Scrap metal laws California, Arizona and Nevada put on every sale

• California regulates junk, defined to include all ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals and alloys. Its list names nonferrous materials, stainless steel and nickel, not tungsten, carbide, cobalt or titanium. Nothing in it exempts carbide, so read its general record rules as covering any scrap metal purchase.
• Arizona writes no metal list. Its definition names only metallic cables and scrap vehicles. Its records reach every scrap metal purchase, and its payment rule turns on the size of the sale, not the metal.
• Nevada defines scrap metal as nonferrous metals, scrap iron, stainless steel, or material or equipment made wholly or partly of metal and used in construction, farming, power generation and distribution, cable and telecommunications, railroad equipment, oil well rigs or state and local government lights. Carbide, tungsten, titanium and nickel alloys are not named, and the statute does not say whether a used end mill counts. This guide will not guess.

Arizona’s record and payment section and Nevada’s definition share one carve-out: a metal product in its original manufactured form that is no more than 20 percent nonferrous metal by weight.

Sources: California Attorney General: Information Bulletin 2025-DLE-12; Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1641 (definitions); Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1642 (records, payment); Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 647.

Section 21608.5 adds a second layer for one group of metals: copper, copper alloys, stainless steel and aluminum. For that material, the law asks the buyer to pay by cash or check, with the check mailed to the address on the seller’s ID or the payment collected on or after the third business day after the sale. A 2019 law, SB 143, added prepaid cards. The buyer also photographs the seller and the material, copies an ID that shows a photo and an address, and takes a thumbprint it keeps two years. Inspection or seizure of that print “shall only be performed by a peace officer ... in response to a criminal search warrant signed by a magistrate.”

Tungsten carbide, cobalt, titanium, molybdenum and tantalum are not on that list, so these payment, photo and thumbprint steps do not reach them. Nickel alloys are not named either, but the text does not say whether a nickel-copper alloy such as Monel counts as a copper alloy. Stainless steel is on the list, which matters when a shop clears out more than its carbide.

Our wording comes from the 2012 chaptered bill, the Attorney General’s 2012 compilation and the Senate’s 2019 summary, since the state code site would not load; a later amendment would not show here.

The section steps aside for a business seller when, on the date of sale, the buyer has on file or receives the business’s name, physical address and phone number, its business license or tax ID number, and a copy of the driver’s license of the person delivering the material.

Sources: California AB 1508 (Chapter 531, Statutes of 2012): Bus. & Prof. Code 21608.5; California Attorney General: Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Laws (2012); California Senate: 2019 Summary of Chaptered Legislation (SB 143).

Nevada writes most of its rules for scrap metal processors, and no one may buy scrap metal there without state and local business licenses and authorization from the local solid waste authority. For each purchase, the law asks the processor to keep a copy of the seller’s ID (a license or ID card from any state or US territory, a US military ID, or another accepted form), a photo or video of the seller, the right index fingerprint, the delivering vehicle’s plate and description, an industry-standard description of the scrap, and the price paid.

A photo or video of every purchase stays on site at least 60 days, and the seller gets a receipt listing the description, weight and price. A peace officer or investigator on a criminal case may hold related property for up to 7 business days, and extend the hold by written notice for up to 7 more.

Sources: Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 647.