Pennsylvania bill adds requirements to catalytic converter sale process

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed a bill expanding regulations governing the sale of catalytic converters to scrap yards in the state.

The law attempts to reduce catalytic converter theft, which the Tyson, Virginia-based National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) says has been increasing in recent years. Citing the National Insurance Crime Bureau, NADA says the “number of catalytic converter thefts reported in claims to insurance companies increased by 1,215 percent between 2019 and 2022.”

House Bill 791, sponsored by Mary Isaacson (D-Philadelphia), amends the 2008 Scrap Material Theft Prevention Act by requiring individuals selling catalytic converters to provide the year, make, model and vehicle identification number (VIN) of the vehicle from which the catalytic converter was removed.

Buyers must photograph the catalytic converter and the individual selling it, according to a memo from Isaacson to Pennsylvania House members.

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The law also now requires buyers to withhold payment for 48 hours after the purchase is completed.

“Car owners should not bear the expense of replacing pricey stolen parts from their vehicles,” Isaacson writes in the memo. “Ensuring these details and photographs are recorded prior to the completion of the sale will help to prevent these thefts in the future.”

According to the bill, a scrap processor or recycling facility operator who “fails to collect the information required … is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $5,000.”

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed Pennsylvania HB 791 June 28 with 119 voting in favor of the bill and 84 dissenting.

NADA and the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) have called on Congress to enact laws that would help control catalytic converter theft, which is driven by the valuable metals in the car part, including rhodium, platinum and palladium.

While NADA says stolen catalytic converters could sell for anywhere from $20 to $350 on the black market, replacements for car owners average more than $2,500.