Hatch seeks rules to fight copper thefts

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, wants the federal government to help stop theft of copper wire and pipes — which the FBI says have become a big target for drug addicts and gang members.

Hatch and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., reintroduced a bill to force scrap dealers to keep records of the names and addresses of people who sell them copper, maintain descriptions of the copper sold, and to perform transactions of more than $75 by check instead of cash. That can help track people who identify stolen copper and who sold it.

"We simply must ensure that the nation's businesses, homes and infrastructure are no longer viewed as a treasure trove by desperate metal thieves," Hatch said. "It is all the more critical considering the dire economic straits our country is in now. Americans need to be secure in their property."

He said a recent FBI report said organized groups of drug addicts, gangs and metal thieves are "conducting large-scale thefts from electric utilities, warehouses, foreclosed and vacant properties and oil well sites for tens of thousands of dollars in illicit proceeds" every month.

The bill is not popular with recyclers. Bruce Savage, spokesman for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, said last year when Hatch and Klobuchar introduced a similar bill, that it "is the copper theft equivalent of addressing bank robbery by punishing the bank for having the money."

Savage said the additional restrictions it would place on scrap companies do not take into account efforts the industry has already been making to help law enforcement.

Hatch said, however, "I know that many scrap metal dealers in Utah are not turning a blind eye to this problem. In fact, several metal recycling companies have partnered with local law enforcement and use a theft alert system to warn and watch for reported stolen items."

But Hatch said the bill is still needed "because many states across the nation now lack laws governing metal theft and tend to attract thieves as a result. Of course, this bill does not preclude states from enacting their own laws."

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