The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutOrdinance - 2544 - Amend Title 10ORDINANCE NO. 2544 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF REDDING AMENDING TITLE 10 (PUBLIC PEACE, MORALS AND WELFARE) BY ADDING CHAPTER 10.06 (BUTANE RESALE) RELATING TO THE REGULATION OF THE SALE, PURCHASE AND POSSESSION OF BUTANE WHEREAS, the State of California has experienced an increase in explosions caused from the manufacture of concentrated cannabis, commonly known as "honey oil" or "hash oil," in clandestine labs using five times refined ("5x") butane and higher. These incidents have caused considerable personal injury and property damage in the City of Redding; and WHEREAS, 5x refined butane and higher is used to dissolve the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) resin, which concentrates into a liquid/oil form as a result of the butane's stripping process. The stripping of the THC through use of refined butane causes flammable butane vapors to accumulate low to the ground and remain exposed to ignition sources. Studies suggest that 99.5 percent of the extracted THC butane mixture will volatilize into the immediate area and find an ignition source if 5x refined butane and higher is used; and WHEREAS, a honey oil lab using 5x refined butane and higher presents a serious hazard for first responders as the gas has no odor and can only be detected by a combustible gas instrument. Such conditions present a grave risk of loss where devices typically deployed by first responders are capable of igniting the gas resulting in an explosion; and WHEREAS, the unregulated resale of 5x refined butane and higher occurs at levels sufficient to aid the manufacture of honey oil. In light of the threat posed to the health and safety of the public, sales and possession of 5x refined butane and higher should be regulated to help prevent the use of such butane in the manufacture of honey oil; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REDDING AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Title 10 of the Redding Municipal Code is amended to add Chapter 10.06 with a title to read as follows: BUTANE RESALE Sections: 10.06.010 Definitions. c� 10.06.020 Unlawful Sale, Purchase and Possession of Butane. 10.06.030 Tracking of Butane Sales. 10.06.040 Enforcement and Nuisance Per Se. Section 2. Title 10 of the Redding Municipal Code is amended to add Sections 10.06.010 through 10.06.040, inclusive, to Chapter 6.08 to read as follows: Section 10.06.010 Definitions. The following terms and phrases, whenever used in this Chapter, are defined as follows: A. "Butane" means five times refined ("5x") or higher of any of the following: iso -butane, n -butane, and butane. B. "Canister" means a single container in which butane is stored or collected or from which butane is dispensed. C. "Customer" means any person who is sold or acquires butane during a transaction from any Reseller. D. "Package" means butane offered for sale at quantities of two canisters or more. E. "Person" means a corporation, partnership, or association as well as a natural person. F. "Reseller" means any business, company, corporation, person, employee or associate that sells, offers to sell, or distributes products to any customer in the City of Redding. It does not include any wholesaler engaged in a wholesale transaction. G. "Sell" means to furnish, give away, exchange, transfer, deliver, surrender, distribute or supply, whether for monetary gain or other consideration. H. "Transaction" means a purchase, sale, trade, loan, pledge, investment, gift, transfer, transmission, delivery, deposit, withdrawal, payment, exchange of currency, extension of credit, purchase or sale of any monetary instrument, or an electronic, magnetic or manual transfer between accounts or any other acquisition or disposition of property by whatever means effected. I. "Wholesaler" means a person whose business is the selling of goods in gross to Resellers for purposes of resale. Section 10.06.020 Unlawful Sale, Purchase, and Possession of Butane. A. It is unlawful for any reseller to sell, offer to sell, or distribute to a customer any number of butane canisters that exceed a combined total storage quantity of 600 ml of butane during a single transaction. B. It is unlawful for any person that is not a reseller or wholesaler to have possession, custody or control of any number of butane canisters that exceed a combined total storage quantity of 600 ml of butane at any one time. C. It is unlawful for any customer to purchase or acquire per calendar month any number of butane canisters that exceed a combined total storage quantity of 600 ml of butane, whether sold individually or by the package. Section 10.06.030 Tracking of Butane Sales. A. For every sale of butane, every Reseller shall prepare a bill of sale that identifies the date of sale, quantity of butane purchased, and the customer's identification. The customer's identification as used herein shall mean a person's first and last name as verified from a valid driver's license or other official and valid state -issued identification that contains a photograph of the customer and a residential or mailing address. Reseller shall retain a copy of the bill of sale in readable form for a period of two years. B. If shall be unlawful for any reseller to sell butane to any customer without complying with Subdivision (A) of this Section. Section 10.06.040 Enforcement and Nuisance Per Se. A. In any criminal prosecution for a violation of this Chapter, it is not necessary to prove knowledge or criminal intent. B. The City Attorney is authorized to file a civil action to recover civil penalties and to take any other action at law or equity which he or she may deem necessary in order to enforce this Chapter. C. This Chapter may be enforced by means of the administrative processes set forth in Chapters 1.13 and 1.14 of the Redding Municipal Code. D. This Chapter is cumulative to all other remedies now or hereafter available to abate or otherwise regulate or prevent public nuisances or to enforce the provisions of the Redding Municipal Code. E. A violation of any provision of this Chapter constitutes a public nuisance. Section 3. Severability. If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordinance, or its application to any person or circumstance, is for any reason held to be invalid or unenforceable, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases of this Ordinance, or its application to any person or circumstance. The City Council of the City of Redding hereby declares that it would have adopted each section, subsection subdivision paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other sections, subsections subdivisions paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases hereof be declared invalid or unenforceable. Section 4. The City of Redding finds that this Ordinance is not a "project" according to the definition set forth in the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), and, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15061(b)(3) (there is no possibility the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment), the adoption of this ordinance is therefore not subject to the provisions requiring environmental review. I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance was introduced and read by the City Council of the City of Redding at a regular meeting on the 2nd day of February, 2016, and was duly read and adopted at a regular meeting on the 16th day of February, 2016, by the following vote: AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Cadd, Schreder, Sullivan, Weaver & McArthur NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None ATTEST: FORM APPROVED: (�)n-A-Y-J. Ulllrl PAMELA MIZE, CitJ Clerk BARRY E. DeWALT, City Attorney