Provides for the lawful sale of scrap copper and other metals by junk dealers

Section 2 of the bill would make a conforming change to GBL § 63 to ensure that dealers segregate purchased scrap metal for the statutorily required 5-day period.

Section 3 of the bill would add a new GBL § 63-b to restrict the sale of certain items, including street signs, propane containers for fueling forklifts, funeral markers or any metal items bearing markings of a governmental entity, utility company, cemetery or railroad.

Section 4 of the bill would amend GBL § 64 to provide that if a salvage dealer or his or her employee or agent has three or more convictions for violating GBL §§ 62, 63 or 63-b in a 10-year period, any subsequent conviction shall be for a class E felony. It also provides that a seller's violation of these provisions would be a violation subject to a $100 fine, unless the violation is intentional, in which case it would be a misdemeanor.

Sections 5, 6 and 7 of the bill would make similar amendments to GBL

§§ 69-e, 69-g and 69-h to impose on scrap metal processors requirements for a government-issued identification and record-keeping and prohibitions on the sale of certain items. Section 7 also would add a new GBL § 69-j, to provide that the provisions of Article 6-c would preempt any local law that directly conflicted with it, and that New York City's local law 50 of 2007, which prohibits the unauthorized pick up of recyclables left at the curb, does not directly conflict with this article.

Sections 8 and 9 of the bill would add a new definition of "incidental damage" to Penal Law § 155.00, to mean property damage, loss of income and loss of profit, and would add a new definition of "value" to Penal Law § 155.20, to provide that when property is stolen and incidental damage caused to other property, the value of the theft is determined by adding both the value of the property taken and the value of the incidental damage.

Section 10 of the bill contains the effective date.

Existing law

Under GBL Article 6, a salvage dealer must: (1) obtain and file in his or her records and with law enforcement officials, a statement from a seller of scrap metals that contains certain information regarding the identity of the seller and the circumstances surrounding the seller's acquisition of the metal; and (2) separately store purchased metals for five days, tagging the pile with information as to the identity of the seller. Any violation of the provisions in Article 6 by a dealer, or any false statement made in the seller's statement or on a dealer's tag, is a misdemeanor which, in addition to other penalties, could result in the dealer losing his or her license.

GBL Article 6-c contains similar provisions governing transactions by scrap metal processors.

Legislative history

In 2008, the Legislature passed similar legislation (S.4029-D (Volker)/A.6250-D (Peoples)), which the Governor was constrained to veto (Veto number 157 of 2008).

Statement in support

In 2008, there was a spike in thefts of metals from vacant buildings and construction sites (electrical wires and plumbing pipes), cemeteries (grave markers) and other locations, by thieves who would resell the stolen metals to salvage yards for recycling. The Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) reported, for example, that Rochester saw an approximately 15 percent increase in burglaries from 2007 to 2008, and that nearly 16 percent of all burglaries in Rochester were associated with copper theft. Law enforcement officials in other counties reported that they have had reports of copper theft on a daily basis.

This increase in thefts appears to be the result of record high metal prices. For example, copper prices increased nationally by 160 percent between March 2005 and April 2006.

This bill addresses this problem in several ways.

First, the bill would make amendments to GBL §§ 62, 63, 63-b, 69-e, 69-g, and 69-h that more strictly regulate the procedures for the sale of scrap metal to dealers and scrap processors, by requiring more and better information from sellers as to their identity and their authority to sell the items to the scrap dealers. These provisions will assist law enforcement in locating and prosecuting the seller in the event that the metals are found to have been stolen.

Second, the bill also would add new GBL §§ 63-b and 69-h, which are identical to the provisions in A.4029-D/A.6250-D, to prohibit the sale of certain types of metal products, except by authorized employees. These provisions will help dry up the illegal market for certain types of metals that deserve special protection, such as street signs, cemetery markers and government property.

Third, the bill would impose increased criminal penalties on scrap dealers who repeatedly violate the provisions of GBL §§ 62,63 or 63-b. As under current law, a first, second or third violation would be a misdemeanor which, in addition to other penalties, could result in the loss of the dealer's license. For a fourth offense, the violation would be punishable as a class E felony.

For sellers, a violation of GBL Article 6 would be a misdemeanor if committed intentionally and would otherwise be a violation. However, in order to ensure that the thieves who steal the property are properly punished - and to help deter future thefts criminal penalties would be enhanced by amending the definition of "value" in the larceny statute to include not only the value of the property taken, but also the value of the incidental damage caused by the theft. Thus, for example, if a thief stole pipes or wires from a construction site that were valued at $500, but caused more than $500 damage to the site, he or she could be charged with Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree under Penal Law § 155.30(1), rather than Petit Larceny, because the value of the property exceeds $1000. If the incidental damage exceeded $2500, he or she could be charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree under Penal Law § 155.35. As has been recognized, when such thefts occur, it is frequently the case that the collateral damage caused to the structure far exceeds the actual cost of the materials that are stolen. This bill would recognize that consequence and appropriately punish, and deter, future thefts.

Budget implications

This bill would have no State fiscal impact.

Effective date

This bill would take effect 90 days after it is signed into law.