BILL NUMBER: SB 485 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 8, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Calderon
( Coauthor: Senator
Berryhill )
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to amend Sections 12013, 12240, and 12503
12704 and 12709 of, and to add Section
21606.3 12703.1 to, the Business and Professions
Code, relating to sealers. weighmasters.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 485, as amended, Calderon. Sealers:
Weighmasters: junk dealers and recyclers.
Existing law vests the Department of Food and Agriculture with
general supervision of weights and measures and weighing and
measuring devices sold or used in the state, and authorizes the
Secretary of Food and Agriculture to exercise any power conferred
upon the department or upon the State Sealer, who is the chief of the
division of the department charged with the enforcement of the
provisions relating to weights and measures. 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 a weighmaster to obtain a license and
to pay a license fee, as prescribed. Existing law authorizes the
secretary to refuse to grant a license, to refuse to renew a license,
or to revoke or suspend a license if, after a specified hearing, the
secretary is satisfied that the applicant or licensee is not
qualified to capably or reliably perform the duties of a weighmaster
or has been found guilty of a misdemeanor relating to the regulation
of weighmasters.
This bill would require the department to require a recycler or
junk dealer, as defined, who is an applicant for a new weighmaster
license or a renewal of a weighmaster license to furnish specified
additional information on the application. This bill would require
the department to issue a license to a junk dealer or recycler upon
receipt of an application for a new license or the renewal of a
license that contains the appropriate information and fee. Upon
issuance of a license to a junk dealer or recycler, this bill would
require the department to make a thorough investigation of all of the
information contained in the application within 90 days. If the
department determines that information submitted in the application
is materially inaccurate, this bill would require the department to
revoke the license issued to the junk dealer or recycler unless the
junk dealer or recycler complies with these information requirements
within 14 days of notice, as specified. This bill would provide that
a junk dealer or recycler whose license has been revoked is entitled
to a hearing. This bill would require a junk dealer or recycler to
pay an additional unspecified fee to the department for the
administration and enforcement of these provisions.
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 no .
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)
(c) 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 12703.1 is added to the
Business and Professions Code , to read:
12703.1. (a) In addition to any other requirements for issuance
of a license pursuant to this chapter, if the applicant is a recycler
or junk dealer as defined in Section 21601, the department shall
require the applicant to furnish all of the following information
accurately on any application for a new license or the renewal of a
license issued pursuant to this chapter:
(1) A copy of the applicant's current business license.
(2) A statement indicating that the applicant has either filed an
application for a stormwater permit or is not required to obtain a
stormwater permit.
(3) A statement indicating that the applicant has the equipment
necessary to comply with the photographic and thumbprinting
requirements for the purchase and sale of nonferrous materials
pursuant to Section 21608.5 or a statement indicating that the
applicant will not be purchasing or selling nonferrous materials and
is not required to comply with Section 21608.5.
(4) The name or names of any deputy weighmasters.
(b) The department shall issue a license to a junk dealer or
recycler upon receipt of an application for a new license or renewal
of a license that contains the information required by subdivision
(a) and that is accompanied by the appropriate fee.
(c) Upon issuance of a license to a junk dealer or recycler, the
department shall make a thorough investigation of all of the
information contained in the application within 90 days.
Notwithstanding Section 12708, if the department determines that the
information submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) is materially
inaccurate, the department shall revoke the license issued to a junk
dealer or recycler unless the junk dealer or recycler complies with
the requirements of subdivision (a) within 14 days of notice from the
department of a proposed revocation pursuant to this subdivision. A
junk dealer or recycler whose license has been revoked pursuant to
this subdivision is entitled to a hearing conducted pursuant to
Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.
SEC. 3. Section 12704 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
12704. (a) A weighmaster shall pay to the department the
following license fee for each license year as applicable to the
operation:
(1) Seventy-five dollars ($75) if the weighmaster is operating at
a fixed location.
(2) Thirty dollars ($30) for each additional fixed location the
weighmaster is operating at.
(3) Two hundred dollars ($200) if the weighmaster is operating at
other than a fixed location.
(4) Twenty dollars ($20) for each deputy weighmaster.
(5) ____ dollars ($____) if the weighmaster is a recycler or junk
dealer as defined in Section 21601 or is performing services on
behalf of a recycler or junk dealer.
(b) "License year" means the period of time beginning with the
first day of the month the weighmaster is required to be licensed in
this state, and ending on the date designated by the director for
expiration of the license, or yearly intervals after the first
renewal.
(c) "Location" means a premise on which weighing, measuring, or
counting devices are used.
SEC. 4. Section 12709 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
12709. (a) All license fees collected
pursant pursuant to this chapter shall
be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund to be
expended by the department for the administration and enforcement of
this chapter , except as provided in subdivision (b) .
(b) License fees collected pursuant to paragraph (5) of
subdivision (a) of Section 12704 shall be deposited in a special
account in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund to be expended
by the department for the administration and enforcement of Section
12703.1.
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 whenever the
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 public 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.
(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.