BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1518|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1518
Author: Perea (D)
Amended: 6/25/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE : 8-0, 7/2/12
AYES: Price, Corbett, Correa, Hernandez, Negrete McLeod,
Strickland, Vargas, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Emmerson
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 53-21, 5/30/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Weighmasters: automated weighing systems
SOURCE : California Construction and Industrial
Materials Association
DIGEST : This bill authorizes any weighmaster weighing
any vehicle moving construction materials to use an
unattended weighing system to weigh the vehicle and issue a
weighmaster certificate to buyers who opt to utilize the
unattended system.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Defines "weighmaster" as any person who weighs,
measures, or counts any commodity and issues a statement
of memorandum of the weight, measure, or count which is
CONTINUED
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used as the basis for either the purchase or sale of
that commodity or charge for service.
2. Provides for the licensure of weighmasters.
3. Requires a weighmaster to pay to the California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) the following
license fee for each license year as applicable to the
operation:
A. $75 if the weighmaster is operating at a fixed
location,
B. $30 for each additional fixed location the
weighmaster is operating at,
C. $200 if the weighmaster is operating at other than
a fixed location, and
D. $20 for each deputy weighmaster.
4. Requires that a weighmaster issue a signed weighmaster
certificate, with specified information, whenever
payment for the commodity is dependent on a written or
printed weight, measure, or count.
5. Requires weighmasters to obtain a license with the
Division of Measurement Standards under the CDFA.
6. Requires weighmasters to keep and preserve for four
years all copies of certificates issued and make them
available for inspection.
7. Requires that any weighing, measuring, or counting
instrument or device, as defined, which is used by a
weighmaster to be approved, tested, and sealed.
8. Authorizes the Director to adopt necessary rules and
regulations regarding the accuracy of automated systems
for retail commodity price charging referred to as
"scanners."
This bill:
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1. Authorizes any weighmaster weighing any vehicle moving
construction materials, including, but not limited to
earth, stone, rock, sand, gravel, limestone, ready mixed
concrete, cementitious materials, recycled construction
materials, or asphalt paving materials, to use an
unattended weighing system to weigh the vehicle and
issue a weighmaster certificate to buyers who opt to
utilize the unattended system, provided that the system
and the operation of the system comply with regulations
or policies issued by the CDFA.
2. Defines an unattended weighing system as an automated
system not directly under the supervision of a
weighmaster that meets the approval, testing, and
sealing requirements specified in existing law.
3. Specifies that this bill does not impact existing
weighing and ticketing systems.
4. Requires a weighmaster who uses an unattended weighing
system to keep the same number of deputy weighmaster
licenses as were licensed in the average of the last two
years preceding the use of an unattended weighing
system, until January 1, 2020.
5. Requires a weighmaster who uses an unattended weighing
system to pay the following annual license fees, until
January 1, 2020:
A. $200 if the weighmaster is operating at a fixed
location,
B. $75 for each additional fixed location at which
the weighmaster is operating,
C. $300 if the weighmaster is operating at other than
a fixed location, and
D. $50 for each deputy weighmaster.
6. Requires a weighmaster who uses an unattended weighing
system to pay the following annual license fees,
beginning January 1, 2020:
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A. $75 if the weighmaster is operating at a fixed
location,
B. $30 for each additional fixed location at which
the weighmaster is operating,
C. $200 if the weighmaster is operating at other than
a fixed location, and
D. $20 for each deputy weighmaster.
7. Requires the name of the principal weighmaster and the
unique system identification number of the unattended
weighing system utilized to be imprinted on the
weighmaster certificate to satisfy current certificate
requirements.
8. Defines the following terms:
A. "License year" to mean the period of time
beginning with the first day of the month the
weighmaster is required to be licensed in this state,
and ending on the date designated by CDFA for
expiration of the license, or yearly intervals after
the first renewal,
B. "Location" to mean a premise on which weighing,
measuring, or counting devices are used,
C. "Principal weighmaster" to mean any person or
entity identified on the weighmaster certificate,
that may employ or designate any person to act for
the weighmaster as a deputy weighmaster, as
specified, and
D. "Unattended weighing system" to mean an automated
system not directly under the supervision of a
weighmaster that meets approval, testing, and sealing
requirements, as specified.
Background
The Weighmaster program was established in 1916 to ensure
accuracy and fairness in weighing and measuring for
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commercial transactions involving commodities. A key
component of the law is that a weighmaster or deputy is
present to sign weight certificates.
Administered by the CDFA, the Weighmaster Enforcement
Program assures that commercial transactions based on
quantities certified on a weighmaster certificate are
accurate. The program licenses as weighmasters,
individuals or firms who weigh or measure bulk commodities
and issue certificates of accuracy.
The Weighmaster Enforcement Program seeks to provide
customer confidence when buying or selling bulk products
based on quantities represented on a weighmaster
certificate by ensuring uniformity, objectivity and honest
competition in the marketplace.
A weighmaster is a person or business that weighs,
measures, or counts a commodity and issues a written
statement of that quantity, referred to as a weighmaster
certificate. It is a legal document used as the basis to
buy or sell the commodity described on the certificate.
All weighmaster certificates are required by law to have
certain information that must be completed prior to
issuance. Some of the required information includes the
name of the licensed weighmaster company and a description
of the commodity weighed, measured or counted.
Certificates must be dated and signed by a deputy
weighmaster.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/5/12)
California Construction and Industrial Materials
Association (source)
DeSilva Gates Construction
Brown Sand, Inc.
CalPortland Company
Minerals Technologies
Specialty Minerals, Inc.
SYAR Concrete
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Teichert Materials
Vulcan Materials Company
Western Care Construction Company, Inc.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the California
Construction and Industrial Materials Association, the
sponsor of this bill, "the legal counsel for the Department
of Food and Agriculture has determined that issuance of
automated weigh tickets is not allowed under current law,
stating that current law was written in 1916.
"Technological developments with computers, scanners,
sensors, electronics, lasers, video, etc. provide
capabilities for accuracy, verification, and efficiency
that were not previously available. In essence, technology
provides means for remote and/or unattended systems.
"Nearly every facet of extraction, processing, batching,
loading, weighing, and ticketing of construction materials
is or can be automated to some degree. Individual loader
operators even have computerized information on how much to
load in each truck. Load out processes remain the one
operation that cannot be fully automated due to current
law.
"Construction and industrial material operations can load
out up to hundreds of trucks each day during busy times.
Automated systems will allow more efficient dispatch of
trucks, which can help reduce truck queuing and idling,
improve timely delivery to projects, and distribute impacts
to local traffic more evenly. It can assist with the
management of vehicles to meet after hour work demands.
"Automated systems can allow for utilization of more
plants. In a slow economy, it is often uneconomical to
open or operate certain plants for small projects due to
the lack of automation. This can lead to materials being
hauled longer distances over public roads. Automated load
outs could facilitate optimal use of plants nearest to
projects.
"It brings California standards up to par with other states
and allows California industry to modernize. In certain
locations, imports of aggregates, cement, and related
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materials from Canada, Mexico, and other nations compete
with California sources."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 53-21, 5/30/12
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block,
Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan,
Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes,
Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Nestande, Pan,
Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Skinner, Solorio,
Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A.
P�rez
NOES: Achadjian, Conway, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Gorell,
Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nielsen, Norby,
Silva, Smyth, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bill Berryhill, Cook, Fletcher, Garrick,
Olsen, Valadao
JJA:d 7/5/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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