ENROLLED
H. B. 211
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Thompson and Delegate Armstead)
[By Request of the Executive]
[Passed June 25, 2008; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT
to amend and reenact §61-3-49 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating generally to records and reports of
scrap metal purchasers; amending the definition of scrap metal
to include catalytic converters; exempting certain purchasers
of vehicles and replacement catalytic converters for vehicles
from the reporting requirements of this section; and providing
for criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §61-3-49 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY
§61-3-49. Purchase of scrap metal by scrap metal purchasing
businesses, salvage yards, or recycling facilities;
certificates, records and reports of such purchases;
criminal penalties.
(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have
the following meanings.
(1) "Business registration certificate" has the same meaning
ascribed to it in section two, article twelve, chapter eleven of
this code.
(2) "Purchaser" means any person in the business of purchasing
scrap metal or used auto parts, any salvage yard owner or operator,
or any public or commercial recycling facility owner or operator,
or any agent or employee thereof, who purchases any form of scrap
metal or used auto parts.
(3) "Scrap metal" means any form of copper, aluminum, brass,
lead or other nonferrous metal of any kind, a catalytic converter
or any materials derived from a catalytic converter, or steel
railroad track and track material.
(b) Any purchaser of scrap metal shall make a record of such
purchase that shall contain the following information for each
transaction:
(1) The full name, permanent home and business addresses, and
telephone number, if available, of the seller;
(2) A description and the motor vehicle license number of any
vehicle used to transport the purchased scrap metal to the place of
purchase;
(3) The time and date of the transaction;
(4) A complete description of the kind, character and weight of the scrap metal purchased; and
(5) A statement of whether the scrap metal was purchased,
taken as collateral for a loan, or taken on consignment.
(c) A purchaser also shall require and retain from the seller
of the scrap metal the following:
(1) A signed certificate of ownership of the scrap metal being
sold or a signed authorization from the owner of the scrap metal to
sell said scrap metal; and
(2) A photocopy of a valid driver's license or identification
card issued by the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles of the
person delivering the scrap metal, or in lieu thereof, any other
valid photo identification of the seller issued by any other state
or the federal government:
Provided, That, if the purchaser has a
copy of the seller's valid photo identification on file, the
purchaser may reference the identification that is on file, without
making a separate photocopy for each transaction.
(d) It is unlawful for any purchaser to purchase any scrap
metal without obtaining and recording the information required
under subsections (b) and (c) of this section. The provisions of
this subsection do not apply to purchases made at wholesale under
contract or as a result of a bidding process
: Provided, That the
purchaser retains and makes available for review consistent with
subsection (f) of this section the contract, bill of sale, or
similar documentation of the purchase made at wholesale under contract or as a result of a bidding process:
Provided, however,
That the purchaser may redact any pricing or other commercially
sensitive information from said contract, bill of sale, or similar
documentation before making it available for inspection.
(e) No purchaser of scrap metal may knowingly purchase or
possess a stainless steel or aluminum beer keg, whether damaged or
undamaged, or any reasonably recognizable part thereof, for the
intended purpose of reselling as scrap metal unless the purchaser
receives the keg or keg parts from the beer manufacturer or its
authorized representative.
(f) Within thirty days of the effective date of the amendment
and reenactment of this section during the second extraordinary
session of the Legislature in two thousand seven, the West Virginia
State Police shall make available a standard form purchasers of
scrap metal may use to record all the information required under
subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
(g) Using the form authorized under subsection (f) above, or
his or her own form, a purchaser of scrap metal shall retain the
records required by this section at his or her place of business
for not less than three years after the date of the purchase. Upon
completion of a purchase, the records required to be retained at a
purchaser's place of business shall be available for inspection by
any law-enforcement officer or, upon written request and during the
purchaser's regular business hours, by any investigator employed by a public utility or railroad to investigate the theft of public
utility or railroad property:
Provided, That in lieu of the
purchaser keeping the records at their place of business, the
purchaser shall file the records with the local detachment of the
State Police and with the chief of police of the municipality or
the sheriff of the county wherein he or she is transacting business
within seventy-two hours of completion of the purchase. The
records shall be retained by the State Police and the chief of
police of the municipality or the sheriff for a period of not less
than three years.
(h) To the extent otherwise permitted by law, any investigator
employed by a public utility or railroad to investigate the theft
of public utility or railroad property may accompany a
law-enforcement officer upon the premises of a purchaser in the
execution of a valid warrant or assist law enforcement in the
review of records required to be retained pursuant to this section.
(i) Upon the entry of a final determination and order by a
court of competent jurisdiction, scrap metal found to have been
misappropriated, stolen or taken under false pretenses may be
returned to the proper owner of such material.
(j) Nothing in this section applies to scrap purchases by
manufacturing facilities that melt, or otherwise alter the form of
scrap metal and transform it into a new product or to the purchase
or transportation of food and beverage containers or other nonindustrial materials having a marginal value per individual
unit.
(k) Nothing in this section applies to a purchaser of a
vehicle on which a catalytic converter is installed, a purchaser of
a catalytic converter intended for installation on a vehicle owned
or leased by the purchaser, or any person who purchases, other than
for purposes of resale, a catalytic converter or a motor vehicle on
which a catalytic converter is installed, for personal, family,
household, or business use.
(l) Any person who knowingly or with fraudulent intent
violates any provision of this section, including the knowing
failure to make a report or the knowing falsification of any
required information, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction of a first offense thereof, shall be fined not less than
one thousand dollars nor more than three thousand dollars; upon
conviction of a second offense thereof, shall be fined not less
than two thousand dollars and not more than four thousand dollars
and, notwithstanding the provisions of section five, article
twelve, chapter eleven of this code, the court in which the
conviction occurred shall issue an order directing the Tax
Commissioner to suspend for a period of six months any business
registration certificate held by that person; and upon conviction
of a third or subsequent offense thereof shall be fined not less
than three thousand dollars and not more than five thousand dollars and, notwithstanding the provisions of section five, article
twelve, chapter eleven of this code, the court in which the
conviction occurred shall issue an order directing the Tax
Commissioner to cancel any business registration certificate held
by that person and state the date said cancellation shall take
effect.