Scrap rules coming to Humboldt County

Sean Garmire/The Times-Standard

A series of new laws intended to foil the theft of scrap metal have gone into effect in Humboldt County.

The regulations hold businesses that purchase scrap metals to many of the same standards as pawn shop dealers. Those buyers -- or “processors,” as they are known in the industry -- are now ordered to identify scrap metal sellers by taking photo identification, proof of address and a thumb print, as well as inventorying the purchased metal and withholding the check payment for three business days.

The five bills went into effect on Dec. 1 and Jan. 1, and now, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office is spreading the word about the new rules.

Sheriff Gary Philp said the sheriff's office has not yet begun enforcing the regulations, but they will soon.

”We want to make it workable, and not real intrusive,” he said. “We're trying to work with (processors) so they're learning the law.”

According to Brent Finkel, legislative director for Assemblyman Tom Berryhill, R-Modesto, who authored one of the bills, the legislation was written to combat metal theft across the state -- primarily in the Central Valley.

As the market value of copper and aluminum spiked from 2004 to 2005, so too did the instances of metal theft.

According to information from the California Office of the Governor, police agencies across the state reported thefts of fire hydrant bolts, manhole covers, farming equipment and highway guardrails, among other things.

Finkel said the impact of that metal theft increased the prominence of the scrap metal bills.

During last year's legislative session, Finkel said bills addressing scrap metal theft “became one of the issues-of-the-day” among lawmakers.

Philp said although the instance of scrap metal theft was not as problematic in Humboldt County as in other parts of the state, it has been an issue for area law enforcement.

”It has been a real problem, and (law makers) have been trying to get that tightened up,” he said.

Brian Sollom, operations manager for Humboldt Sanitation, said now that the market for scrap metal has plummeted, the new regulations create an undue hassle for buyers like him.

In September 2008, Sollom said processors were getting $500 per ton for plastic. By December, the price dropped to $40. In that same time period copper dropped from $3 per pound to $1, aluminum from 80 cents per pound to less than 40 cents, and baled cardboard dropped from $115 per ton to $20 in December.

”It cost me $35 per ton to ship it (cardboard),” Sollom said.

Sollom said he does not plan to uphold the new regulations unless he is told to by law enforcement.

”If they tell me I got to do it, then I'll do it,” he said.

But the new rules, he said, not only breach his customers' privacy, but create a bureaucratic strain by requiring his staff to pay with checks, and hold that payment for three days while maintaining files on each scrap metal seller for two years.

”The owners here do not want to be tracking 150 checks per day, given out to people who might lose them,” he said. “That's just a nightmare.”

Philp said he understands some processors may be hesitant to begin operating under the amendments to the California Business and Profession Code, but organizations that don't uphold the rules are subject to fines.

Bonnie Branaman, owner of Arcata Scrap and Salvage, said she has begun to fully operate under the new guidelines, and has found the most difficult task is organizing her payments to comply with the three-day waiting period.

She said she understands why she has to do it.

”I lost 5,000 pounds of copper a couple years ago. It's a problem for me, so I know how they feel,” Branaman said.

Sean Garmire can be reached at 441-0514 or sgarmire@times-standard.com.

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