BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2313
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 30, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2313 (Nestande) - As Amended: April 21, 2014
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill creates the Metal Theft Task Force (MTTF) Program,
administered by the Office of Emergency Services (OES) to
provide grants to local law enforcement agencies to investigate
and prosecute metal theft and related recycling crimes. The
program sunsets in 2020. Specifically, this bill:
1)Establishes the MTTF Fund within the State Treasury,
administered by OES. The Fund is to consist of deposits from
the federal government, industry, private sources, and from
fees collected pursuant to this bill.
2)Requires OES to develop procedures and guidelines for grants,
ensuring that 65% of each grant be dedicated to investigation
and prosecution of unlicensed junk dealers, and focusing on
agencies in areas with high rates of metal thefts.
3) Requires OES to assess a fee of up to 1% of the purchase
price for each junk sale involving the sale of scrap metals or
alloys. Requires the fee to be collected by junk dealers and
recyclers at the time of sale, and submitted to the Treasurer
for deposit into the MTTF fund. (Transactions between junk
dealers and recyclers are not subject to the fee.)
4)Specifies the MTTF Program shall not be implemented until OES
determines there are sufficient funds in the MTTF Fund.
5)Requires OES to submit a report to the Legislature by December
2019.
FISCAL EFFECT
AB 2313
Page 2
Unknown significant ongoing special fund costs, likely in the
millions of dollars, to administer and award statewide law
enforcement grants. The administrative costs alone would be in
the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The bill specifies the program is contingent upon sufficient
funding from the MTTF Fund, which pursuant to this bill would be
primarily funded by an assessment of up to 1% of the purchase
price for each junk sale that involves the sale of any scrap
metals or alloys on the seller. The bill also authorizes the
deposit of federal, industry and private funds into the MTTF
Fund.
The author cites an extrapolation from the Ports of Long Beach
and L.A. that suggests a 1% assessment could result in as much
as $70 million.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. According to the author, "Metal theft continues to
grow in California, despite numerous laws passed to combat
it....The unfortunate reality of metal theft is the costs of
repairing the damage done by thieves is often exponentially
higher than the value of the scrap metal. Business,
non-profits, schools and governments agencies have all been
victims. This would be hugely beneficial for cleaning up the
scrap recycling industry and would reward recycling centers
who follow the law by eliminating competitors not following
the rules."
1)Support includes the Farm Bureau and law enforcement.
According to the Allied Riverside County Chiefs of Police and
Sheriff, "metal theft is a serious and costly crime that
crosses jurisdictional boundaries sometimes involves
sophisticated networks of criminals and illegitimate
recyclers. These factors create unique challenges for our law
enforcement professionals. For these reasons, we believe your
proposed 'regional task force' concept is the right approach
to making a significant impact. The task force model is a
proven best-practice for combating regional crime like metal
theft."
2)Opposition . According to the Institute of Scrap Recycling
Industries, the Institute "supported the policy concept
presented in AB 2313 (Nestande) when it was first introduced
AB 2313
Page 3
by Assembly Member Ma two years ago and again by Assembly
Member Gray last year. However, with the passage of SB 485 by
Senator Calderon last year, the content of AB 2313 is neither
necessary nor relevant. In fact, it is simply pass�. Its
purpose is to put into place a task force, still rather ill
defined, to study and develop a means of better enforcement of
the current metal theft laws on the books. SB 485 has already
accomplished that end and, even after only a few months, it
appears to be working very effectively. Simply stated, AB 2313
is no longer necessary.
"The scrap metal industry, working in cooperation with the
state Department of Food and Agriculture, Division of
Measurement Standards, has put into law an effective
enforcement process which is operated by the Division and
enforced by the county sealers who are public safety officers
under the law. The scrap metal industry currently pays for a
hundred percent (100%) of this program. There is no need to
impose an unnecessary taskforce and new tax on the industry
when the basic concerns of the bill have already been
addressed. The prudent approach at this point in time is to
let the current enforcement program take its course over the
next year or two and to assess its effectiveness at the end of
that time. Sometimes ideas run their course when they are
replaced with better ideas."
3)Prior Legislation .
a) SB 485 (Calderon), Statutes of 2013, requires a junk
dealer or recycler to submit specified information to the
Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA) when applying for
a weighmaster's license, requires DFA to investigate the
application and revoke the license if information submitted
in the application or renewal is materially inaccurate, and
increases the fees junk dealers or recyclers pay for each
fixed location.
b) AB 909 (Gray), 2013, created a program similar to AB
2313, but delegated it to the Department of Justice. AB 909
was vetoed due to the lack of a funding source.
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 2313
Page 4