Changes the law regarding catalytic converters
HB 42 repeals and replaces Missouri’s existing scrap-metal reporting law, section 407.300, to add specific rules for transactions involving detached catalytic converters. The bill requires junk, scrap metal, and secondhand property dealers to keep written or electronic records for purchases or trades involving certain metals, including detached catalytic converters and vehicle, heavy equipment, or tractor batteries. Those records must include identifying information about the seller, transaction details, and, for catalytic converter transactions, the vehicle identification number of the vehicle from which the converter was removed.
The bill also restricts where detached catalytic converter transactions may occur, requiring them to take place only at the purchaser’s fixed place of business, and bars alteration, modification, disassembly, or destruction of a converter for five business days after acquisition. It creates penalties for licensed dealers under section 301.218 who knowingly purchase stolen detached catalytic converters, including escalating fines for first and second violations and possible license revocation for a third violation. The bill includes exceptions for established business relationships and for transactions where regulated metal is only a minor part of a larger item, with some exclusions for certain equipment.
HB 42 would strengthen Missouri’s scrap-metal and catalytic-converter theft enforcement framework by expanding recordkeeping duties, adding VIN documentation requirements, limiting the handling of detached catalytic converters, and creating specific penalties for knowingly purchasing stolen converters. It would directly affect junk dealers, scrap metal dealers, secondhand property businesses, and licensed purchasers under section 301.218, while also giving law enforcement greater access to transaction records for investigation and inspection.
The available voting history suggests strong support for the bill in the House, where it passed third reading by a wide margin of 146 yeas to 7 nays. No committee transcript is available, but the overwhelming vote indicates broad agreement with the bill’s anti-theft and regulatory goals. The bill’s caption and structure also suggest it was treated as a targeted public-safety and property-crime measure rather than a controversial overhaul.
The main points of contention likely center on the compliance burden placed on scrap-metal and secondhand dealers, especially the new recordkeeping, VIN collection, and five-business-day holding requirements for detached catalytic converters. Dealers may also view the fixed-location transaction rule and the penalties for knowingly purchasing stolen converters as strict enforcement measures. On the other side, supporters are likely to emphasize the need to deter catalytic-converter theft, improve traceability, and protect vehicle owners and businesses affected by metal theft.