BILL REQ. #:  S-3762.1 

Read first time 01/23/12.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to records of scrap metal transactions; and amending RCW 19.290.020.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 19.290.020 and 2008 c 233 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) At the time of a transaction, every scrap metal business doing business in this state shall produce wherever that business is conducted an accurate and legible record of each transaction involving private metal property or nonferrous metal property. This record must be written in the English language, documented on a standardized form or in electronic form, and contain the following information:
     (a) The signature of the person with whom the transaction is made;
     (b) The time, date, location, and value of the transaction;
     (c) The name of the employee representing the scrap metal business in the transaction;
     (d) The name, street address, and telephone number of the person with whom the transaction is made;
     (e) The license plate number and state of issuance of the license plate on the motor vehicle used to deliver the private metal property or nonferrous metal property subject to the transaction;
     (f) A description of the motor vehicle used to deliver the private metal property or nonferrous metal property subject to the transaction;
     (g) The current driver's license number or other government-issued picture identification card number of the seller or a copy of the seller's government-issued picture identification card; and
     (h) A description of the predominant types of private metal property or nonferrous metal property subject to the transaction, including the property's classification code as provided in the institute of scrap recycling industries scrap specifications circular, 2006, and weight, quantity, or volume.
     (2) For every transaction that involves private metal property or nonferrous metal property, every scrap metal business doing business in the state shall require the person with whom a transaction is being made to sign a declaration. The declaration may be included as part of the transactional record required under subsection (1) of this section, or on a receipt for the transaction. The declaration must state substantially the following:
     "I, the undersigned, affirm under penalty of law that the property that is subject to this transaction is not to the best of my knowledge stolen property."
     The declaration must be signed and dated by the person with whom the transaction is being made. An employee of the scrap metal business must witness the signing and dating of the declaration and sign the declaration accordingly before any transaction may be consummated.
     (3) The record and declaration required under this section must be open to the inspection of any commissioned law enforcement officer of the state or any of its political subdivisions at all times during the ordinary hours of business, or at reasonable times if ordinary hours of business are not kept, and must be maintained wherever that business is conducted for one year following the date of the transaction. A law enforcement agency of the state or any of its political subdivisions may require submission of the records and declarations to the agency or political subdivision on a monthly basis with respect to repeated transactions between that business and the same person.