California Code, Streets and Highways Code - SHC § 745

(a) The establishment, use, and maintenance of junkyards in areas adjacent to any interstate or primary highway should be controlled in order to promote the safety and recreational value of public travel, to protect the public investment in such highways, and to preserve the natural beauty of areas adjacent to such highways.  The Legislature finds that motorists are distracted by unscreened junkyards adjacent to such highways and that a junkyard visible from such a highway constitutes a hazard to the safety of the traveling public.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature, by the enactment of this article, to provide for the state control of junkyards required by Section 136 of Title 23 of the United States Code.

(c) The recycling industry plays an important role in the conservation of our state resources.  In support of that role, should removal of junk or scrap from a nonconforming junkyard be necessary because such junk or scrap is visible from any interstate or primary highway, then the department may either purchase such junk or scrap and move it to a recycling center or pay the costs of moving the junk or scrap to a recycling center, whichever is less expensive.