Committee advances bill tightening rules for catalytic-converter sales, requires recycler registration

Senator Hatchett, a sponsor of Senate Bill 40 (LC 620107S), told the Regulated Industries Committee that the bill would refine recent changes to state law intended to curb catalytic-converter theft and add registration requirements for secondary metal recyclers.

The bill moves an existing definition to a more appropriate code section, clarifies what a secondary metal recycler may and may not pay in cash for used catalytic converters, and requires a secondary metal recycler to register with the sheriff's office in the county where the recycler maintains a physical brick-and-mortar location. Under the measure, the registration fee is $200 and the sheriff is to…