BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 485
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 485 (Ron Calderon)
As Amended August 5, 2013
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :39-0
BUSINESS & PROFESSIONS 14-0
APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Bonilla, Jones, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Bocanegra, Campos, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Dickinson, Eggman, | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |
| |Gordon, Hagman, Holden, | |Gomez, Hall, Holden, |
| |Maienschein, Mullin, | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, |
| |Skinner, Ting, Wilk | |Wagner, Weber |
| | | | |
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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
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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.
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:
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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
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.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)The on-going workload for DFA associated with the increased
inspection procedures, training, hearings, and general
oversight of the program would cost in excess of $800,000 per
year.
2)Revenue generated by the increased fees is expected to fully
cover the cost of the program. DFA estimates that it will
collect approximately $875,000 annually.
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
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is a recycler or junk dealer in order to operate at specified
locations. The provisions of this bill 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
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."
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
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have removed wiring from traffic and railway signals and even
posed as utility workers in order to remove large sections of
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)Existing requirements for junk dealers and recyclers . 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
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.
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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
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.
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Analysis Prepared by : Elissa Silva / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301
FN: 0002124