By Supriya Sinhababu

(AXcess News) Washington - Requiring recyclers of scrap metal to keep records of their transactions would help combat scrap metal theft, a form of property crime that threatens the nation's infrastructure, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. said Wednesday.

Growing demand from India and China has driven up the price of secondary metals, or metals valuable for use in recycling. Copper in particular increased in price fivefold between 1999 and 2008, she said.

Klobuchar spoke at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing she chaired on the 2009 Secondary Metal Theft Protection Act, a bill she introduced with Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in February.

"If copper has become the ‘red gold,' then copper theft has turned into a kind of red gold rush," she said.

In a 2008 survey, power utility companies reported 50,000 instances of copper wire theft in the year before, according to Electrical Safety Foundation International statistics Klobuchar cited.

Copper theft has led to power outages, house fires and explosions, and the failure of public structures, including an aviation tower in Ohio and emergency tornado warning sirens in Mississippi, she said.

The bill would prohibit the sale of several metal items to recyclers, including anything marked as the property of the government or utility companies without their authorization.

Metal recyclers would be required to keep detailed record of transactions, including sellers' identification card numbers, license plate numbers and descriptions of the metal sold. The bill also limits the cash payments sellers can receive to no more than $75 in a 48-hour period.

Witnesses from law enforcement as well as communications and energy companies testified in support of the legislation.

Mona Dohman, president of the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, said the restrictions on cash payments would deter theft, particularly by drug addicts who steal and sell metal to support their habits.

"Trading in scrap metals for quick cash at metal recycling centers is the reason that this is a lucrative business for some," Dohman said.

Aaron Kennard, executive director of the National Sheriffs' Association, said further regulations could help law enforcement combat metal thieves.

He recommended requiring recyclers to obtain sellers' thumbprints or copies of their photo IDs. Additionally, fines imposed for metal theft should reflect how much damage the theft caused, rather than how much metal was stolen, Kennard said.

Mark Lewon, representative of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc., said he favored preventive measures such as higher fines instead of increased documentation of transactions.

"Laws requiring recordkeeping, while ignoring prevention, have been largely ineffective in fighting materials theft," he said, referring to laws in some states.

Lewon emphasized that scrap recycling, an $86 billion industry employing more than 85,000 workers, is overwhelmingly a legitimate business.

He said the bill, which could impose fines of up to $10,000 on metal recyclers but no additional penalties for metal thieves, puts a greater share of the responsibility for preventing theft on the scrap metal industry. 

"We would like to see the penalties enhanced against the thieves, who are the ones causing the problems," he said.

Source: Scripps Howard Foundation Wire