How an alliance against scrap theft came together

By J. Patrick Coolican

Friday, March 13, 2009 | 2 a.m.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee agenda couldn’t be more vague, or bland sounding: “AB233. Makes various changes concerning scrap metal.”

The bill would stiffen penalties for theft of scrap metal and put in place new rules for scrap dealers to help police investigate these thefts.

Simple enough.

As it turns out, though, this is a somewhat significant piece of legislation, watched closely and worked on for nearly two years, negotiated by powerful interest groups.

So how did it all come together?

Here goes:

Utilities, including rural power companies and NV Energy, as well as phone companies such as Embarq and AT&T, were losing millions of dollars a year to thieves, who were stealing valuable copper wire but also ripping apart substations and other valuable property to get to the prize.

Their corporate security officers began swapping stories and comparing notes and alerted their respective government affairs professionals.

“A decision was made that we need to beef up our laws,” said Brian McAnallen, head of government affairs for Embarq.

Tough new laws passed in California and Arizona gave the issue more urgency, as the companies feared thieves would flock to Nevada. So the companies asked Metro to join a coalition.

Metro was a willing partner because officers felt stymied, unable to deal with the crimes unless they caught thieves in the act. “They were stealing everything that wasn’t tied down, and things that were tied down too,” said Tom Roberts, Metro’s lobbyist here.

They kicked around potential language and brought it to Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera, McAnallen said.

Oceguera, a Las Vegas Democrat, is a North Las Vegas firefighter who knew about the issue firsthand, thanks to an arsonist. Oceguera and his colleagues would put a fire out and then rip out the drywall to make sure it was completely extinguished. After the firefighters left, the arsonist would return to steal the wiring behind the drywall they had knocked down.

“We were his demo team,” said Kevin Brame, deputy fire chief in North Las Vegas.

So a coalition had come together: A powerful legislator and a powerful business group, represented by some of the most influential lobbyists in the state, including Jones Vargas, as well as police and prosecutors.

But what to do?

Well, where do the thieves go with their wares?

Recycling yards.

The legislation would in some ways target those recyclers.

In fact, Metro’s Roberts was asked whether getting rid of the recycling companies would eliminate the theft.

“Probably,” he said.

Indeed, one lobbyist involved said some of the players wanted to go for the throat of recyclers.

“What you have to understand is that it’s the whole world on one side, and the recyclers on the other. The criminals aren’t represented,” said a lobbyist involved the process.

“Not yet anyway,” another quipped.

Roberts said he understands the recyclers are legitimate businesses and perform a service. They also saw this coming.

After a high-profile theft in the summer, the recyclers heard from media reports that Metro was looking for tougher laws, and they contacted Metro.

The coalition met with the recyclers for the first time in August.

The coalition wanted all payments for scrap metal to be made by check and mailed to a physical residence, and they wanted strict identification of sellers and the items they sell. “I don’t think we got much resolved” in the first meeting, Roberts said.

The negotiations continued for months until the start of the legislative session, when the recyclers decided they needed a lobbyist.

In the words of Scott Stolberg, speaking for an association of eight scrap dealers: “We’re recyclers. We don’t know that process.”

They interviewed a few and hired Terry Graves, who says the recyclers weren’t just playing defense. They had another interest: coming down hard on the shady, illegitimate and unlicensed players in the business.

Negotiations began in earnest.

In the end, the bill would force recyclers to take a fingerprint and get a copy of a driver’s license and an address from all sellers. Also, payments of $150 or more must be made by check.

The bill also stiffens penalties because the new law would consider economic damage done during the process of stealing the scrap and not just the value of the scrap itself.

Stolberg said this was the first time he was involved in the legislative process, and said he found it worked pretty well.

“In general, the law in my opinion is pretty balanced,” he said.

Graves said the recyclers — on their own and outside the legislation — will establish an e-mail alert system with Metro and the utilities so dealers know when a major theft has happened and can watch out for the criminal.