BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 757|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 757
Author: Berryhill (R), et al.
Amended: 4/15/13
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMM. : 10-0, 4/22/13
AYES: Price, Emmerson, Block, Corbett, Galgiani, Hernandez,
Hill, Padilla, Wyland, Yee
SUBJECT : Junk dealers and recyclers
SOURCE : West Coast Chapter of the Institute of Scrap
Recycling Industries
DIGEST : This bill makes conforming changes to authorize a
junk dealer or recycler buying newspaper or California
Redemption Value (CRV) containers to accept as valid seller
identification, a passport from any country or a Matricula
Consular issued by Mexico; and clarifies that the term
"secondhand dealer" does not include a junk dealer.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Regulates junk dealers and recyclers and defines "junk" as
secondhand and used machinery and all ferrous (containing
iron) and nonferrous (excludes iron) scrap metals (as defined)
and alloys, including any and all secondhand and used
furniture, pallets, or other personal property, excluding
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livestock.
2.Requires junk dealers and recyclers to keep a written record
of each sale and purchase for at least two years; requires the
written information to be reported to the chief of police or
sheriff, as specified; and makes it a misdemeanor to make a
false or fictitious statement in the written record. The
record must include the place and date of the sale; the name,
driver's license number and state of issue, and the vehicle
license plate number and state of issue of any motor vehicle
used in transporting the junk; the name and address of each
person to whom the junk is sold and that person's motor
vehicle license number; a description of the junk purchased or
sold; and a statement indicating that the seller of junk owns
it or is authorized to sell it.
3.Requires junk dealers and recyclers to record certain
information from the seller when buying nonferrous (not
containing iron) materials, including a valid driver license,
a state or federal government-issued identification card, a
passport from another country, or a Matricula Consular in
addition to another item of identification containing an
address of the seller.
4.Requires junk dealers and recyclers in a jurisdiction with
curbside recycling pickup services, as specified, to record
certain information from the seller when buying newspaper or
CRV containers, including a valid driver's license, a state or
federal government-issued identification card.
5.Defines "secondhand dealer" as a business which includes
buying, selling, taking in trade, taking in pawn, taking in
consignment, accepting for auction or auctioning secondhand
tangible personal property, as defined.
6.Provides that "secondhand dealer" does not include either of
the following:
Any person who performs the services of an auctioneer
for a fee or salary.
Any person whose business is limited to the
reconditioning and selling of major household appliances,
as specified.
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1.Requires a secondhand dealer to obtain a license from the
local chief of police, sheriff or police commission to engage
in the business of a secondhand dealer, as specified.
This bill:
1.Makes conforming changes to authorize a junk dealer or
recycler buying newspaper or CRV containers, as specified
above, to accept as valid seller identification, a passport
from any country or a Matricula Consular issued by Mexico,
along with another form of identification bearing the seller's
address.
2.Clarifies that the term "secondhand dealer" does not include a
junk dealer, as defined, and declares that this provision is
declaratory of existing law.
Background
In 2009 metal theft, simply put, had reached an unacceptable
level. In 2005, the number of reported metal theft incidents
went up 100% from the previous year, and in 2006 the increase
was 400%. The value of metals stolen in 2008 was at least $6
million in California. News stories up and down the state were
highlighting that nothing was being spared by metal thieves.
Farmers were seeing copper wires and aluminum pipes stripped
from their equipment. Utility companies are seeing their lines
cut and stripped of copper wire. Construction companies lost
wire and pipe at construction sites. Schools, churches, and
businesses had their wire from air conditioning units stolen.
Catalytic converters ripped off of parked cars. Even bronze
cemetery vases were being stolen and sold for scrap. The list
goes on and on, and the damage caused by the theft results in
much greater costs for the victims than is gained by the
thieves.
The reasons for these thefts were fairly simple. The stolen
metal could be sold to metal recyclers for a good amount of
cash, on the spot. Copper was the hot commodity in particular,
and given its high price, thieves were taking just about
anything copper they could get their hands on. Law enforcement
agencies throughout the state concluded from arrests made that
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metal thieves were predominantly drug users looking for quick,
easy money to feed their habit.
Comments
In California, the fourth largest agriculture economy in the
world generating over $34 billion, the negative impact of metal
theft on agriculture affects the daily lives of each
Californian. The author's office cites estimates that place the
annual loss of U.S. agricultural economic activity due to
agricultural crime, including metal theft, at well over $5
billion. The author's office indicates that our farm economy in
California is losing tens of millions of dollars each year to
thieves. Metal theft is particularly harmful as the farmer or
rancher losses more than just metal. Typically, the damage to
the equipment far outweighs the value of stolen metal.
Prior Legislation
In an effort to toughen restrictions on the purchase of metal,
and thus to curb the sale of stolen metal, in 2008, the
Legislature enacted SB 691 (Calderon, Chapter 730, Statutes of
2008), AB 844 (Berryhill, Chapter 731, Statutes of 2008) and SB
447 (Maldonado, Chapter 732, Statutes of 2008). These bills
attempted to stem the tide of metal theft in California. Since
that time, a number of bills have sought to further address
different aspects of the problem of recycling stolen materials.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 4/24/13)
West Coast Chapter of the Institute of Scrap Recycling
Industries (source)
California Farm Bureau Federation
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The bill's sponsor, the West Coast
Chapter of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI),
writes that ISRI is working with the author and all of the
stakeholders in determining what changes are necessary in
current law. This bill clarifies that "junk dealers" are not
"secondhand dealers," stating that junk dealers purchase metals
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from its customers and that material is never sold back to the
public. Instead, all of the material purchased is separated by
metal types and sent to a buyer who will turn the metal into
another product. ISRI further states, "For example, the metals
in a refrigerator may be used to make a computer or cookware.
Whereas, a secondhand dealer either buys, sells, trades, takes
in pawn, accepts for sale on consignment, accepts for auction,
or auctions secondhand tangible personal property and is resold
to the general public. A secondhand dealer might take in pawn
or buy a watch or a car and then sell the watch or car to the
general public in its original state." ISRI states that law
enforcement has confused the two businesses, and thus this bill
will make certain that the two businesses have separate
functions. ISRI further writes that legislation in 2012 added
Matricula Consular language to the junk dealer identification
requirements of the Business and Professions Code (BPC).
Unfortunately, an oversight was made and that change was not
made in BPC Section 21608.6 as it was in other portions of the
code. This bill alleviates that inconsistency in the law.
The California Farm Bureau Federation writes that the bill is an
attempt to improve the system regulating scrap metal recyclers
and improve upon the changes made in prior legislation. The
Farm Bureau states that thieves strip copper wires from pumps
and steal other metal such as sprinkler heads and irrigation
pipes from farms. The cost of replacing copper wire on an
irrigation pump ranges from $1,500 to $4,000. When the
irrigation pump is damaged in the theft the repair costs can
reach tens of thousands of dollars. Yet, this cost only covers
repair of the pump, not the cost of potential crop damage caused
by lack of irrigation while the pump was unusable.
The Farm Bureau further indicates that metal theft is not only
impacting California's farmers and ranchers, but utilities
throughout the state are seeing utility lines cut and stripped
of copper wire and construction companies are losing wire and
pipe to thieves. Cities and counties are seeing copper wiring
stripped from traffic lights raising significant public safety
concerns.
MW:ej 4/24/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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