May/June 2008
Historic Election Concludes Convention Board Meetings
ReMA's board of directors held a triple-header at the association's annual convention in April, meeting three times on three separate days in Las Vegas to address important governance issues.
The board's top order of business was electing the four new national ReMA officers. Notably, this election marked the first time in the association's 20-year history that four candidates vied for the secretary/treasurer position. In the end, the board elected these members to lead ReMA for the next two years:
- Chair: George Adams of SA Recycling (Anaheim, Calif.);
- Chair-Elect: John Sacco of Sierra Recycling & Demolition (Bakersfield, Calif.);
- Vice Chair: Jerry Simms of Atlas Metal & Iron Corp. (Denver); and
- Secretary/Treasurer: Doug Kramer of Kramer Metals (Los Angeles).
The board also filled four director-at-large seats, electing Nick Cerminaro of Keywell (West Mifflin, Pa.), Alasdair Gledhill of ELG Metals (McKeesport, Pa.), Howard Glick of Tri-State Iron & Metal (Texarkana, Ark.), and Mike Potash of Sioux City Compressed Steel (Sioux City, Iowa) to two-year terms. In another election, the board selected Mike Hinsey of Granutech-Saturn Systems Corp. (Grand Prairie, Texas) to serve as the sole associate member representative on the national ReMA board.
The board made several appointments as well. It chose Frank Cozzi of Cozzi Enterprises (Burr Ridge, Ill.) to replace Mike Bank of Krentzman Metals Corp. (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), who is retiring, on the board of ReMA Resources Corp., which oversees the association's insurance program. Cozzi will serve a two-year term. It approved the appointment of new at-large member Glick to the audit committee for a three-year term. He assumes the seat of Bill Lowery of Metalico Annaco (Akron, Ohio), who has retired. Further, the board approved the election of new leaders for the Council of Chapter Presidents. Joel Fogel of Cohen Brothers (Middletown, Ohio) is chair and Lee Mellner of Service Aluminum Corp. (Ellicott City, Md.) is vice chair.
ReMA's board also passed several measures at its April meetings:
- It created an Electronics Division, which replaces the Electronics Recycling Council. This new division, which encompasses electronic scrap processors, brokers, and consumers, is ReMA's fifth commodity-focused division, along with ferrous, nonferrous, paper, and tire and rubber.
- It formed a Plastics Recycling Council. This group, ReMA's sixth council, is designed to "provide a forum for discussion of issues unique to the processing, brokering, and consumption of plastics." The council will elect its own chair and can schedule its own meetings, by conference call or in person, in accordance with ReMA bylaws and policies.
- It passed the first Recommended Industry Safety Practices submitted by the ReMA Safety Council. The four approved RISPs cover new employee training, pulleys/shafts/flywheels/belts, opening roll-off container doors, and conveyors.
- It approved allotting up to $100,000 to support the New Southern Chapter and the Tennessee Scrap Recyclers Association in their legal challenge of Tennessee's tag-and-hold law and a Memphis ordinance containing the same provision.
- It passed a handful of changes to the paper-related language and specifications of ReMA's Scrap Specifications Circular.
- Finally, it approved modifications to ReMA's suggested legislative language on materials theft to include military scrap in the list of items that scrap metal recyclers should not purchase unless they receive "reasonable, written documentation that the seller is the owner of the material, or is an employee, agent, or other person authorized to sell the item on behalf of the owner."
The board will meet again June 24 and 27 in Washington, D.C., during ReMA's summer leadership meeting and annual congressional fly-in. There's no cost for ReMA members to register for these two events. To register for the meeting, go to www.isri.org.
For more information on the fly-in, contact Billy Johnson, 202/662-8548 or billyjohnson@isri.org.
Scrap Hires New Production Manager
Spencer Norcross has joined Scrap as production manager, with responsibility for all production-related work for the magazine, the ISRI Membership Directory and Industry Guide, the annual ReMA wall calendar, and the Scrap Specifications Circular. He succeeds Ellen Ross, who retired as Scrap's production director in mid-May after more than 19 years with the magazine.
Most recently, Norcross was production manager at Science News, a weekly publication of the Society for Science and the Public (Washington, D.C.). Prior to that he served as production coordinator at Legal Times and production manager at The American Spectator.
Norcross is a 1991 graduate of Bradford College, where he majored in creative arts with a concentration in graphic design. Reach him at 202/662-8545 or spencernorcross@scrap.org.
Scrap Industry Wins Fresno Tag-and-Hold Case
The California Appellate Court in and for the Fifth District ruled April 1 that state law preempts restrictive Fresno County tag-and-hold ordinances. Citing specific legislative history that ReMA brought to the court's attention in its amicus curiae brief, the appeals court affirmed in full the lower court's ruling that commercial scrap recycling activities are matters of statewide concern previously addressed, and thereby preempted, by the state's penal and business and professional codes.
The lawsuit, filed by Bruno's Iron & Metal, challenged Fresno County's newly enacted tag-and-hold ordinances, which sought to completely ban the use of cash in scrap transactions by requiring payment by check no sooner than three days after each transaction. Further, the ordinances sought to require scrap operations to hold material for five days regardless of probable cause.
In its ruling, the Court of Appeals focused on Bruno's argument that local governments may not enact more restrictive laws on matters the state legislature already has addressed. The court made a technical distinction, however, that's worth noting for future potential tag-and-hold challenges. It noted that the ordinances did not involve the licensing or location of recycling businesses, which traditionally are matters of local control, but instead they impermissibly attempted to govern the purchase and sale of scrap metal. This subject, the court said, was "comprehensively regulated by state law" and thus local ordinances could not regulate it in a more restrictive manner.
Though this ruling is restricted to California because of its focus on the preemption argument, it offers a glimpse into how others might successfully challenge similar local tag-and-hold laws. The ruling also provides ammunition for California recyclers to fight efforts in Sacramento that seek to expand the state law in a more restrictive fashion.
For more information, contact Danielle Waterfield, 202/662-8516 or daniellewaterfield@isri.org.
New Resources Combat Material Theft
ISRI is taking a multi-pronged approach to addressing material theft that includes legislative advocacy, outreach to affected industries and law enforcement, legal challenges, education, and resources for member companies. The association has drafted a memorandum summarizing its material-theft strategy and the resources it offers to combat the problem, which members can access at www.isri.org/theft/strategy. ReMA also is compiling a more comprehensive set of resources on material theft, which it plans to mail to all ReMA members.
Contact Jonathan Levy, 202/662-8530 or jonathanlevy@isri.org.
ISRI Members Host Indian Delegation
After attending ReMA's convention in Las Vegas, 26 representatives from India toured the Terminal Island, Calif., facilities of ReMA members SA Recycling and Pacific Coast Recycling to see firsthand how the companies process and transport steel scrap. In Long Beach, ReMA Chair George Adams and Ned Pumphrey of SA Recycling and David Weiner and Jeffrey Bentley of Pacific Coast Recycling led tours of their respective facilities and discussed U.S. scrap specifications, transportation challenges, and other issues important to the Indian delegation. Last year the group toured East Coast scrap recycling facilities in New Jersey and New York.
For more information about this or other trade missions, contact Scott Horne, 202/662-8513 or scotthorne@isri.org, or Billy Johnson, 202/662-8548 or billyjohnson@isri.org.
ISRI Chapters Welcome New Officers
At the ReMA convention in Las Vegas in April, 13 of the association's 21 chapters ushered in the following new slates of officers for the April 2008-April 2010 term:
Empire: Laurie Brock-Lisk, Max Brock Co. (Buffalo, N.Y.), president; Joanna Jiampietro, Utica Alloys (Utica, N.Y.), vice president; and Edward Arnold Jr., Edward Arnold Scrap Processors (Corfu, N.Y.), secretary/treasurer.
Indiana: Josh Carter, Integrity Metals (Connersville, Ind.), president; Jon Town, Intrametco (Indianapolis), vice president; Rick Grinsfelder, OmniSource Corp. (Fort Wayne, Ind.), treasurer; and Anita Eads, American Iron & Metal (Wabash, Ind.), secretary.
Mid-America: John Morgan, Advantage Metals Recycling (Kansas City, Mo.), president; Bret Robinson, Alter Metal Recycling (St. Louis), vice president; Sharon Yost, OmniSource Corp. (Chesterfield, Mo.), treasurer; and Daniel Becker, Becker Iron & Metal (St. Louis), secretary.
New England: James Nathan, Sims Metal Management (Hartford, Conn.), president; Jerry Green, J.W. Green Co. (Plainville, Conn.), vice president; Brian Powell Jr., William F. Sullivan Co. (Holyoke, Mass.), treasurer; and Michael Tatalias, Mattatuck Industrial Scrap Metal (Wolcott, Conn.), secretary.
New Jersey: Joel Root, Sims Metal Management (Jersey City, N.J.), president; Kenneth Zuckerman, Abbey Metal Corp. (Moonachie, N.J.), treasurer; and Michael Rosivack, Sims Metal Management (New York), secretary.
New Southern: Chad Prescott, A&P Recycling Co. (Sumter, S.C.), president; Jeremy Wax, Trademark Metals Recycling (Tampa, Fla.), vice president; Rose Marie Mock, Allied Scrap Processors (Lakeland, Fla.), treasurer; and Chip Koplin, Macon Iron & Paper Stock Co. (Macon, Ga.), secretary.
Northern Ohio: Matt Kripke, Kripke Enterprises (Toledo, Ohio), president; Brian DuCovna, Commercial Alloys Corp. (Twinsburg, Ohio), vice president; William Ivancic, Bluestar Metal Recycling Co. (Elyria, Ohio), treasurer; and Brian Carlone, Metalico Annaco (Akron, Ohio), secretary.
Pacific Northwest: Jay Sternoff, Pacific Iron & Metal Co. (Seattle), president; Jacob van de Rhoer, Arrow Metals Corp. (Woodinville, Wash.), vice president; Steve Glucoft, Calbag Metals Co. (Portland, Ore.), treasurer; and Jessie Bailey, R.S. Davis Recycling (Clackamas, Ore.), secretary.
Paper Stock Industries: George Chen, G&T Trading International (Clifton, N.J.), president; Kevin Duncombe, Western Pacific Pulp & Paper (Downey, Calif.), vice president; and Joel Litman, Texas Recycling/Surplus (Dallas), secretary/treasurer.
Pittsburgh: Jeremy Lincoln, Lincoln Metal Processing Co. (Erie, Pa.), president; Ray Medred, Sims Metal Management (Elizabeth, Pa.), vice president; Ben Henson, Tube City IMS (West Mifflin, Pa.), treasurer; and Tim Zenchak, Management Science Associates (Pittsburgh), secretary.
Rocky Mountain: Bret Ewer, Pacific Steel & Recycling (Great Falls, Mont.), president; Henry Fleet, Southwest Metal Industries (Glendale, Ariz.), vice president; and Brian Henesey, Rocky Mountain Recycling (Commerce City, Colo.), secretary/treasurer.
Scrap Tire Processors: Jerry Swensen, Auburndale Recycling Center (Auburndale, Wis.), president; Kip Vincent, Colt (Scott, La.), vice president; Tommy Daughtrey, Four D Corp. (Duncan, Okla.), treasurer; and Jana Nairn, Golden By-Products (Ballico, Calif.), secretary.
Wisconsin: Tom Knippel, Sadoff Iron & Metal Co. (Fond du Lac, Wis.), president; David Arnstein, United Milwaukee Scrap (Milwaukee), vice president; Joseph Kovacich, Miller Compressing Co. (Milwaukee), treasurer; and Richard Roth, Loeb-Lorman Metals (Watertown, Wis.), secretary.
ISRI in Brief
Billy Johnson, ReMA's director of political affairs, attended the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego in April to explain how the scrap recycling industry is addressing the material-theft problem. At the conference, Johnson met with hundreds of brewers, brewpub owners, and keg management companies, educating them about ReMA's efforts, including its Theft Alert system. He urged them to contact scrapyards in their areas to establish open communications and build effective partnerships. Many conference attendees expressed appreciation for ReMA's efforts, though many were unaware of the Theft Alert system. All agreed, however, that better crime prevention efforts are needed to address thefts of beer kegs and other valuable items.
Contact Jonathan Levy, 202/662-8530 or jonathanlevy@isri.org, or Billy Johnson, 202/662-8548 or billyjohnson@isri.org.
Members and staffers of ReMA and the Automotive Recyclers Association (Fairfax, Va.) met in March in Chantilly, Va., to review issues of mutual interest and discuss how the two groups can work together on common goals. Issues discussed included automotive mercury switches and participation in the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program in particular; state detitling legislation; airbags; and metal-theft prevention. The groups agreed on the need to promote NVMSRP participation among dismantlers, including the possible syndication of successful pre-NVMSRP state outreach programs. ARA representatives also expressed interest in learning more about ReMA's Theft Alert system and how to report thefts from their facilities. ReMA members Cricket Williams and Jim LoBianco of Davis Industries (Lorton, Va.) joined ReMA staff members Danielle Waterfield, assistant counsel/director of government relations; Scott Horne, general counsel/vice president of government relations; and Jonathan Levy, director of state and local programs, in representing the association at the meeting.
Contact Danielle Waterfield, 202/662-8516 or daniellewaterfield@isri.org. •
ReMA's board of directors held a triple-header at the association's annual convention in April, meeting three times on three separate days in Las Vegas to address important governance issues.