ISRI applauds NCSL in its fight against federal metal thefts law

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) has applauded the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) for its efforts to combat the proposed federal metals theft legislation. In a letter sent to US Senators, the NCSL had noted that a federal law may preempt some state laws and hinder the work that is underway in various states. According to NCSL, a federal law against metal theft would jeopardize the works already undertaken by individual states against the grim danger.

ISRI considers that a federal metal theft law is completely redundant as all the 50 states within the country have their own metal theft laws. Legislations have been passed taking into consideration the specific needs of the community. The recyclers in various states already follow respective state laws. Robert Wiener, President, ISRI noted that implementation of federal law would add further disorder for law enforcement authorities, prosecutors and metal recyclers.

According to him, the Senate Bill 394 had provisions that were in conflict with existing state laws. Although no fresh moves were made with regards to the bill, the amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act had language similar to the one used in SB 394, against which NCSL has issued the letter.

As state laws are framed to address concerns of regional community, each law may differ from the other. The implementation of federal law may lead to more confusion as to whether state law or federal law applies case-to-case. Moreover, it may hinder the envious growth achieved by various states in curbing metal thefts.