ASSEMBLY, No. 409

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblywoman HECK

An Act regulating the purchase of certain metals and supplementing Title 51 of the Revised Statutes.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. A person who buys, attempts to buy or offers to buy any commodity composed in whole or in part of aluminum, bronze, copper or brass on the basis of bulk value from any person shall:

    a. Clearly and prominently display at the point of purchase:

    (1) His name and street address;

    (2) The price being offered or paid by the buyer expressed as the price per standard measure of weight prescribed by the State Superintendent of Weights and Measures; and

    (3) Weigh the commodity in plain view of the seller on a scale which has been tested and sealed by a weights and measures officer.

    b. Issue to the seller and keep for his own records, for not less than one year, a serialized receipt for each purchase of a commodity, containing the following:

    (1) The name and street address of the buyer;

    (2) Date of the transaction;

    (3) A description of the commodity purchased;

    (4) The identity of the metal or metals of which the commodity is composed;

    (5) The weight of the commodity purchased;

    (6) The price paid for the commodity at the standard measure of weight prescribed by the State Superintendent of Weights and Measures;

    (7) The name, street address and signature of the seller of the commodity.

    c. Obtain proof of identity from each person who sells a commodity to him and record the same on the serialized receipt.

    d. Retain the commodity in the form in which it was purchased for a period of not less than five business days.

    e. Upon reasonable request, allow the inspection of the serialized receipts, or the commodity, as provided in subsections a. and d. respectively of this section, by any law enforcement officer or weights and measures officer.

    2. A buyer of a commodity composed of metal as provided for in this act shall, before buying, attempting to buy or offering to buy such a commodity, register with the police of the municipality in which he intends to conduct his business and give his name and street address. A transient buyer of such commodities shall also provide the address at which he intends to do business in the municipality and shall reregister if he changes his location of doing business in the municipality or if he discontinues doing business for more than 20 days in the municipality and subsequently resumes doing business therein.

    3. Any person who violates any provision of this act shall be liable to a mandatory penalty of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 recoverable by a weights and measures officer pursuant to "the penalty enforcement law" (N.J.S.2A:58-1 et seq.). An action for the recovery of a civil penalty for violation of this act shall be within the jurisdiction of and may be brought before the Superior Court or municipal court in the municipality where the offense is committed or where the defendant resides or where the defendant may be apprehended.

    4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill requires purchasers of commodities composed of aluminum, bronze, copper or brass to provide certain information to sellers of such commodities prior to purchase and to maintain serialized receipts and records regarding the transaction for one year. The bill also requires purchasers to retain any commodity in the form in which it was purchased for a period of not less than five business days. Purchasers must allow for the inspection of the receipts or the commodity by law enforcement or weights and measures officers.

    Under the bill, buyers of such objects or metals must register with the police department in the municipality in which they intend to do business and transient buyers must also provide the address at which they intend to do business. Violators of the bill's other provisions would be subject to a penalty of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000, enforceable by the weights and measures officials.

Regulates purchases of certain metal commodities.