for insulated
copper wire." The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported in
2008 numerous instances of copper theft causing significant
damage to important safety equipment such as tornado sirens in
Mississippi and transformers in Florida that caused electrical
outages.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) released a report
in 2009 regarding metal theft which reported that "thieves
seem willing to go to any length to obtain the metal, which
they can then sell to scrap dealers. Thieves have stripped
sheets of metal from building rooftops, stolen memorial
decorations from cemeteries, ripped apart air conditioners for
the copper coils within, and stripped homes and buildings of
wiring and piping. Frequently, the damage caused by such
thefts is several times the value of the metal stolen?Thieves
have removed wiring from traffic and railway signals and even
posed as utility workers in order to remove large sections of
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thick utility cable from the sewers beneath city streets.
Several thieves have been electrocuted trying to steal live
electrical wiring." (Metal Theft Claims from January 2006 to
November 2008, February 13, 2009, NICB).
4)The growing metal recycling industry . According to the
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc., (ISRI)
nonferrous (or not iron-based) metals are among the few
materials that do not degrade or lose their chemical or
physical properties in the recycling process. Because of
this, these metals have the capacity to be recycled a nearly
infinite number of times. Nonferrous materials include
copper, copper alloys, stainless steel, or aluminum (but not
beverage containers, as specified in the California Public
Resources Code).
In the United States, the value of the nonferrous scrap industry
jumped to nearly $40 billion in 2010, which was an increase of
28% from 2009. In terms of volume, it has been reported that
nonferrous scrap materials make up a small percentage of the
total quantity of material recycled in the United States
(U.S.), but by value it accounts for more than half of the
total earnings of the scrap recycling industry. In 2010, the
U.S. exported $16.7 billion worth of nonferrous scrap to
nearly 100 countries.
Current law requires every junk dealer and recycler to keep a
written record of all sales and purchases made in the course
of his or her business. The written record includes: the
place and date of each sale or purchase of junk; the name,
identification number and the address from an additional item
of identification that also bears the seller's name; the
vehicle license number; the name and address of each person to
whom junk is sold or disposed of; a description of the item or
items of junk purchased or sold; identification number; and a
statement indicating either that the seller of the junk is the
owner of it, or the name of the person he or she obtained the
junk from, as shown on a signed transfer document.
While current law requires stringent reporting requirements
for junk dealers or recyclers during the sale process to help
identify individuals that may be selling stolen property, this
bill provides a new review process to monitor and identify
junk dealers or recyclers that do not have the proper business
licenses, stormwater permits, and technology needed to comply
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with photographic and thumbpringting requirements relative to
the purchase and sale of non-ferrous materials. By providing
DMS with the authority to revoke or deny a wesigmaster's
license if certain elements are not present during the
investigative process for a weighmaster's license or renewal,
this bill may help to deter and detect non-compliant recyclers
while providing sufficient time for compliant businesses to
correct any deficiencies in their application.
5)Weights and measures . Enforcement of California's weights and
measures laws and regulations is the responsibility of the DMS
under the DFA. The DMS works with county sealers of weights
and measures who, under the supervision and direction of the
Secretary of DFA, carry out many of the weights and measures
inspection and enforcement activities at the local level.
County weights and measures officials inspect and test
packaged commodities and all commercially used devices.
Weights and measures officials have the authority to issue
citations for misdemeanor and infraction violations involving
weights and measures laws. DFA is authorized to inspect all
weighmasters, including those that are junk dealers and
recyclers, to ensure compliance with recordkeeping and
reporting requirements with relation to the issuance of
weighmaster certificates.
6)Current requirements for a weighmaster's license . Under
current law, an applicant seeking a weighmaster's license is
required to complete the application form and submit it with
the proper fees and other required information. The type of
information required on a current application includes name,
business license, contact information, business locations and
the name or names of any deputy weighmasters.
This bill would increase the amount of information that must be
provided on an application for a new weighmaster's license or
renewal in order to provide both the DFA and the county
sealers with better information to determine if a junk dealer
or recycler business is operating a legitimate business.
Additionally, this bill provides DMS with the authority to
verify the accuracy of information submitted on the
application and take the appropriate disciplinary action for
submitting false information.
The current license fee a weighmaster is required to pay to DFA
for each license year, depending on location, is: $75 for a
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weighmaster operating at a fixed location; $30 for each
additional fixed location; and $200 if the weighmaster is
operating at other than a fixed location. This bill would
require a junk dealer or recycler to pay an additional $500
fee for each fixed location or other location where it
operates to cover costs associated with the investigative work
performed by DMS to review the additional material submitted
on the application for a weighmaster's license or renewal.
In order to verify the efficacy of these new requirements,
this bill contains a January 1, 2019 sunset provision to give
industry, DFA and other stakeholders an opportunity to review
the additional application requirements to determine if they
are helping to deter non-compliant junk dealers or recycling
businesses who may deal in lost or stolen metal property.
7)Arguments in support . The West Coast Chapter of the Institute
of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) writes in support, "[This
bill] provides a mechanism for additional enforcement at
recycling facilities by county sealers. [This bill] will give
authority to county sealers to make sure that all recycling
facilities have the required business permits for each
jurisdiction. These additional requirements will be paid by
the recyclers through a supplemental fee to cover the costs
necessary for county sealers to inspect recyclers. [This
bill] is designed to assist law enforcement in eliminating the
"rogue" recyclers. If law enforcement is able to eliminate
"rogue" recyclers, California will see a major decline in
metal theft."
The Association of California Water Agencies writes in
support, "[This bill] would require a sealer who is responding
to a request concerning the weights, measures or weighing
instruments of a junk dealer or recycler to also inspect the
sales and purchase records of the junk dealer or recycler to
ensure compliance with the recordkeeping and reporting
requirements. Metal theft has quickly become a severe drain
on many water district budgets. Many times criminals may
steal material that only garners a small amount of money but
the damage that theft creates costs our public agencies
thousands of dollars to repair."
8)Related legislation . SB 757 (Berryhill) of 2013 makes
conforming changes to authorize a junk dealer or recycler
buying newspaper or CRV containers, as specified above, to
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accept as valid seller identification a passport from any
country or a Matricula Consular issued by Mexico. It also
specifies that the term "secondhand dealer" does not include a
junk dealer. This bill is pending in the Assembly Business,
Professions and Consumer Protection Committee.
AB 909 (Gray) of 2013 would require the Board of State and
Community Corrections to establish the Metal Theft Task Force
Program to provide, evaluate and monitor grants disbursed to
enhance the capacity of local law enforcement and prosecutors
to deter, investigate, and prosecute metal theft and related
metal theft crimes. This bill is pending in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
AB 841 (Torres) of 2013 would require junk dealers and recyclers
to provide payment to sellers of nonferrous material by mailed
check only, as specified. This bill is pending on the Senate
Floor.
9)Previous legislation . AB 316 (Carter), Chapter 317, Statutes
of 2011 provided that every person who steals, takes, or
carries away copper materials which are of a value exceeding
$950 is guilty of grand theft, punishable by a fine not
exceeding $2,500, imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding
one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment, or by
imprisonment in a county jail or the state prison not
exceeding 16 months, or 2 or 3 years and a fine not to exceed
$10,000, as specified.
AB 1778 (Ma), Chapter 733, Statutes of 2009 required recyclers
to obtain identifying information of individuals who bring in
more than $50 worth of CRV recyclables and newspapers. AB
1778 also required that payments of $50 or more be made by
check.
SB 447 (Maldonado), Chapter 732, Statutes of 2008 required scrap
metal dealers and recyclers to report what materials are being
scraped at their facilities and by whom on a daily basis.
AB 844 (Berryhill), Chapter 731, Statutes of 2008 required
recyclers to hold payment for three days, check a photo ID and
take a thumbprint of anyone selling scrap metals. Also
required any person convicted of metal theft to pay
restitution for the materials stolen and for any collateral
damage caused during the theft.
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SB 691 (Calderon), Chapter 730, Statutes of 2008 required junk
dealers and recyclers to take thumbprints of individuals
selling copper, copper alloys, aluminum and stainless steel.
Also, required sellers to show a government identification
(ID) and proof of their current address. Recyclers who
violated the law faced suspension or revocation of their
business license and increased fines and jail time.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
West Coast Chapter of the Institute of Scrap Recycling
Industries (sponsor)
Association of California Recycling Industries
Association of California Water Agencies
California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association
California Chamber of Commerce
Eastern Municipal Water District
PacifiCorp
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Elissa Silva / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301