Enrolled Committee Substitute
House Bill 2748 History
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ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2748
(By Delegates DeLong, Webster, Craig, Amores and Mahan)
[Passed March 7, 2007; 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 to the receipt and transfer of
scrap metal; imposing additional reporting and record
retention requirements for certain purchasers of copper,
aluminum, brass, lead or other nonferrous metal or steel
railroad track and track material; clarifying procedure by
which law enforcement officers may take custody of materials
made of such metals; providing for the inspection of records
and materials by investigators employed by public utilities
and railroads; providing for the return of such metals under
certain conditions; and increasing criminal penalties for
violations.
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, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. CRIMES AGAINST PROPERTY
§61-3-49. Purchase of nonferrous metals or steel railroad track
and track materials by scrap metal purchasing
businesses, salvage yards, or recycling facilities;
certificates, records and reports of such purchases;
criminal penalties.
(a) Any person in the business of purchasing scrap metal, 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 copper, aluminum, brass, lead or
other nonferrous metal of any kind, or steel railroad track and
track material, shall comply with the provisions of this section.
(b) The purchaser of such metals shall make and maintain a
record of each transaction which shall contain the following
information:
(1) 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 any form of copper, aluminum, brass, lead
or other nonferrous metal or steel 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 copper, aluminum, brass, lead or other nonferrous metal or
steel railroad track and track material purchased; and
(5) A statement whether the copper, aluminum, brass, lead or other nonferrous metal or steel railroad track and track material
was purchased, taken as collateral for a loan, or taken on
consignment.
(c) The person purchasing the copper, aluminum, brass, lead or
other nonferrous metal or steel railroad track and track material
shall also require and retain from the seller the following
information:
(1) A signed certificate of ownership of the copper, aluminum,
brass, lead or other nonferrous metal or steel railroad track and
track material being sold or signed authorization from the owner to
sell; 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 copper, aluminum, brass, lead or other
nonferrous metal or steel railroad track and track material, or in
lieu thereof, any other identification card containing a photograph
of the seller as issued by any state or federal agency of the
United States: Provided, That, if the buyer has a copy of the
seller's photo identification on file, the buyer may reference the
identification that is on file, without making a separate photocopy
for each transaction.
(d) A law-enforcement officer may at any time during an
investigation require the purchaser of any copper, aluminum, brass,
lead or other nonferrous metal or steel railroad track and track
material to present such items for inspection, upon demand. A law-
enforcement officer may obtain a warrant to take into custody a representative sample of any copper, aluminum, brass, lead or other
nonferrous metal or steel railroad track or track material which he
or she has probable cause to believe may have been misappropriated,
stolen, or taken under false pretenses. Upon the entry of a final
determination and order by a court of competent jurisdiction,
copper, aluminum, brass, lead or other nonferrous metal or steel
railroad track or track material found to have been
misappropriated, stolen or taken under false pretenses may be
returned to the proper owner of such material.
(e) Any person employed by a public utility or railroad to
investigate the theft of utility or railroad property shall be
permitted to inspect the purchased copper, aluminum, brass, lead or
other nonferrous metal or steel railroad track or track material
that is in the possession of the buyer, for the purpose of
detecting and identifying stolen utility or railroad property.
(f) It shall be unlawful for any of the aforementioned persons
to purchase any copper, aluminum, brass, lead or other nonferrous
metal or steel railroad track and track material without obtaining
the information set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of this
section. Such information shall be available for inspection by any
law-enforcement officer or any investigator employed by a public
utility or railroad to investigate the theft of public utility or
railroad property, and must be maintained by the purchaser for not
less than one year after the date of the purchase.
(g) 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.
(h) 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 any business license held by that person shall be suspended for
six months; 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, any business licenses held by
that person shall be revoked. Any person convicted for a third or
subsequent offense under this section and any member of his or her
immediate family shall be prohibited from applying for, holding or
obtaining any business license which would permit them to own,
conduct or operate any business which would involve the purchase of
scrap metal or the operation of any salvage yard or recycling
facility for a period of two years.
For purposes of this section the term "immediate family" means
the spouse, child, step-child, parents, mother-in-law and father-
in-law of any person convicted pursuant to this section.