State Represenative Larry Mitchell has introduced House Bill 296, which will seek to prevent or reduce a crime that I had no idea was becoming an issue in this state or nationally. Apparently, criminals have been stealing catalytic converters right from underneath cars in parking lots and driveways.
A catalytic converter is an exhaust emission control device that converts toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from a car’s internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalyzing a redox reaction.
Because of the external location and the use of valuable precious metals including platinum, palladium and rhodium, catalytic converters are a target for thieves. The problem is especially common among late-model trucks and SUVs, because of their high ground clearance and easily removed bolt-on catalytic converters. Rising metal prices in the U.S. during the 2000s commodities boom and then supply-chain issues resulting from the Pandemic and the Russian War in Ukraine have led to a significant increase in converter theft. A catalytic converter can cost more than $1,000 to replace, more if the vehicle is damaged during the theft
House Bill 296 adds catalytic converters to the list of items for which scrap metal processors shall create a record and provide information when acquired. The bill, which has bipartisan support, will assist law enforcement by providing a mechanism to follow-up on thefts of converters. If the scrap metal processors are the only way thieves can extract the above mentioned metals from the converter, then I suppose it could help catch the criminals who stole the converter.
| House Bill 296 Sponsors | Yes Votes | No Votes |
| Mitchell, Carson, Bush, Baumbach, Bolden, Heffernan, Lynn, Matthews, Osienski, Schwartzkopf, K.Williams, Briggs King, Gray, Spiegelman, Yearick | ||
| Ennis, Gay, Hansen, Townsend, Walsh, Bonini, Wilson | ||
| Current Status: Out of Committee 3/16/22 |
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