{"id":31930,"date":"2022-03-04T08:41:25","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T14:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=31930"},"modified":"2022-03-04T08:41:25","modified_gmt":"2022-03-04T14:41:25","slug":"bill-seeks-to-curb-catalytic-converter-thefts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=31930","title":{"rendered":"Bill seeks to curb catalytic converter thefts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Judiciary Committee heard testimony March 2 on a bill that would increase regulations on the sale of used catalytic converters in Nebraska.<\/p>\n

\"Sen.
Sen. Steve Lathrop<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LB994, introduced by Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop, would require purchasers of used catalytic converters to record the VIN number, year, make and model of the motor vehicle from which the converter was obtained. Additionally, it would require purchasers to pay for catalytic converters by check, sent by U.S. mail, and to keep a catalytic converter in the condition in which it was purchased for five business days.<\/p>\n

A catalytic converter is a device incorporated into a motor vehicle\u2019s exhaust system that converts pollutant gasses into less harmful ones. Typically, it has a thin coating made of precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium.<\/p>\n

Lathrop said the selling of stolen catalytic converters is a significant problem in Lincoln and Omaha. Individuals, often those addicted to drugs, crawl under cars in the middle of the night to steal converters and sell them at scrap metal facilities for a \u201cquick dollar,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The bill\u2019s provisions] are intended to help stop this and interrupt the process for those trying to get a quick dollar by stealing precious metals,\u201d Lathrop said. \u201cThe idea of this bill is to slow down the process so there isn\u2019t that immediate gratification.\u201d<\/p>\n

In support of the bill was Lt. Kyle Steffen, speaking on behalf of the Omaha Police Department. Steffen said OPD saw a 2,400 percent increase in catalytic converter thefts in 2021 compared to years prior. On average, he said, replacing a catalytic converter can cost between $1,000 and $2,500, however on commercial vehicles, the cost can be much higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are several reasons these thefts have been skyrocketing in Nebraska as well as nationwide,\u201d Steffen said. \u201cThey are easy to steal, they are difficult to track, they are extremely valuable and they are quickly converted into cash.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Jackson, assistant chief of the Lincoln Police Department, also spoke in favor of the proposal. Jackson said LPD has directed several projects toward reducing thefts in Lincoln, such as examining sales data, proactive patrols and educating officers and community members. Despite these efforts, he said, the city saw nearly 1,000 converters stolen in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cThefts of catalytic converters in Lincoln represent approximately $1,000 of loss to each community member victimized,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is approaching $1 million of loss for residents of the city of Lincoln.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Urwin of Student Transportation of America, an independent school bus service, testified in support. He said that in the last 14 months the company has lost $424,800 in Omaha due to catalytic converter theft despite $175,000 worth of security improvements, including added fencing, cameras and live security.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems that nothing we do stops them,\u201d Urwin said. \u201cWe got hit last night for another $16,000.\u201d<\/p>\n

In opposition to LB994 was Mike Vail of Alter Trading. Vail said that after the Lincoln City Council approved an ordinance in 2021 implementing stricter regulations, Alter Trading\u2019s business went down by 80 percent while the sale of catalytic converters increased. The problem isn\u2019t lack of regulation, he said, it\u2019s that certain scrap metal recyclers are accepting catalytic converters outside the scope of existing law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a huge distinction in the recycling industry [between] those that are doing it right and those that are doing it wrong,\u201d Vail said. \u201cOur opposition to this bill is because, as written, it doesn\u2019t fix the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gary Griessmeyer testified on behalf of Sadoff Iron and Metal in opposition to the bill. Griessmeyer said collecting the motor vehicle VIN numbers would serve no purpose unless each VIN also is independently verified by the purchaser. Additionally, he said, increasing regulations without targeting companies who don\u2019t follow the law won\u2019t change the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to decrease the market by having this bill isn\u2019t going to happen,\u201d Griessmeyer said. \u201cThe market for this precious metal is driven by the values worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The committee took no immediate action on LB994.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Judiciary Committee heard testimony March 2 on a bill that would increase regulations on the sale of used catalytic converters in Nebraska.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13],"tags":[93],"class_list":["post-31930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-judiciary","tag-sen-steve-lathrop"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31930"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31933,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31930\/revisions\/31933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}