BILL NUMBER: SB 485INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Calderon FEBRUARY 21, 2013 An act to amend Sections 12013, 12240, and 12503 of, and to add Section 21606.3 to, the Business and Professions Code, relating to sealers. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 485, as introduced, Calderon. Sealers: junk dealers and recyclers. Existing law establishes the Division of Measurement Standards, administered by the State Sealer, within the Department of Food and Agriculture. Under existing law, the State Sealer, as well as county sealers, are authorized to enforce various provisions relating to weights and measures. Existing law authorizes a sealer, as a public officer, to arrest, without a warrant, a person whenever the officer has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has, in his or her presence, violated any of these provisions that are declared to be a public offense. Upon written request of a resident of a county, existing law requires a sealer to test or cause to be tested, as soon as practicable, the weights, measures, or weighing or measuring instruments used for commercial purposes by the person designated in that request, provided that there appears reasonable grounds for testing. Existing law requires a junk dealer or recycler to keep a written record of all sales and purchases made in the course of his or her business, as specified, and requires the junk dealer or recycler to report this information to the chief of police or to the sheriff, as specified. A violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. This bill would require a sealer who is responding to a request concerning the weights, measures, or weighing or measuring instruments of a junk dealer or recycler to also inspect the sales and purchase records of the junk dealer or recycler to ensure compliance with the recordkeeping and reporting requirements described above. This bill would require a sealer to cite a junk dealer or recycler who is in violation of those recordkeeping or reporting requirements. This bill would require a junk dealer or recycler to pay a supplemental fee to the Division of Measurement Standards in the amount that the division determines is necessary to cover its reasonable regulatory costs for enforcing these provisions and would authorize county boards of supervisors to charge junk dealers and recyclers an amount not to exceed the amount needed for county sealers to enforce these provisions. By requiring county sealers to perform additional duties, this 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 finds and declares all of the following: (a) The recordkeeping and reporting requirements for commercial scrap recycling transactions, as set forth generally in Article 3 (commencing with Section 21600) of Chapter 9 of Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, are intended primarily to discourage metal theft and to promote honest competition within the scrap metal recycling industry. (b) According to the Division of Measurement Standards, the agency responsible for enforcement of weights and measures laws and regulations, the primary functions carried out by the division are to ensure fair and honest competition for industry and accurate value comparison for consumers. (c) Sealers of the division and county sealers are bona fide public officers who have the authority to enforce certain criminal statutes and to make arrests in order to ensure fair and honest competition for industry and accurate value comparison for consumers. (d) Because the division and county sealers are responsible for periodically inspecting and regulating all weighing and measuring devices utilized by all scrap recyclers doing business within the state, they are perfectly suited to review and verify the recordkeeping and reporting requirements for the scrap recycling industry. SEC. 2. Section 12013 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 12013. (a) Any sealer shall have the authority, as a public officer, to arrest, without a warrant, any person wheneversuchthe officer has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has, in his or her presence, violated any provision of this division, the violation of which is declared to be a publicoffense.offense, or any offense declared to be a misdemeanor in Section 21608. In any case in which an arrest is made pursuant to this authority for an offense declared to be a misdemeanor or an infraction, the arresting officer may, instead of taking the person arrested before a magistrate, follow the procedure prescribed by Chapter 5C (commencing with Section 853.5) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, unless the arrested person demands to be taken before a magistrate. The provisions of such chapter shall thereafter apply with respect to any proceeding based upon the issuance of a citation pursuant to this authority. This subdivision shall not be interpreted to prevent further restriction by the board of supervisors of a county of the authority of a county sealer or his deputies to make arrests. (b) There shall be no civil liability on the part of, and no cause of action shall arise against, any person, acting pursuant to subdivision (a) and within the scope of his authority, for false arrest or false imprisonment arising out of any arrest which is lawful or which the arresting officer, at the time of such arrest, had reasonable cause to believe was lawful. No such officer shall be deemed an aggressor or lose his right to self-defense by the use of reasonable force to effect the arrest or to prevent escape or to overcome resistance. (c) Any sealer may serve all processes and notices throughout the state; provided, that county sealers and their deputies are authorized to serve processes and notices only within the boundaries of the county which employs them. SEC. 3. Section 12240 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 12240. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the board of supervisors, by ordinance, may charge an annual registration fee, not to exceed the county's total cost of actually inspecting records or devices or testing the devices as required by law, to recover the costs of inspecting or testing weighing and measuring devices required of the county sealer pursuant to Section 12210, to cover the cost of enforcing Section 12503, and to recover the cost of carrying out Section 12211. (b) (1) For a junk dealer or recycler regulated pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 21600) of Chapter 9 of Division 8 that is subject to the registration fee in this section, this registration fee shall include an additional amount not to exceed the amount needed for the duties imposed by subdivision (b) and (c) of Section 12503.(b)(2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the annual registration fee shall not exceed the amount set forth in subdivisions (f) to (r), inclusive. (c) The county may collect the fees biennially, in which case they shall not exceed twice the amount of an annual registration fee. The ordinance shall be adopted pursuant to Article 7 (commencing with Section 25120) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 2 of Title 3 of the Government Code. (d) Retail gasoline pump meters, for which the above fees are assessed, shall be inspected as frequently as required by regulation, but not less than once every two years. (e) Livestock scales, animal scales, and scales used primarily for weighing feed and seed, for which the above fees are assessed, shall be inspected as frequently as required by regulation. (f) For purposes of this section, the annual registration fee for a business that uses a commercial weighing or measuring device or devices shall consist of a business location fee, a Department of Food and Agriculture administrative fee, as specified in Section 12241, and a device fee, as specified in subdivisions (g) to (r), inclusive. The business location fee and device fee shall not exceed one hundred dollars ($100) per business location, plus 100 percent of the maximum applicable device fee listed in subdivisions (g) to (r), inclusive. (g) (1) For marinas, mobilehome parks, recreational vehicle parks, and apartment complexes, where the owner of the marina, park, or complex owns and is responsible for the utility meters, the device fee shall not exceed the following: (A) For water submeters, two dollars ($2) per device per space or apartment. (B) For electric submeters, three dollars ($3) per device per space or apartment. (C) For vapor submeters, four dollars ($4) per device per space or apartment. (2) Marinas, mobilehome parks, recreational vehicle parks, and apartment complexes for which the above fees are assessed shall be inspected and tested as frequently as required by regulation. (h) For weighing devices, other than livestock, with capacities of 10,000 pounds or greater, the device fee shall not exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250) per device; for weighing devices, other than livestock scales, with capacities of at least 2,000 pounds but less than 10,000 pounds, the device fee shall not exceed one hundred fifty dollars ($150) per device. (i) This section does not apply to farm milk tanks. (j) A scale or device used in a certified farmers' market, as defined by Section 113742 of the Health and Safety Code, is not required to be registered in the county where the market is conducted, if the scale or device has an unexpired seal for the current year, issued by a licensed California county sealer. (k) For livestock scales with capacities of 10,000 pounds or greater, the device fee shall not exceed one hundred fifty dollars ($150) per device; for livestock scales with capacities of at least 2,000 pounds but less than 10,000 pounds, the device fee shall not exceed one hundred dollars ($100) per device. (l) For liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) meters, truck mounted or stationary, the device fee shall not exceed one hundred eighty-five dollars ($185) per device. (m) For wholesale and vehicle meters, the device fee shall not exceed seventy-five dollars ($75) per device. (n) For computing scales, the device fee shall not exceed twenty dollars ($20) per device. For purposes of this subdivision, a computing scale shall be a weighing device with a capacity of less than 100 pounds that indicates the money value of any commodity weighed, at predetermined unit prices, throughout all or part of the weighing range of the scale. For the purposes of this subdivision, the portion of the annual registration fee consisting of the business location fee and the device fees authorized by this subdivision shall not exceed the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each business location. (o) For jewelry and prescription scales, the device fee shall not exceed eighty dollars ($80) per device. For purposes of this subdivision, a jewelry or prescription scale shall be a scale that meets the specifications, tolerances, and sensitivity requirements established or adopted by the secretary applicable to those devices in accordance with Section 12107. (p) For weighing devices, other than computing, jewelry, and prescription scales as defined in subdivisions (n) and (o), with capacities of at least 100 pounds but less than 2,000 pounds, the device fee shall not exceed fifty dollars ($50) per device. (q) For vehicle odometers utilized to charge mileage usage fees in vehicle rental transactions or in computing other charges for service, including, but not limited to, ambulance, towing, or limousine services, the device fee shall not exceed sixty dollars ($60) per device. (r) This section does not apply to odometers in rental passenger vehicles, as defined in Section 465 of the Vehicle Code, that are subject to Section 1936 of the Civil Code. If a person files a complaint with the county sealer regarding the accuracy of a rental passenger vehicle odometer, the county sealer may charge a fee to the operator of the vehicle rental business sufficient to recover, but not to exceed, the reasonable cost of testing the device in investigation of the complaint. (s) For vehicle odometers utilized to charge mileage usage fees in vehicle rental transactions involving nonpassenger vehicles that are not subject to Section 1936 of the Civil Code, the portion of the annual registration fee consisting of the business location fee and the device fee authorized pursuant to subdivision (q) shall not exceed the sum of three hundred forty dollars ($340) for each business location. (t) For all other commercial weighing or measuring devices not listed in subdivisions (g) to (r), inclusive, the device fee shall not exceed twenty dollars ($20) per device. For the purposes of this subdivision, the total portion of the annual registration fee consisting of the business location fee and the device fees authorized by this subdivision shall not exceed the sum of one thousand dollars ($1,000), for each business location. (u) For the purposes of this section, a single business location is defined as: (1) Each business location that uses one or more categories or types of commercial devices as set forth in subdivisions (g) to (p), inclusive, and in subdivision (t), that require the use of specialized testing equipment and that necessitates not more than one inspection trip by a weights and measures official. (2) Each vehicle, except for those vehicles that are employed in vehicle rental transactions, in which one or more commercial devices is installed and used. (3) (A) For vehicles that are employed in vehicle rental transactions and that are not subject to Section 1936 of the Civil Code, each business location at which vehicles are stored or maintained by a vehicle rental company for the purposes of renting vehicles to customers. (B) A facility that meets all of the following criteria shall not be considered a business location for the purposes of this paragraph: (i) The facility is not wholly, or in any part, owned, leased, or operated by the vehicle rental company. (ii) The facility is not operated or staffed by an employee of the vehicle rental company. (iii) The facility stores or maintains, on a temporary basis, vehicles at the location for customer convenience. (C) If a person files a complaint with the county sealer regarding the accuracy of an odometer in a vehicle found or located at a facility described in subparagraph (B), the county sealer may charge a fee to the operator of the vehicle rental company sufficient to recover, but not to exceed, the reasonable cost of testing the device in investigation of the complaint. SEC. 4. Section 12503 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 12503. (a) Upon a written request of any resident of a county, there appearing reasonable ground therefor, the sealer shall test or cause to be tested, as soon thereafter as is practicable, the weights, measures, or weighing or measuring instruments used for commercial purposes by the person designated in that request. (b) If the request set forth in subdivision (a) concerns the weights, measures, or weighing or measuring instruments of a junk dealer or recycler, the sealer shall inspect the record of sales and purchases of the junk dealer or recycler to ensure compliance with Sections 21605 and 21606. (c) If the sealer determines that the junk dealer or recycler is in violation of the recordkeeping or reporting requirements, the sealer shall cite the junk dealer or recycler for a misdemeanor violation as set forth in Section 21608. (d) Costs of enforcing subdivisions (b) and (c) shall be paid from the special account established in Section 21606.3. SEC. 5. Section 21606.3 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 21606.3. (a) Every junk dealer and recycler shall pay a supplemental fee to the Division of Measurement Standards that the division determines is necessary to cover its reasonable regulatory costs for enforcing subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 12503. (b) The fees shall be deposited into a special account within the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund. SEC. 6. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.