C.R.S. § 18-13-111: Purchases of commodity metals, critical infrastructure material, or detached catalytic converters - violations - creation - composition - reports - legislative declaration - definitions.

(1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) of this section, every owner, keeper, or proprietor of a junk shop, junk store, salvage yard, or junk cart or other vehicle and every collector of or dealer in junk, salvage, or other secondhand property shall keep a book or register detailing all transactions involving commodity metals, critical infrastructure material, or detached catalytic converters.

(b) The owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer shall record the identification of a seller of commodity metals, critical infrastructure materials, or detached catalytic converters in the book or register and the method by which the seller verified the seller's identity. The seller shall verify the seller's identity by one of the following:

(I) A valid Colorado driver's license;

(II) A valid identification card issued in accordance with section 42-2-302;

(III) A valid driver's license from another state that contains a picture identification;

(IV) A valid military identification card;

(V) A valid United States passport; or

(VI) A valid alien registration card.

(VII) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2011, (HB 11-1130), ch. 106, p. 330, § 1, effective April 13, 2011.)

(c) The owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer shall require the seller of a commodity metal, critical infrastructure material, or detached catalytic converter to provide for the book or register:

(I) A signed affidavit, sworn and affirmed under penalty of law, that the seller is the owner of the commodity metal, critical infrastructure material, or detached catalytic converter or is otherwise entitled to sell the commodity metal, critical infrastructure material, or detached catalytic converter. The owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer shall provide the affidavit form to the seller.

(II) The license plate number and description of the vehicle or conveyance, if any, in which the commodity metal or detached catalytic converter was delivered.

(d) The owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer shall include the following in the book or register:

(I) The date and place of each purchase of the commodity metal, critical infrastructure material, or detached catalytic converter; and

(II) The description and quantity of the commodity metal, critical infrastructure material, or detached catalytic converter purchased.

(e) The book or register shall be made available to a law enforcement agency or municipal code enforcement agency for inspection upon request.

(1.3) (a) A purchaser of commodity metals, critical infrastructure materials, or detached catalytic converters shall:

(I) Sign up with the scrap theft alert system maintained by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Incorporated, or its successor organization, to receive alerts regarding thefts of commodity metals, critical infrastructure materials, or detached catalytic converters in the purchaser's geographic area;

(II) Download and maintain the scrap metal theft alerts generated by the scrap theft alert system;

(III) Use the alerts to identify potentially stolen commodity metals, critical infrastructure materials, or detached catalytic converters, including training the purchaser's employees to use the alerts during the purchaser's daily operations.

(b) A purchaser of commodity metals, critical infrastructure materials, or detached catalytic converters shall maintain for ninety days copies of any theft alerts received and downloaded pursuant to subsection (1.3)(a) of this section. A purchaser shall also maintain documentation that the purchaser educates employees about, and provides to employees, scrap theft alerts.

(1.5) (a) An owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer is permitted to pay a seller in cash for any commodity metal, critical infrastructure material, or detached catalytic converter transaction of three hundred dollars or less.

(b) If the transaction costs more than three hundred dollars or involves critical infrastructure material that the paying party knows or should have known was part of critical infrastructure, the owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer shall pay the seller of a commodity metal or detached catalytic converter by check unless the seller is paid by means of any process in which a picture of the seller is taken when the money is paid. For the purposes of this subsection (1.5)(b), the paying party should have known the commodity metals were part of critical infrastructure if evidence exists that the insulating casing of the commodity metal was burned or smoldered off.

(1.6) (a) An owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer who knowingly possesses critical infrastructure material in violation of this section commits unlawful possession of critical infrastructure materials.

(b) (I) An owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer who takes possession of critical infrastructure material as part of a load of otherwise noncritical infrastructure materials with an affidavit stating that the transferor may lawfully transfer the noncritical infrastructure material has a duty to notify the appropriate law enforcement agency or municipal code enforcement agency by the end of the next business day after discovering the critical infrastructure materials. The critical infrastructure material must be set aside and must not be sold, pending a determination as to its legal status made by a law enforcement agency or municipal code enforcement agency.

(II) An owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer does not violate this subsection (1.6) if the owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer has an affidavit stating that the transferor may lawfully transfer the critical infrastructure material.

(III) An owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer who unknowingly takes possession of critical infrastructure material as part of a load of otherwise noncritical infrastructure materials with an affidavit stating that the transferor may lawfully transfer the noncritical infrastructure material and knowingly does not notify the appropriate law enforcement agency or municipal code enforcement agency by the end of the next business day after becoming aware they are in possession of critical infrastructure materials in violation of this subsection (1.6)(b) commits failure to report stolen critical infrastructure materials.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (3) of this section, the owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer of any commodity metal, critical infrastructure material, or detached catalytic converter shall make a digital photographic record, video record, or other record that identifies the seller and the commodity metal, critical infrastructure material, or detached catalytic converter that the seller is selling. The digital photographic record, video record, or other record format shall be retained for one hundred eighty days, and the owner shall permit a law enforcement officer or municipal code enforcement officer to make inspections of the record.

(3) The following transactions and materials are exempt from the requirements specified in subsections (1), (1.6), and (2) of this section:

(a) Any materials purchased from a regulated public utility or an original manufacturer of scrap or industrially generated scrap;

(b) The purchase of recyclable food and beverage containers from any source; except that, for purposes of this exemption, a metal beer keg suitable for reuse shall not be considered a recyclable beverage container;

(c) Any scrap that is involved in a transaction between dealers or governmental entities;

(d) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2007, p. 759, §1, effective July 1, 2007.)

(e) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2011, (HB 11-1130), ch. 106, p. 330, § 1, effective April 13, 2011.)

(f) The purchase of critical infrastructure materials when the owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer has a written contract with the original source company that claims and affirms that the critical infrastructure material belongs to the owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer.

(4) The information entered in the book or register, as provided in subsection (1) of this section, need not be kept for a period longer than three years after the date of purchase of the commodity metal, critical infrastructure material, or detached catalytic converter.

(5) A person who violates subsection (1) of this section by failing to keep a book or register, a person who knowingly gives false information with respect to the information required to be maintained in the book or register provided for in subsection (1) of this section, and a person who violates subsection (1.3), (1.5), or (2) of this section commits:

(a) A petty offense if the amount is less than three hundred dollars;

(b) A class 2 misdemeanor if the amount is three hundred dollars or more but less than one thousand dollars;

(c) A class 1 misdemeanor if the amount is one thousand dollars or more but less than two thousand dollars; and

(d) A class 6 felony if the amount is two thousand dollars or more.

(e) to (h) Repealed.

(5.5) (a) Unlawful possession of critical infrastructure materials, as described in subsection (1.6)(a) of this section, is:

(I) A class 2 misdemeanor if the amount is less than one thousand dollars;

(II) A class 1 misdemeanor if the amount is one thousand dollars or more but less than two thousand dollars; and

(III) A class 6 felony if the amount is two thousand dollars or more.

(b) Failure to report stolen critical infrastructure materials, as described in subsection (1.6)(b) of this section, is:

(I) A class 2 misdemeanor if the amount is less than one thousand dollars;

(II) A class 1 misdemeanor if the amount is one thousand dollars or more but less than two thousand dollars; and

(III) A class 6 felony if the amount is two thousand dollars or more.

(6) There is a permissive inference that metal purchased by a dealer for the purpose of recycling is a commodity metal if the commodity metal has a value of fifty cents per pound or greater for purposes of recycling the commodity metal.

(7) This section shall not apply to a person or entity that does not provide remuneration for commodity metals collected in drop-off curbside containers or at materials recovery sites.

(8) and (9) Repealed.

(10) (a) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that:

(I) Thefts of commodity metals and detached catalytic converters jeopardize the safety and welfare of the public, financially burden taxpayers and industry, and exhaust law enforcement resources;

(II) The thefts impact every community in Colorado;

(III) The regulation of commodity metal or detached catalytic converter purchases is a matter of statewide concern; and

(IV) Thefts of commodity metals that make up critical infrastructure materials represent a significant threat to Colorado citizens.

(b) In order to continue the ability of the state to identify causes of commodity metal and detached catalytic converter theft and provide realistic solutions to the theft problem, the general assembly encourages law enforcement authorities in the state to join the scrap theft alert system maintained by the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Incorporated, or its successor organization, and to report thefts of commodity metals and detached catalytic converters occurring within their jurisdictions to this system. The general assembly also encourages commercial stakeholders affected by commodity metal and detached catalytic converter theft to sign up for and participate in the scrap theft alert system.

(11) This section does not apply to detached catalytic converters acquired as part of a whole motor vehicle transaction in which an auto parts recycler, as defined in section 42-4-2201 (1), reports the motor vehicle acquisition into the national motor vehicle title information system, as described in 49 U.S.C. sec. 30504.

(12) (a) The Colorado state patrol shall develop an assessment report for applicable facilities to identify the level of conformance with the provisions of subsections (1) to (4) of this section.

(b) On or before July 1, 2023, and each July 1 thereafter, the Colorado state patrol shall distribute and make available an assessment report for all applicable facilities. The assessment report must encourage voluntary compliance and provide education to applicable facilities on the requirements of this section. If an applicable facility does not comply with the assessment reporting requirements described in this section, the Colorado state patrol may prompt a law enforcement inspection. The assessment report must include, at a minimum:

(I) Applicable facility information, such as the type of facility, name, physical address, mailing address, business contact name, and contact information;

(II) Purchases of commodity metals information, to include the type of book or register used, forms of seller identity verification, seller documentation used in the book or register, whether the book or register provides for the date and place of purchase, description and quantity and availability or actual inspection by a peace officer; and

(III) Applicable facility recording of commodity metal transactions, to include the type of metal commodity transaction, use of and employee training on the scrap theft alert system, maintenance of scrap theft alerts, payment forms to seller, and form of records kept, including digital, photographic, video, or other records;

(c) On or before August 1, 2023, and each August 1 thereafter, every applicable facility shall complete and submit the assessment report to the Colorado state patrol.

(d) Repealed.

(13) (a) The Colorado state patrol shall develop an inspection form for use by state, county, and local authorities to use when inspecting applicable facilities to provide statewide documentation, consistent with the provisions in subsections (1) to (4) of this section. The inspection form must include elements contained in the assessment report, but may further provide information to be used in criminal investigations.

(b) The Colorado state patrol shall provide standardized training for use by law enforcement agencies in conducting inspections. This training may be in person, via video, or using a written manual.

(c) Upon completion of a law enforcement inspection, the law enforcement agency shall submit a copy of the inspection form to the Colorado state patrol within two weeks after completing the inspection.

(d) Repealed.

(14) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Applicable facility" means a junk shop, junk store, salvage yard, or other secondhand property operated by a dealer, owner, keeper, or proprietor.

(b) "Book or register" means any written or electronic record of transactions kept by an owner, keeper, proprietor, collector, or dealer, including sequentially numbered receipts containing the information required by subsection (1) of this section.

(c) "Commodity metal" means copper; a copper alloy, such as bronze or brass; or aluminum. "Commodity metal" does not include precious metals, such as gold, silver, or platinum.

(d) "Covered infrastructure" means:

(I) Communication infrastructure, including fiber-optic cables and other infrastructure used for:

(A) Internet, including broadband internet service;

(B) Cable communications;

(C) Wireless communications;

(D) Telecommunications; and

(E) A public safety answering point, as defined in section 29-11-101;

(II) Transportation infrastructure, including infrastructure used for:

(A) Light rail, as defined in section 29-35-103;

(B) Passenger rail;

(C) Freight rail;

(D) A public roadway system; and

(E) Bridges;

(III) Housing infrastructure;

(IV) An electric vehicle charging station; and

(V) Public utility infrastructure.

(e) "Critical infrastructure material" means any component or part used in covered infrastructure that is made of or contains a commodity metal, the theft of which poses an imminent threat to life or the physical safety of a person, including through serious harm to the basic supply of covered infrastructure to the population or to the exercise of a core function of covered infrastructure.

(f) "Dealer" means any person, business, or entity that buys, sells, or distributes, for the purpose of recycling, processing, or smelting, any commodity metal or detached catalytic converter on a wholesale basis. For the purposes of this subsection (14)(f), a transaction between a dealer and a motor vehicle dealer is not a wholesale sale.

(g) "Detached catalytic converter" means a post-combustion device that:

(I) Oxidizes hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide gases or reduces oxides of nitrogen;

(II) Is designed or intended for use as part of an emission control system; and

(III) Was previously installed on a motor vehicle and subsequently removed.