2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 57 - Trade Practices and Regulations › Article 30 - Sale of Recycled Metals › Section 57-30-2.4 - Restricted transactions; additional documentation required; required record for catalytic converters.

A. A secondhand metal dealer shall not knowingly purchase or otherwise receive any of the following without written documentation indicating that the seller or offeror is the rightful owner or has permission from the rightful owner and that the material was otherwise lawfully obtained:
(1) infrastructure grade regulated material that has been burned to remove insulation, unless the seller can produce written proof that the regulated material was lawfully burned;
(2) regulated material where the manufacturer's make, model, serial or personal identification number or other identifying marks engraved or etched upon the material have been conspicuously removed or altered;
(3) regulated material marked with the name, initials or otherwise identified as the property of an electrical company, a telephone company, a cable company, a water company or other utility company, a railroad or a governmental entity;
(4) a utility access cover;
(5) a water meter cover;
(6) a road or bridge guard rail;
(7) a highway or street sign;
(8) a traffic directional or control sign or signal;
(9) a metal beer keg that is clearly marked as being the property of the beer manufacturer; or
(10) a catalytic converter that is not part of an entire motor vehicle.
B. The department shall promulgate rules that more specifically describe the type of documentation required before a secondhand metal dealer may engage in a transaction described in this section.
C. A secondhand metal dealer shall not purchase or otherwise receive any regulated material that the secondhand metal dealer knows is not lawfully possessed by the person offering to sell or provide the regulated material.
D. A secondhand metal dealer shall not knowingly purchase or otherwise receive a catalytic converter unless:
(1) the seller or offeror presents a personal identification document; and
(2) the secondhand metal dealer makes a record of the transaction, to be maintained for at least three years from the date of the transaction, that shall include:
(a) a photocopy or digital image of the seller's or offeror's personal identification document;
(b) the date and time of the transaction;
(c) the name, address, telephone number and signature of the seller or offeror;
(d) the license plate number and vehicle identification number of the vehicle used to transport the catalytic converter to the secondhand metal dealer, if applicable;
(e) a photocopy or digital image of the legal document or affidavit demonstrating ownership by the seller or offeror; and
(f) photographs of the catalytic converter.
History:
Laws 2012, ch. 29, § 16; 2012, ch. 33, § 16; 2022, ch. 56, § 51; 2023, ch. 193, § 1.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2023 amendment,
effective June 16, 2023, required secondhand metal dealers to make a record of any transaction that involves the purchase or acquisition of a catalytic converter; in the section heading, added "required record for catalytic converters"; in Subsection A, in the introductory clause, after "shall not", added "knowingly", and after "purchase", added "or otherwise receive"; and added Subsection D.
The 2022 amendment,
effective May 18, 2022, provided that a secondhand metal dealer shall not purchase or otherwise receive any regulated material that the secondhand metal dealer knows is not lawfully possessed by the person offering to sell or provide the regulated material; and added Subsection C.