BILL NUMBER: SB 485 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 14, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 8, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Calderon
( Coauthor: Senator
: Berryhill Coauthors: Senators
: Berryhill and Galgiani )
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to amend Sections 12704 and 12709 of, and to add Section
12703.1 to, the Business and Professions Code, relating to
weighmasters.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 485, as amended, Calderon. 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 weighmaster 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 weighmaster 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 weighmaster license has been revoked is
entitled to a hearing. This bill would require a junk dealer or
recycler who is a weighmaster to pay an additional
unspecified annual fee of $
2 50 to the department for the administration
and enforcement of these provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: 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) 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 ($20) for each deputy weighmaster.
(5) ____ Two hundred fifty dollars
($____) ($2 50) 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 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.