Arizona house passes scrap metal theft bill.

With the theft of scrap metal continuing to plague cities throughout the United States, a number of state legislators are taking matters into their own hands by submitting legislation that seeks to either impose or tighten regulations and requirements for buying and selling scrap metal.

The Arizona House of Representatives introduced House Bill 2314, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Weiers, was first introduced Jan. 22, 2007. It was approved by the House by a vote of 55 to 2 March 6 and now has been introduced to the Arizona Senate.

The bill approved by the House calls for all scrap metal dealers to keep on their premises a written record of every transaction exceeding $25, with the exception of UBCs.

According to the text of the bill, a version of which can be found online at www.azleg.gov, the record of each receipt of scrap metal must include the following information:

* The date, time and place of the transaction;

* An identifying description and weight of the specific scrap metal received;

* The dollar amount paid;

* The seller's name, physical description, physical address, date of birth, signature and a photo copy of a current driver's license or of a valid government-issued photo identification card;

* The seller's transaction privilege tax number, if applicable;

* The number and state of issuance of the license on the vehicle used to deliver the scrap metal;

* A photo of the metal sold;

* A photograph, video record or digital record of the seller and the metal involved in the transaction; and

* A right index fingerprint of the seller.

The bill would also require that payment for the scrap metal would be mailed, rather than given out at the time of the delivery.