BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2312|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2312
Author: Nestande (R) and Olsen (R), et al.
Amended: 8/5/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BUSINESS, PROF. & ECON. DEV.COMM. : 7-0, 6/16/14
AYES: Lieu, Wyland, Berryhill, Block, Corbett, Galgiani, Hill
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hernandez, Torres
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/8/14 (Consent) - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Metal theft
SOURCE : Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries
DIGEST : This bill requires a junk dealer or recycler to
request metal theft alert notifications from an Internet-based
theft alert system and to provide a statement to the Department
of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) that they have requested to do
so, when applying for a weighmaster license.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/5/14 strike the requirement in the
bill that the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc.
(ISRI) not charge for access to its theft alert system for
reporting and tracking stolen scrap metal; and further provide
that if ISRI does charge for a theft alert, a junk dealer or
recycler need not request theft alert notifications.
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ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Vests CDFA with general supervision of weights and measures
and weighing and measuring devices sold or used in the state.
2. Provides, further, for the enforcement of the weights and
measures laws and the inspection and testing of measuring
devices, in each county, by the county sealer.
3. 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 that commodity or charge for service.
4. Requires a weighmaster to obtain a license and to pay a
license fee, as prescribed.
5. Requires CDFA to require a recycler or junk dealer, as
defined, who applies for or renews a weighmaster license to
furnish specified information on the application.
This bill:
1. Makes the following legislative findings and declarations:
A. ISRI has developed ScrapTheftAlert.com, a Web-based
theft alert system that allows law enforcement to alert
recyclers of reported stolen material and allows recyclers
to alert law enforcement when they receive materials they
believe might have been stolen.
B. This alert system broadcasts theft alerts to every
registered user within a 100-mile radius of where the
theft occurred and can expand depending on the
circumstances.
C. ISRI has worked closely with law enforcement and has
integrated their suggestions into the system to make its
use more user-friendly for law enforcement.
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D. There is no cost to law enforcement or non-ISRI
members to use the system.
E. Members of ISRI pay for the entire database through
membership dues.
1. Requires CDFA to require a recycler or junk dealer who
applies for or renews a weighmaster license to additionally
include a statement indicating that the applicant has
requested to receive theft alert notifications, as specified.
2. Requires a junk dealer or recycler to request to receive
theft alert notifications regarding the theft of commodity
metals, including, ferrous metal, copper, brass, aluminum,
nickel, stainless steel, and alloys, in the junk dealer's or
recycler's geographic region from the theft alert system
maintained by ISRI, or its successor.
3. Provides that if ISRI charges for use of the system, a junk
dealer or recycler need not request theft alert
notifications.
4. Encourages law enforcement agencies to report thefts of
commodity metals, including, ferrous metal, copper, brass,
aluminum, nickel, stainless steel, and alloys that have
occurred within their jurisdiction to the theft alert system
maintained by ISRI, or its successor, in order to ensure that
persons using that system receive timely and thorough
information regarding metal thefts.
5. Prohibits ISRI or its successor from selling subscribers'
information to third parties.
Background
The growing nonferrous metal recycling industry . According to
ISRI, nonferrous (non 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 an infinite number of
times. Nonferrous materials include copper, copper alloys,
stainless steel, or aluminum (excluding beverage containers, as
defined).
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In the United States, the value of the nonferrous scrap industry
approached
$50 billion in 2012. In terms of volume, nonferrous scrap
materials make up a small percentage of the total quantity of
material recycled in the U.S., but by value they account for
more than half of the total earnings of the scrap recycling
industry. In 2012, the U.S. exported nearly $14 billion worth
of nonferrous scrap to more than 90 countries.
Theft alert notifications . ScrapTheftAlert.com is a free tool
for junk dealers and recyclers, law enforcement, and other local
agencies to allow an individual to alert others in the scrap
industry of significant thefts of materials within the U.S. and
Canada.
Alerts posted by individuals are broadcast by email to all
subscribed users within a 100-mile radius of where the incident
occurred, and depending on the incident, that radius can be
increased. Once an alert has been broadcast, it can be in the
recipient's email inbox in minutes.
ScrapTheftAlert.com currently has 524 active users in California
and has issued 246 active alerts. Nationwide, the Web site has
over 17,000 total users and has helped recover over $1 million
of stolen material. ScrapTheftAlert.com is maintained by ISRI
and there is no separate cost for users because ISRI members pay
for the operation of the Web site.
This bill requires junk dealers and recyclers to request to
receive theft alert email notifications, and junk dealers and
recyclers seeking a weighmaster license must provide a statement
in their application that they have registered to receive email
alerts from the theft alert system as a condition for licensure.
This bill also provides that ISRI or its successor are not
permitted to sell subscribers' information to third parties.
Comments
According to the author's office, this bill requires all scrap
metal recycling centers in California to subscribe and receive
reports of metal thefts in their region from the ISRI metal
theft alert system. The author's office further indicates that
this bill will encourage local law enforcement agencies to
report crimes to the ISRI database so recycling centers can be
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made aware of them. The ISRI reporting system operates by law
enforcement officials submitting a report to their online
database with a description of the stolen items and the date and
location from where they were stolen. Once that report is
submitted, ISRI sends an alert to recycling centers within a
100-mile radius of where the theft occurred.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/31/14)
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (source)
Allied Riverside County Chiefs of Police and Sheriff
Association of California Recycling Industries
Association of California Water Agencies
Blythe Police Department
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Municipal Utilities Association
California Parks and Recreation Society
California Police Chiefs Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
California Women for Agriculture, Coachella Valley Chapter
Californians Against Waste
Cities of Beaumont, Rancho Mirage, Salinas, and San Jacinto
Coachella Valley Association of Governments
Coachella Valley Economic Partnership
Coachella Valley Water District
Desert Fresh, Inc.
Desert Sands Unified School District
Desert Valleys Builders Association
Eastern Municipal Water District
Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District
General Patton Memorial Museum
Hemet/San Jacinto Valley Chamber of Commerce
Indio Chamber of Commerce
Indio Police Department
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Pacific Advocacy Group
Riverside County Board of Supervisors
Schintzer Steel Industries
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The Association of California Water
Agencies writes that metal theft has quickly become a severe
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drain on many water district budgets. "Criminals may steal
material that only garners a small amount of money but the
damage that the theft creates costs our public agencies
thousands of dollars each year to repair and replace. We had
hoped that the series of bills signed into law over the past
several years would have curbed the rash of metal thefts, but it
appears that more still needs to be done."
The Association of California Recycling Industries states, "We
support the creation of this notification system and believe it
is an appropriate and effective approach to reducing the
incidents of metal theft in California, while ensuring that
law-abiding businesses in California are not placed at a
competitive disadvantage in the marketplace."
The City of Beaumont states that requiring businesses to receive
updates from the ISRI-operated database will help them avoid
purchasing stolen goods and reduce demand for stolen scrap.
The Eastern Municipal Water District states that it "spent over
$300,000 in a single year on the repair and replacement of items
lost to metal theft - while the thieves only receive a minimal
amount in exchange for the items that were stolen. The
coordinated approach outlined in AB 2312 will assist recyclers
and junk dealers as they conduct honest business to identify and
report stolen goods, and will further assist local law
enforcement with capturing metal thieves."
The California Farm Bureau Federation states that working to
reduce metal theft will help California farmers and ranchers.
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.
Allied Riverside County Chiefs of Police and Sheriff states that
communities have experienced a significant increase in
commercial metal theft, costing our businesses and residents
hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct and indirect costs.
Metal theft has also created safety hazards including missing
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manhole covers, exposed electrical wires and severe flooding of
streets and farms following damage to of backflow and irrigation
systems. In some communities, these cases have resulted in
serious injury to innocent citizens.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/8/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein,
Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande,
Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A.
P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eggman, Gorell, Gray, Hall, Mansoor, V.
Manuel P�rez, Vacancy
MW:k 8/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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