BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                   SB 670|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SB 670
          Author:   Wiggins (D)
          Amended:  As introduced
          Vote:     27 - Urgency

           
           SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE  :  8-3, 4/28/09
          AYES:  Pavley, Benoit, Kehoe, Leno, Padilla, Simitian,  
            Wiggins, Wolk
          NOES:  Cogdill, Hollingsworth, Huff

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8 


           SUBJECT  :    Vacuum or suction dredge equipment

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :     This bill imposes a temporary moratorium on the  
          granting of new suction dredging permits until the ongoing  
          environmental review is certified.  It provides that the  
          issuance of permits is not a ministerial act, and that,  
          therefore, such permits may not be issued until a valid  
          underlying environmental document is in place. 

           ANALYSIS  :    Under existing law, the Fish and Game Code  
          prohibits suction dredging except when permitted by the  
          Department of Fish and Game (DFG) and when consistent with  
          regulations adopted by the department.  The statute  
          requires the regulations to designate streams where dredges  
          may be operated pursuant to a permit, streams where  
          dredging is not allowed, and the time or times of year when  
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          dredging is allowed.

          Permit fees for residents are established at $25 unless a  
          site inspection is necessary in which the fee is $130.  The  
          respective non-resident fees are $100 and $220.  
          Approximately 3000 permits are issued annually. 

          It is illegal to use a suction dredge within 100 feet of a  
          closed area. 

          This bill imposes a temporary moratorium on the granting of  
          new suction dredging permits until the ongoing  
          environmental review is certified.  It provides that the  
          issuance of permits is not a ministerial act, and that,  
          therefore, such permits may not be issued until a valid  
          underlying environmental document is in place.

           Background
           
          According to a recent report by the Sierra Fund, an  
          estimated 26 million pounds of mercury were used to extract  
          gold from ore in California.  Half of this mercury was lost  
          in the environment in placer and hard rock mining  
          operations where it remains in watersheds where it is  
          commonly encountered.  Mercury runoff from these watersheds  
          is a source of mercury contamination of the California  
          Bay-Delta. 

          Suction dredgers remove gravel from riverbeds with a hose  
          powered by an engine.  The water quality controversy  
          involves what opponents characterize as the tendency of  
          dredging operations to "flour" mercury in the water, making  
          it more readily available for bacteria to methylate, a  
          process that converts base mercury into a developmental  
          neurotoxin that accumulates in the food chain and that  
          humans ingest through fish that they consume. 

          Dredgers may try to separate mercury from any amalgamated  
          gold, and the recovered mercury is then either stored or  
          disposed of in an unauthorized manner.  Storage of mercury  
          is subject to regulation also, but there is no available  
          information from state agencies that mercury obtained by  
          dredgers is regulated. 


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          Dredging permits issued by DFG state that the applicant  
          will comply with all appropriate water quality regulations.  
           However, the State Water Resources Control Board does not  
          have a program to regulate suction dredging. 
          The board found, however, in a 2003 study, that dredging  
          exacerbates mercury contamination of rivers and streams. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  5/11/09)

          Cal Trout 
          California Coastkeeper Alliance
          California Tribal Business Alliance 
          Clean Water Action 
          Friends of the River 
          Karuk Tribe 
          Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations
          Planning and Conservation League 
          Sierra Club California 
          Sierra Fund 
          Sierra Nevada Alliance

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  5/11/09)

          County of Siskyou 
          New 49'ers
          Regional Council of Rural Counties

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    Friends of the River supports the  
          bill but believes the temporary moratorium should be  
          expanded to include more than salmon streams.  It believes  
          that suction dredging affects wild and scenic rivers, wild  
          trout populations, other wildlife, and river-based  
          recreational opportunities. 

          Many supporters categorize suction dredging as a rather  
          crude technology by which miners "literally vacuum up our  
          river beds and spawning grounds, and disturb and mobilize  
          the mercury left behind by gold mining operations" as was  
          stated in several letters.  All of the supporters agree  
          that the rules governing this practice are outdated. 


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          Sierra Club California and Pacific Coast Federation of  
          Fishermen's Associations point to the ban on commercial  
          salmon fishing and argue that the salmon crisis threatens  
          thousands of jobs. Sierra Club California concludes that  
          "It simply does not make sense to jeopardize an entire  
          fishery, and to ask commercial fishermen to sit idle, while  
          allowing ongoing environmental harm for a recreational  
          hobby." 

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    The Regional Council of Rural  
          Counties argues that the existing regulations are  
          sufficiently restrictive and protective and allow  
          individuals to legally mine their claims of precious  
          minerals.  It points to parts of rural California where  
          mining remains an important port of the culture, history,  
          and economy of some local communities. Siskyou County  
          separately asserted these same concerns. 

          The New 49'ers, a mining advocacy group, argues that no  
          scientific information points to suction dredging as a  
          cause in the collapse of salmon, that the collapse is due  
          to ocean conditions and an over-reliance on hatchery fish,  
          and that a moratorium would violate the private property  
          rights of those who have federal mining claims and create  
          "takings" liability on the part of the state.  
           

          CTW:nl  5/11/09   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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