BILL NUMBER: AB 1782AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 25, 2012 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 4, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hill FEBRUARY 21, 2012 An act to amend Section 12701 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to weighmasters. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1782, as amended, Hill. Weighmasters: exemptions. Existing law 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. Existing law requires weighmasters to obtain a license. Existing law specifies certain persons who weigh and measure commodities but are not weighmasters, such as retailers weighing commodities for sale in retail stores in the presence of consumers, newspaper publishers weighing newspapers for sale to dealers, and recycling centers weighing salvage materials for specified purposes. This bill would additionally specify that facilities handling medical waste and that report net weights, and not estimates, to the generator of the medical waste and to the State Department of Public Health, are not weighmasters, as specified. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 12701 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 12701. The following persons are not weighmasters: (a) Retailers weighing, measuring, or counting commodities for sale by them in retail stores in the presence of, and directly to, consumers. (b) Except for persons subject to Section 12730, producers of agricultural commodities or livestock, who weigh commodities produced or purchased by them or by their producer neighbors, when no charge is made for the weighing, or when no signed or initialed statement or memorandum is issued of the weight upon which a purchase or sale of the commodity is based. (c) Common carriers issuing bills of lading on which are recorded, for the purpose of computing transportation charges, the weights of commodities offered for transportation, including carriers of household goods when transporting shipments weighing less than 1,000 pounds. (d) Milk samplers and weighers licensed pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 35161) of Chapter 12 of Part 1 of Division 15 of the Food and Agricultural Code, when performing the duties for which they are licensed. (e) Persons who measure the amount of oil, gas, or other fuels for purposes of royalty computation and payment, or other operations of fuel and oil companies and their retail outlets. (f) Newspaper publishers weighing or counting newspapers for sale to dealers or distributors. (g) Textile maintenance establishments weighing, counting, or measuring any articles in connection with the business of those establishments. (h) County sanitation districts operating pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 4700) of Part 3 of Division 5 of the Health and Safety Code, garbage and refuse disposal districts operating pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 49100) of Part 8 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, and solid waste facilities, as defined in Section 40194 of the Public Resources Code. (i) Facilities that handle medical waste and that report net weights, and not estimates, to the generator of the medical waste and the Department of Public Health in accordance with the provisions of the Medical Waste Management Act (Part 14 (commencing with Section 117600) of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code)and that report net weights, and not estimates, to the generator of the medical waste and to the State Department of Public Health pursuant to Section 118029 of the Health and Safety Code. (j) Persons who purchase scrap metal or salvage materials pursuant to a nonprofit recycling program, or recycling centers certified pursuant to Division 12.1 (commencing with Section 14500) of the Public Resources Code that purchase empty beverage containers from the public for recycling. (k) Pest control operators licensed pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 11701) of Division 6 of the Food and Agricultural Code. (l) Retailers, or recycling centers established solely for the redemption of empty beverage containers, as that phrase is defined in Section 14512 of the Public Resources Code, who are weighing, measuring, or counting salvage or returnable materials for purchase or redemption by them in retail stores, or, in the case of recycling centers, on the retail store premises or on a parking lot immediately adjacent to a retail store which is used for the purpose of parking by the store customers, directly from and in the presence of the seller. "Retailer" means an entity which derives 90 percent or more of its income from the sale of small quantities of food or nonfood items, or both, directly to consumers. "Salvage materials" means used paper products and used containers made of aluminum, tin, glass, or plastic. (m) Any log scaler who performs log scaling functions, except weighing, as defined in the United States Forest Service Handbook, Supplement No. 4 of March 1987.