Metal theft.

With Assembly Member Mark González at the helm, the measure retools California’s scrap-metal regime by expanding the level of detail junk dealers must record, widening the set of materials that require certification before possession, and increasing penalties for offenses involving public-infrastructure components. The authors frame these changes as aimed at improving traceability of transactions and tightening controls over the handling of items tied to street infrastructure, utilities, and other public assets.

The core mechanics include a broader, more granular recordkeeping requirement that junk dealers must maintain for each transaction: the exact time, the amount paid, and the name of the employee handling the sale or purchase; expanded identification options for sellers, including standard government IDs, passports with supplementary address information, and Matricula Consular cards; the vehicle license information of any transport involved; and a description of the junk that covers type, weight, engravings or serial numbers, along with a signed statement confirming ownership or the source of the junk. In addition, the bill expands the list of materials that require written certification before a junk dealer may possess them, adding items such as fire hydrants and related components, maintenance hole covers, backflow devices, a broad array of street-light and traffic-signal equipment, cameras, sensors, electric vehicle chargers, water meters, and related infrastructure. If a dealer unknowingly handles prohibited materials, there is a duty to notify the appropriate law enforcement agency by the end of the next business day, and possession without certification remains subject to applicable penalties; written certification, when present, relieves penalties pending law enforcement action. Criminally receiving certain property now carries higher penalties, with fines up to five thousand dollars and the accompanying requirements to verify seller identity and maintain transaction records in line with existing reporting practices.

Enforcement and penalties are mirrored across related provisions: the possession or sale of the newly covered public-infrastructure items by a junk dealer or recycler without proper certification can lead to criminal penalties, and the corresponding Penal Code provisions extend the same expanded material list to criminal possession and related offenses. The measure requires sellers to document their identities with comprehensive details, and it aligns with existing recordkeeping and reporting frameworks to preserve traceability. Definitions accompany the expanded material list, clarifying who constitutes an agency and what qualifies as a written certification, with certifications permitted in forms that include electronic communications.

On implementation and policy context, the administrative provision states that no reimbursement is required for local agencies, despite the recognition that expanded crimes could impose local costs in enforcement and administration. The bill does not specify an explicit effective date within the text, and it relies on the state’s established law-enforcement and reporting channels for implementation. It increases the scope of regulated materials and tightens compliance obligations for dealers, while maintaining alignment with existing recordkeeping and reporting requirements and reinforcing the framework for pursuing enforcement against illicit possession of public-infrastructure materials. The measure thus situates itself within the ongoing effort to deter theft of public assets and to strengthen the traceability of scrap transactions, without creating new departments or broad new programs beyond the amended statutes.