Bill Text: CA SB1387 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Metal theft.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2012-09-27 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 656, Statutes of 2012. [SB1387 Detail]

Download: California-2011-SB1387-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 1387	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 20, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 27, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 19, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 16, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 11, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MARCH 27, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Emmerson
   (Coauthor: Senator Berryhill)
   (Coauthor: Assembly Member Ma)

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Section 21604 of, and to add Section 21609.1 to,
the Business and Professions Code, and to amend Section 496e of the
Penal Code, relating to metal theft.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1387, as amended, Emmerson. Metal theft.
   (1) Existing law governs the business of buying, selling, and
dealing in secondhand and used machinery and all ferrous and
nonferrous scrap metals and alloys, also known as "junk." Existing
law requires junk dealers and recyclers to keep a written record of
all sales and purchases made in the course of their business,
including the name and address of each person to whom junk is sold or
disposed of, and to preserve the written record for at least 2 years
after making the final entry of any purchase or sale of junk.
Existing law provides that the failure to keep a written record as
required is punishable as a misdemeanor.
   Existing law prohibits a junk dealer or recycler in this state
from providing payment for nonferrous metals unless, in addition to
the requirement to create and maintain a written record, specified
requirements are met, including that the payment for the material be
made by cash or check and that, at the time of sale, the junk dealer
or recycler obtains a clear photograph or video of the seller.
Existing law requires the junk dealer or recycler to preserve this
information for 2 years after the date of sale.
   Existing law provides that any person who violates specified
provisions of existing law relating to secondhand goods is guilty of
a misdemeanor.
   This bill would prohibit any junk dealer or recycler from
possessing a reasonably recognizable, disassembled or inoperative
fire hydrant or fire department connection, including, but not
limited to, bronze or brass fittings or parts, a manhole cover or
lid, or any part of that cover or lid, or a backflow device and
connections to that device, that was owned by a public agency, city,
county, city and county, special district, or private utility,
without a written certification on the letterhead of the entity that
owns or previously owned the material and that the entity has sold or
is offering the material for sale, and that the person possessing
the certificate and identified in the certificate is authorized to
negotiate the sale of the material. The bill would require a junk
dealer or recycler who unknowingly takes possession of prohibited
material as part of a load of otherwise nonprohibited materials
without written certification to notify the appropriate law
enforcement agency  , as defined,  by the end of the next
business day upon discovery of the prohibited material. By imposing
this prohibition, the violation of which would be a misdemeanor
pursuant to other provisions of existing law, this bill would impose
a state-mandated local program.
   (2) Existing law provides that any person who buys or receives,
for purposes of salvage, any part of a fire hydrant or fire
department connection, as specified, that has been stolen or obtained
in any manner constituting theft or extortion, knowing the property
to be stolen or so obtained, is subject to a criminal fine of not
more than $3,000.
   This bill would expand this provision by making that fine
applicable to any person who is engaged in the salvage, recycling,
purchase, or sale of scrap metal and who, knowing that the item has
been stolen or obtained in any manner constituting theft or
extortion, possesses a fire hydrant, or any part thereof, a fire
department connection, including brass fittings and parts, a manhole
cover or lid, or any part of that cover or lid, or a backflow device
and connections to that device, or any part of that device, or who
fails to report the possession of prohibited materials in accordance
with the provisions above.
   The bill also would state legislative findings and declarations
regarding the necessity for its provisions.
   By creating new crimes, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Theft of fire hydrants, manhole covers, and backflow devices
has significantly increased in recent years and represents a
significant health and safety issue.
   (b) Local jurisdictions and public agencies have gone to great
lengths to preserve and protect residents and their property from the
damages that can result from such theft.
   (c) Additional laws and regulations need to be enacted that would
provide local governments with the tools to further protect both
local government property and the health and safety of the residents
they serve.
   (d) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to strictly
prohibit fire hydrants, manhole covers, and backflow devices from
being accepted, in whole or in part, by a recycler or junk dealer for
the purpose of salvage, unless presented with written certification
by a representative of the agency or utility owning or previously
owning the material.
   (e) By strictly prohibiting these items from being recycled, the
burden is taken off of the recyclers as they will no longer be
saddled with the responsibility of having to decipher whether the
items were stolen or obtained illegally.
  SEC. 2.  Section 21604 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   21604.  Except as otherwise provided in this article, this article
does not apply to:
   (a) Any person who buys or sells junk acquired in the conduct of
any business other than that of a junk dealer or recycler.
   (b) Except as provided in Section 21609.1, those purchases of
scrap metal by a junk dealer or recycler when the payment for the
scrap metal is by check issued to the company represented as being
the owner of the scrap.
   (c) Scrap metal purchased or received from another junk dealer or
recycler who has recorded, reported, and held the material as
required. The purchase or receipt shall also be exempt from further
holding or reporting provided that the selling party gives the buyer
written assurance of this fact. The seller shall be held responsible
for any failure to report or hold.
  SEC. 3.  Section 21609.1 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
   21609.1.  (a) No junk dealer or recycler shall possess any
reasonably recognizable, disassembled  ,  or inoperative
fire hydrant or fire department connection, including, but not
limited to, reasonably recognizable brass fittings and parts, or any
manhole cover or lid or reasonably recognizable part of a manhole
cover or lid, or any backflow device or connection to that device or
reasonably recognizable part of that device, that was owned or
previously owned by an agency, in the absence of a written
certification on the letterhead of the agency owning or previously
owning the material described in the certification that the agency
has either sold the material described or is offering the material
for sale, salvage, or recycling, and that the person possessing the
certification and identified in the certification is authorized to
negotiate the sale of that material.
   (b) A junk dealer or recycler who unknowingly takes possession of
one or more of the items listed in subdivision (a) as part of a load
of otherwise nonprohibited materials without a written certification
has a duty to notify the appropriate law enforcement agency by the
end of the next business day upon discovery of the prohibited
material. Written confirmation shall relieve the junk dealer or
recycler from any civil or criminal penalty for possession of the
prohibited material. The prohibited material shall be set aside and
not sold pending a determination made by a law enforcement agency
pursuant to Section 21609.
   (c) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

   (1) "Agency" means a public agency, city, county, city and county,
special district, or private utility regulated by the Public
Utilities Commission. 
   (2) "Appropriate law enforcement agency" means either of the
following:  
   (A) The police chief of the city, or his or her designee, if the
item or items listed in subdivision (a) are located within the
territorial limits of an incorporated city.  
   (B) The sheriff of the county or his or her designee if the item
or items listed are located within the county but outside the
territorial limits of an incorporated city.  
   (2) 
    (   3)  "Written confirmation" means a
confirmation in written form by the junk dealer or recycler to a law
enforcement agency, including electronic mail, facsimile, or a letter
delivered in person or by certified mail.
  SEC. 4.  Section 496e of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   496e.  (a) Any person who is engaged in the salvage, recycling,
purchase, or sale of scrap metal and who possesses any of the
following items that were owned or previously owned by any public
agency, city, county, city and county, special district, or private
utility that have been stolen or obtained in any manner constituting
theft or extortion, knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained,
or fails to report possession of the items pursuant to Section
21609.1 of the Business and Professions Code, is guilty of a crime:
    (1) A fire hydrant or any reasonably recognizable part of that
hydrant.
   (2) Any fire department connection, including, but not limited to,
reasonably recognizable bronze or brass fittings and parts.
   (3) Manhole covers or lids, or any reasonably recognizable part of
those manhole covers and lids.
   (4) Backflow devices and connections to that device, or any part
of that device.
   (b) A person who violates subdivision (a) shall, in addition to
any other penalty provided by law, be subject to a criminal fine of
not more than three thousand dollars ($3,000).
  SEC. 5.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.