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committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Harden

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/5/08

HB

SHORT TITLE Sale Of Recycled Metals Act

SB 381

ANALYST Wilson

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY08

FY09

FY10 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

$0.1

$0.1

$0.1 Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to SB 281, SB463, and HB 497

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

Department of Public Safety (DPS)

Environment Department (ED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 381 enacts the Sale of Recycled Metals Act, to regulate the sale of recycled

aluminum, bronze, copper or brass, and steel. The bill requires a secondhand metal dealer to

prominently place a notice to sellers of regulated material that sufficient identification as

required by state law must be presented, and stating the dealer’s usual business hours.

The bill also requires the following:

•

a seller of regulated material must provide specified information to a secondhand metal

dealer;

•

a secondhand metal dealer must keep a written record of specific purchases of regulated

material made in the course of the dealer’s business;

•

a dealer must preserve each required record until the third anniversary of the date the

record was made;

Senate Bill 381 – Page

2

•

a dealer must permit a peace officer to inspect required records and regulated material

during the dealer’s usual business hours.

•

a dealer must file a required report with the DPS not later than the 7

th

business day after

the date of the purchase or other acquisition of regulated material.

The bill permits a peace officer who has reasonable suspicion to believe that an item of regulated

material in the possession of a dealer is stolen to place the item on hold by issuing a written,

specific notice to the dealer. A dealer, upon receiving the notice, is prohibited from processing

or removing from his or her premises the identified item before the eleventh day after the date

the notice is issued unless the hold is released at an earlier time in writing by a peace officer or

by a court order.

The bill sets out the following penalties:

•

Knowing violation of the Act, first conviction is a petty misdemeanor

•

Second or subsequent knowing violation of the Act within the thirty-six months

preceding the offense is a misdemeanor

Upon conviction for a second or subsequent offense, a court may order that the dealer cease

doing business as a dealer for a period not to exceed 30 days from the date of the order for each

violation that forms the basis of the conviction.

The provisions of this bill do not apply to a purchase of regulated material from a manufacturing,

industrial or other commercial vendor that sells regulated material in the ordinary course of the

vendor’s business.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

There will be a minimal administrative cost for statewide update, distribution and documentation

of statutory changes. Any additional fiscal impact on the judiciary will be proportional to the

enforcement of this law and commenced prosecutions. New laws, amendments to existing laws

and new hearings have the potential to increase caseloads in the courts, thus requiring additional

resources to handle the increase.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

This bill is in response to recent sales of stolen metals in New Mexico to auto wreckers and scrap

metal processors. The value of scrap metal has recently skyrocketed. This bill addresses

numerous incidents of stolen scrap metal that has been sold to scrap dealers and automotive

wreckers

The Department of Public Safety (DPS) will oversee the requirements of the bill. The legislation

requires individuals that sell scrap metal to verify their identification. Those people will be

required to sign a written statement that they own the scrap and provide the make, model and

license plate of the vehicle used to transport the scrap they are selling. The buyer must keep

records of all transactions and forward that information to DPS following:

Senate Bill 381 – Page

3

Tracking recycled metals is not the biggest priority of a law enforcement agency. DPS will

welcome the chance to investigation on a case by case basis the theft of such metals, but the

regulation of might be better suited to another agency.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DPS notes this bill could have a big impact on their agency. Without an appropriation DPS

would struggle with already limited resources by having to develop and maintain another data

base as well as other administrative costs associated with this legislation.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIPT ISSUES

The AOC provided the following analysis:

(1) SB 381 duplicates SB 463 except that SB 463 contains an appropriation and SB 381

does not.

2) Unlike SB 281 and HB 497, the definition of “regulated material" does not include

steel material.

3) Unlike SB 281 and HB 497, Section 4.A. (1), a person attempting to sell regulated

material may sign a statement that the person does not possess a personal ID document,

in lieu of displaying such a document.

4) SB 463’s Section 5 record requirements are looser than those of SB 281 and HB 497,

requiring records only for larger purchases of regulated material.

5) SB 463’s Section 8 notification requirements differ from those in SB 281 and HB 497.

Time periods for notification in SB 463 vary depending upon the material purchased.

6) Section 9 contains provisions for placing items on hold. SB 281 and HB 497 do not

contain such provisions.

7) Under SB 463, a first knowing violation of the Act is a petty misdemeanor; under SB

281 and HB 497, a misdemeanor. Under SB 463, a second or subsequent knowing

violation is a misdemeanor; under SB 281 and HB 497, a fourth degree felony.

DW/mt