ESSB 5312 -
By Conference Committee
ADOPTED 04/19/2007
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1
(1) "Commercial account" means a relationship between a scrap metal
business and a commercial enterprise that is ongoing and properly
documented under section 3 of this act.
(2) "Commercial enterprise" means a corporation, partnership,
limited liability company, association, state agency, political
subdivision of the state, public corporation, or any other legal or
commercial entity.
(3) "Commercial metal property" means: Utility access covers;
street light poles and fixtures; road and bridge guardrails; highway or
street signs; water meter covers; traffic directional and control
signs; traffic light signals; any metal property marked with the name
of a commercial enterprise, including but not limited to a telephone,
commercial mobile radio services, cable, electric, water, natural gas,
or other utility, or railroad; unused or undamaged building
construction materials consisting of copper pipe, tubing, or wiring, or
aluminum wire, siding, downspouts, or gutters; aluminum or stainless
steel fence panels made from one inch tubing, forty-two inches high
with four inch gaps; aluminum decking, bleachers, or risers; historical
markers; statue plaques; grave markers and funeral vases; or
agricultural irrigation wheels, sprinkler heads, and pipes.
(4) "Nonferrous metal property" means metal property for which the
value of the metal property is derived from the property's content of
copper, brass, aluminum, bronze, lead, zinc, nickel, and their alloys.
"Nonferrous metal property" does not include precious metals.
(5) "Precious metals" means gold, silver, and platinum.
(6) "Record" means a paper, electronic, or other method of storing
information.
(7) "Scrap metal business" means a scrap metal supplier, scrap
metal recycling center, and scrap metal processor.
(8) "Scrap metal processor" means a person with a current business
license that conducts business from a permanent location, that is
engaged in the business of purchasing or receiving nonferrous metal
property and commercial metal property for the purpose of altering the
metal in preparation for its use as feedstock in the manufacture of new
products, and that maintains a hydraulic bailer, shearing device, or
shredding device for recycling.
(9) "Scrap metal recycling center" means a person with a current
business license that is engaged in the business of purchasing or
receiving nonferrous metal property and commercial metal property for
the purpose of aggregation and sale to another scrap metal business and
that maintains a fixed place of business within the state.
(10) "Scrap metal supplier" means a person with a current business
license that is engaged in the business of purchasing or receiving
nonferrous metal property for the purpose of aggregation and sale to a
scrap metal recycling center or scrap metal processor and that does not
maintain a fixed business location in the state.
(11) "Transaction" means a pledge, or the purchase of, or the trade
of any item of nonferrous metal property by a scrap metal business
from a member of the general public. "Transaction" does not include
donations or the purchase or receipt of nonferrous metal property by a
scrap metal business from a commercial enterprise, from another scrap
metal business, or from a duly authorized employee or agent of the
commercial enterprise or scrap metal business.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2
(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 nonferrous metal
property subject to the transaction;
(f) A description of the motor vehicle used to deliver the
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 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 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.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3
(2) No scrap metal business may purchase or receive commercial
metal property unless the seller: (a) Has a commercial account with
the scrap metal business; (b) can prove ownership of the property by
producing written documentation that the seller is the owner of the
property; or (c) can produce written documentation that the seller is
an employee or agent authorized to sell the property on behalf of a
commercial enterprise.
(3) No scrap metal business may enter into a transaction to
purchase or receive metallic wire that was burned in whole or in part
to remove insulation unless the seller can produce written proof to the
scrap metal business that the wire was lawfully burned.
(4) No transaction involving nonferrous metal property valued at
greater than thirty dollars may be made in cash or with any person who
does not provide a street address under the requirements of section 2
of this act. For transactions valued at greater than thirty dollars,
the person with whom the transaction is being made may only be paid by
a nontransferable check, mailed by the scrap metal business to a street
address provided under section 2 of this act, no earlier than ten days
after the transaction was made. A transaction occurs on the date
provided in the record required under section 2 of this act.
(5) No scrap metal business may purchase or receive beer kegs from
anyone except a manufacturer of beer kegs or licensed brewery.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4
(a) The full name of the commercial enterprise or commercial
account;
(b) The business address and telephone number of the commercial
enterprise or commercial account; and
(c) The full name of the person employed by the commercial
enterprise who is authorized to deliver nonferrous metal property and
commercial metal property to the scrap metal business.
(2) The record maintained by a scrap metal business for a
commercial account must document every purchase or receipt of
nonferrous metal property and commercial metal property from the
commercial enterprise. The documentation must include, at a minimum,
the following information:
(a) The time, date, and value of the property being purchased or
received;
(b) A description of the predominant types of property being
purchased or received; and
(c) The signature of the person delivering the property to the
scrap metal business.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5
(2) If the scrap metal business has good cause to believe that any
nonferrous metal property or commercial metal property in his or her
possession has been previously lost or stolen, the scrap metal business
shall promptly report that fact to the applicable commissioned law
enforcement officer of the state, the chief of police, or the county's
chief law enforcement officer, together with the name of the owner, if
known, and the date when and the name of the person from whom it was
received.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6
(2) A commissioned law enforcement officer of the state or any of
its political subdivisions shall not place on hold any item of
nonferrous metal property or commercial metal property unless that law
enforcement agency reasonably suspects that the property is a lost or
stolen item. Any hold that is placed on the property must be removed
within ten business days after the property on hold is determined not
to be stolen or lost and the property must be returned to the owner or
released.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7
(1) Any person to deliberately remove, alter, or obliterate any
manufacturer's make, model, or serial number, personal identification
number, or identifying marks engraved or etched upon an item of
nonferrous metal property or commercial metal property in order to
deceive a scrap metal business;
(2) Any scrap metal business to enter into a transaction to
purchase or receive any nonferrous metal property or commercial metal
property where the manufacturer's make, model, or serial number,
personal identification number, or identifying marks engraved or etched
upon the property have been deliberately and conspicuously removed,
altered, or obliterated;
(3) Any person to knowingly make, cause, or allow to be made any
false entry or misstatement of any material matter in any book, record,
or writing required to be kept under this chapter;
(4) Any scrap metal business to enter into a transaction to
purchase or receive nonferrous metal property or commercial metal
property from any person under the age of eighteen years or any person
who is discernibly under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs;
(5) Any scrap metal business to enter into a transaction to
purchase or receive nonferrous metal property or commercial metal
property with anyone whom the scrap metal business has been informed by
a law enforcement agency to have been convicted of a crime involving
drugs, burglary, robbery, theft, or possession of or receiving stolen
property, manufacturing, delivering, or possessing with intent to
deliver methamphetamine, or possession of ephedrine or any of its salts
or isomers or salts of isomers, pseudoephedrine or any of its salts or
isomers or salts of isomers, or anhydrous ammonia with intent to
manufacture methamphetamine within the past ten years whether the
person is acting in his or her own behalf or as the agent of another;
(6) Any person to sign the declaration required under section 2 of
this act knowing that the nonferrous metal property subject to the
transaction is stolen. The signature of a person on the declaration
required under section 2 of this act constitutes evidence of intent to
defraud a scrap metal business if that person is found to have known
that the nonferrous metal property subject to the transaction was
stolen;
(7) Any scrap metal business to possess commercial metal property
that was not lawfully purchased or received under the requirements of
this chapter; or
(8) Any scrap metal business to engage in a series of transactions
valued at less than thirty dollars with the same seller for the
purposes of avoiding the requirements of section 3(4) of this act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8
(2) Within two years of being convicted of a violation of any of
the requirements of this chapter that are not subject to the criminal
penalties under section 7 of this act, each subsequent violation shall
be punishable, upon conviction, by a fine of not more than two thousand
dollars.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9
(1) Motor vehicle dealers licensed under chapter 46.70 RCW;
(2) Vehicle wreckers or hulk haulers licensed under chapter 46.79
or 46.80 RCW;
(3) Persons in the business of operating an automotive repair
facility as defined under RCW 46.71.011; and
(4) Persons in the business of buying or selling empty food and
beverage containers, including metal food and beverage containers.
Sec. 10 RCW 9.94A.535 and 2005 c 68 s 3 are each amended to read
as follows:
The court may impose a sentence outside the standard sentence range
for an offense if it finds, considering the purpose of this chapter,
that there are substantial and compelling reasons justifying an
exceptional sentence. Facts supporting aggravated sentences, other
than the fact of a prior conviction, shall be determined pursuant to
the provisions of RCW 9.94A.537.
Whenever a sentence outside the standard sentence range is imposed,
the court shall set forth the reasons for its decision in written
findings of fact and conclusions of law. A sentence outside the
standard sentence range shall be a determinate sentence.
If the sentencing court finds that an exceptional sentence outside
the standard sentence range should be imposed, the sentence is subject
to review only as provided for in RCW 9.94A.585(4).
A departure from the standards in RCW 9.94A.589 (1) and (2)
governing whether sentences are to be served consecutively or
concurrently is an exceptional sentence subject to the limitations in
this section, and may be appealed by the offender or the state as set
forth in RCW 9.94A.585 (2) through (6).
(1) Mitigating Circumstances - Court to Consider
The court may impose an exceptional sentence below the standard
range if it finds that mitigating circumstances are established by a
preponderance of the evidence. The following are illustrative only and
are not intended to be exclusive reasons for exceptional sentences.
(a) To a significant degree, the victim was an initiator, willing
participant, aggressor, or provoker of the incident.
(b) Before detection, the defendant compensated, or made a good
faith effort to compensate, the victim of the criminal conduct for any
damage or injury sustained.
(c) The defendant committed the crime under duress, coercion,
threat, or compulsion insufficient to constitute a complete defense but
which significantly affected his or her conduct.
(d) The defendant, with no apparent predisposition to do so, was
induced by others to participate in the crime.
(e) The defendant's capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his
or her conduct, or to conform his or her conduct to the requirements of
the law, was significantly impaired. Voluntary use of drugs or alcohol
is excluded.
(f) The offense was principally accomplished by another person and
the defendant manifested extreme caution or sincere concern for the
safety or well-being of the victim.
(g) The operation of the multiple offense policy of RCW 9.94A.589
results in a presumptive sentence that is clearly excessive in light of
the purpose of this chapter, as expressed in RCW 9.94A.010.
(h) The defendant or the defendant's children suffered a continuing
pattern of physical or sexual abuse by the victim of the offense and
the offense is a response to that abuse.
(2) Aggravating Circumstances - Considered and Imposed by the Court
The trial court may impose an aggravated exceptional sentence
without a finding of fact by a jury under the following circumstances:
(a) The defendant and the state both stipulate that justice is best
served by the imposition of an exceptional sentence outside the
standard range, and the court finds the exceptional sentence to be
consistent with and in furtherance of the interests of justice and the
purposes of the sentencing reform act.
(b) The defendant's prior unscored misdemeanor or prior unscored
foreign criminal history results in a presumptive sentence that is
clearly too lenient in light of the purpose of this chapter, as
expressed in RCW 9.94A.010.
(c) The defendant has committed multiple current offenses and the
defendant's high offender score results in some of the current offenses
going unpunished.
(d) The failure to consider the defendant's prior criminal history
which was omitted from the offender score calculation pursuant to RCW
9.94A.525 results in a presumptive sentence that is clearly too
lenient.
(3) Aggravating Circumstances - Considered by a Jury -Imposed by
the Court
Except for circumstances listed in subsection (2) of this section,
the following circumstances are an exclusive list of factors that can
support a sentence above the standard range. Such facts should be
determined by procedures specified in RCW 9.94A.537.
(a) The defendant's conduct during the commission of the current
offense manifested deliberate cruelty to the victim.
(b) The defendant knew or should have known that the victim of the
current offense was particularly vulnerable or incapable of resistance.
(c) The current offense was a violent offense, and the defendant
knew that the victim of the current offense was pregnant.
(d) The current offense was a major economic offense or series of
offenses, so identified by a consideration of any of the following
factors:
(i) The current offense involved multiple victims or multiple
incidents per victim;
(ii) The current offense involved attempted or actual monetary loss
substantially greater than typical for the offense;
(iii) The current offense involved a high degree of sophistication
or planning or occurred over a lengthy period of time; or
(iv) The defendant used his or her position of trust, confidence,
or fiduciary responsibility to facilitate the commission of the current
offense.
(e) The current offense was a major violation of the Uniform
Controlled Substances Act, chapter 69.50 RCW (VUCSA), related to
trafficking in controlled substances, which was more onerous than the
typical offense of its statutory definition: The presence of ANY of
the following may identify a current offense as a major VUCSA:
(i) The current offense involved at least three separate
transactions in which controlled substances were sold, transferred, or
possessed with intent to do so;
(ii) The current offense involved an attempted or actual sale or
transfer of controlled substances in quantities substantially larger
than for personal use;
(iii) The current offense involved the manufacture of controlled
substances for use by other parties;
(iv) The circumstances of the current offense reveal the offender
to have occupied a high position in the drug distribution hierarchy;
(v) The current offense involved a high degree of sophistication or
planning, occurred over a lengthy period of time, or involved a broad
geographic area of disbursement; or
(vi) The offender used his or her position or status to facilitate
the commission of the current offense, including positions of trust,
confidence or fiduciary responsibility (e.g., pharmacist, physician, or
other medical professional).
(f) The current offense included a finding of sexual motivation
pursuant to RCW 9.94A.835.
(g) The offense was part of an ongoing pattern of sexual abuse of
the same victim under the age of eighteen years manifested by multiple
incidents over a prolonged period of time.
(h) The current offense involved domestic violence, as defined in
RCW 10.99.020, and one or more of the following was present:
(i) The offense was part of an ongoing pattern of psychological,
physical, or sexual abuse of the victim manifested by multiple
incidents over a prolonged period of time;
(ii) The offense occurred within sight or sound of the victim's or
the offender's minor children under the age of eighteen years; or
(iii) The offender's conduct during the commission of the current
offense manifested deliberate cruelty or intimidation of the victim.
(i) The offense resulted in the pregnancy of a child victim of
rape.
(j) The defendant knew that the victim of the current offense was
a youth who was not residing with a legal custodian and the defendant
established or promoted the relationship for the primary purpose of
victimization.
(k) The offense was committed with the intent to obstruct or impair
human or animal health care or agricultural or forestry research or
commercial production.
(l) The current offense is trafficking in the first degree or
trafficking in the second degree and any victim was a minor at the time
of the offense.
(m) The offense involved a high degree of sophistication or
planning.
(n) The defendant used his or her position of trust, confidence, or
fiduciary responsibility to facilitate the commission of the current
offense.
(o) The defendant committed a current sex offense, has a history of
sex offenses, and is not amenable to treatment.
(p) The offense involved an invasion of the victim's privacy.
(q) The defendant demonstrated or displayed an egregious lack of
remorse.
(r) The offense involved a destructive and foreseeable impact on
persons other than the victim.
(s) The defendant committed the offense to obtain or maintain his
or her membership or to advance his or her position in the hierarchy of
an organization, association, or identifiable group.
(t) The defendant committed the current offense shortly after being
released from incarceration.
(u) The current offense is a burglary and the victim of the
burglary was present in the building or residence when the crime was
committed.
(v) The offense was committed against a law enforcement officer who
was performing his or her official duties at the time of the offense,
the offender knew that the victim was a law enforcement officer, and
the victim's status as a law enforcement officer is not an element of
the offense.
(w) The defendant committed the offense against a victim who was
acting as a good samaritan.
(x) The defendant committed the offense against a public official
or officer of the court in retaliation of the public official's
performance of his or her duty to the criminal justice system.
(y) The victim's injuries substantially exceed the level of bodily
harm necessary to satisfy the elements of the offense. This aggravator
is not an exception to RCW 9.94A.530(2).
(z)(i)(A) The current offense is theft in the first degree, theft
in the second degree, possession of stolen property in the first
degree, or possession of stolen property in the second degree; (B) the
stolen property involved is metal property; and (C) the property damage
to the victim caused in the course of the theft of metal property is
more than three times the value of the stolen metal property, or the
theft of the metal property creates a public hazard.
(ii) For purposes of this subsection, "metal property" means
commercial metal property or nonferrous metal property, as defined in
section 1 of this act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11 Sections 1 through 9 of this act constitute
a new chapter in Title
NEW SECTION. Sec. 12 RCW 9.91.110 (Metal buyers -- Records of
purchases -- Penalty) and 1971 ex.s. c 302 s 18 are each repealed.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 13 Captions used in this act are not any part
of the law.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 14 If any provision of this act or its
application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other
persons or circumstances is not affected."
Correct the title.