PHOENIX — State senators voted Monday for new laws they hope will stem the theft of catalytic converters.
The 28-0 vote on HB 2652 comes on a proposal by Rep. Diego Espinosa, D-Tolleson, to give police more tools to make arrests when they find someone other than a scrap metal dealer with one of the devices that helps reduce tailpipe pollution from vehicles. A similar version already has cleared the House.
At the heart of the problem is that catalytic converters can be worth a lot of money, not so much for what they do as much as what’s in them.
That includes quantities of expensive metals platinum, palladium and rhodium.
Gases like oxides of nitrogen, a key component of air pollution, interact with those metals to essentially separate the molecules of nitrogen. Other steps also convert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide and oxidize hydrocarbons, another source of pollution, into carbon dioxide and water.
Depending on the amount — larger vehicles generally require larger converters — those rare metals can be worth up to $1,500 or more.
The result has been an explosion in stolen converters, with thieves often brazenly shimmying under vehicles parked in public places and cutting them away.
That leaves owners with vehicles that still run. But those cars and trucks won’t pass the biennial vehicle emission inspections required for residents of the Tucson and Phoenix area, meaning they won’t get a license renewal.
And replacements can run thousands, if they can be found.
Current law already makes the sale or purchase of catalytic converters a misdemeanor unless the person is engaged in vehicle repair or selling parts.
Only thing is, nothing makes possession a crime. What that means is a police officer can come across someone with a pickup bed full of the converters and have no legal remedy.
And since the devices don’t have unique identification numbers, there is no easy way to trace the vehicle from which the converter was taken.
That would change under the measure, with HB 2652 making simple possession of a used catalytic converter by anyone other than a scrap metal dealer a crime. Having just the nonferrous parts of any converter — meaning those metals other than the steel that houses them — also would become illegal.
And the legislation goes a step farther. It makes it a crime to even offer up a used catalytic converter for sale. That is designed to combat online advertising.
The measure also contains new reporting and record-keeping requirements for scrap metal dealers who buy and sell these devices.
Dealers who are found in violation are subject to an initial $1,000 violation which would go up to $2,000 the second time around. And the penalty for each subsequent violation would go up an additional $2,000.
The measure now needs to return to the House to consider several changes adopted by the Senate before going to the governor.
