Kentucky requires recycler licenses and reports of covered metal purchases

Covered recycling businesses must obtain Motor Vehicle Commission licenses. The requirement covers scrap-metal, vehicle, machinery, and material recyclers. Municipal waste departments and licensed waste haulers collecting metal in Kentucky-registered waste vehicles are excluded from the scrap-metal definition. Scrap-metal businesses must apply for each location, pay application and annual renewal fees, and display their licenses. Everyone listed on a scrap-metal license application must be at least 18. Applicants must authorize state police background checks. Specified theft-related felony convictions or pleas, felony drug offenses, and intentional recycler-licensing violations within the last five years bar approval. Annual license fees for vehicle, machinery, and material recyclers cannot exceed $500. The law took effect when it became law. Existing credentials must be surrendered within 30 days of receiving a commission license, or immediately if the application is denied.

Covered buyers must report purchases to LeadsOnline and keep seller and transaction records. Covered items include catalytic converters, railroad rails, metals such as copper or aluminum, and returnable metal drink containers holding more than two liters. LeadsOnline information may be shared only with law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies. Buyers must refuse covered purchases from people under 18 or those who cannot or will not provide required identification and information. Covered retail sales must occur from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Records must include seller identification, missing contact details, delivery-vehicle details and a vehicle photo when applicable, and a photo of the specified purchased property. Exceptions include properly titled vehicles, firearms, knives, nonreturnable used containers, and ordinary iron or steel items other than converters, railroad rails, and covered returnable drink containers. Exceptions also cover qualifying household sales at flea markets or yard sales, unpaid licensed waste collection, documented transfers for further recycling, specified written contracts, and licensed pawnshop transactions. Required records must be kept for two years. Purchases of $10 or less are exempt, but more than two such purchases from the same person in one seven-day period are reportable.

Scrap-metal recyclers must refuse articles from people listed on the metal-theft conviction registry. The registry covers people convicted of theft involving metals. The purchase restriction covers their articles generally, rather than only stolen metal. Before submitting the list to LeadsOnline, the commission must give each listed person reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard. People appealing their inclusion may sell or give articles to recyclers unless a final order has been entered against them. Local law enforcement agencies must update their searchable lists monthly and send them to the Motor Vehicle Commission.

Reporting failures can carry criminal penalties and help establish knowledge that property was stolen. The evidence rule applies to scrap-metal recyclers in stolen-property cases. The telecommunications-metal restriction applies to people buying or selling those items. Failure or refusal to submit a required LeadsOnline report is a Class B misdemeanor, a criminal offense. An intentional failure to report or keep required information can serve as initial evidence that a recycler knew property was stolen; it does not automatically prove guilt. Buying or selling copper telecommunications wire in any form, or metal clearly identified as belonging to a telecommunications company, is a Class B misdemeanor unless a Section 10 transaction exception applies.

The Motor Vehicle Commission oversees recycling-site licenses, screening rules, inspections, and enforcement. These rules cover vehicle, machinery, and material recycling sites. Material recyclers include places storing or trading scrap and waste. The vehicle-site definition uses thresholds of five items at a place or ten at a business, excluding inoperative farm equipment. Sites within 1,000 feet of a road's right-of-way must be hidden from motorists as far as the commission finds practical, using screens or natural terrain. Sites that cannot practically be screened must be removed. A site that meets industrial zoning rules is exempt from these site provisions when the commission determines that it qualifies. The commission must hold administrative hearings before specified final enforcement or license decisions. Affected people may appeal final orders to the local Circuit Court. Violations of the site provisions or orders carry misdemeanor fines of $100 to $1,000. Each day is a separate offense.