BILL NUMBER: AB 2654	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Morrell

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend and repeal Section 3060 of the Civil Code,
relating to mining liens, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2654, as introduced, Morrell. Mining liens: definitions.
   The California Constitution provides that mechanics, persons
furnishing materials, artisans, and laborers of every class have a
lien upon the property upon which they have bestowed labor or
furnished material for the value of the labor done and material
furnished. The California Constitution also requires the Legislature
to provide, by law, for the speedy and efficient enforcement of those
liens.
   Existing statutory law governs works of improvement, including
mining liens. These provisions govern the conditions required to
enforce a lien and for a mining lien to be deemed valid, and, as of
July 1, 2012, defines the term "mine" to mean a mining claim or real
property worked on as a mine.
   This bill would define "mine" for the purposes of enforcing mining
liens to include any quarry or pit, from which rock, gravel, or any
other mineral-containing property is extracted by any mining, or
surface mining, operation.
   The bill would declare that it is the intent of the Legislature in
enacting the bill to supercede the holding of the Fourth Appellate
District Court of Appeals in Sukut Construction, Inc. v. Rimrock CA,
LLC (2011) 199 Cal.App.4th 817.
   The bill would declare that its provisions are declaratory of
existing law.
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated
local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 3060 of the Civil Code, as amended by Chapter
1362 of the Statutes of 1969, is amended to read:
   3060.   (a)    Any person who performs labor in
any mining claim or claims, or in or upon any real property worked as
a mine, either in the development thereof or in working thereon by
the subtractive process, or furnishes materials to be used or
consumed therein, has a lien upon the same and the works owned and
used by the owners for milling or reducing the ores from the same,
for the value of the work or labor done or materials furnished by
each respectively, whether done or furnished at the instance of the
owner of such mining claim or claims or real property worked as a
mine, or his agent, and every contractor, subcontractor,
superintendent, or other person having charge of any mining or work
or labor performed in and about such mining claim or claims or real
property worked as a mine, either as lessee or under a working bond
or contract thereon shall be held to be the agent of the owner for
the purposes of this section. The liens provided for by this section
shall be enforced in the same manner as those provided for by Title
15 (commencing with Section 3082), Part 4, Division 3. 
   (b) As used in this section, "mine" means a mining claim or real
property worked on as a mine, including any quarry or pit, from which
rock, gravel, or any other mineral-containing property is extracted
by any mining, or surface mining, operation.  
   (c) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2012, and, as
of January 1, 2013, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2013, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

  SEC. 2.  Section 3060 of the Civil Code, as amended by Section 14
of Chapter 697 of the Statutes of 2010, is amended to read:
   3060.  (a) As used in this section, "mine" means a mining claim or
real property worked on as a mine  including any quarry or pit,
from which rock, gravel, or any other mineral  -containing
property is extracted by any mining, or surface mining, operation
 .
   (b) Any person who performs labor in a mine, either in its
development or in working on it by the subtractive process, or
furnishes materials to be used or consumed in it, has a lien upon the
mine and the works owned and used by the owners for milling or
reducing the ores from the mine, for the value of the work or labor
done or materials furnished by each, whether done or furnished at the
instance of the owner of the mine, or the owner's agent, and every
contractor, subcontractor, superintendent, or other person having
charge of any mining or work or labor performed in and about the
mine, either as lessee or under a working bond or contract thereon
shall be held to be the agent of the owner for the purposes of this
section. The liens provided for by this section shall be enforced in
the same manner as those provided for by Part 6 (commencing with
Section 8000) of Division 4. 
   (c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2012. 
  SEC. 3.  It is the intent of the Legislature, in amending the
definition of "mine" in Section 3060 of the Civil Code, to supercede
the holding of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Sukut
Construction, Inc. v. Rimrock CA, LLC (2011) 199 Cal.App.4th 817.
  SEC. 4.  Sections 1 and 2 of this act are declaratory of existing
law.
  SEC. 5.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
   In its holding in Sukut Construction, Inc. v. Rimrock CA, LLC
(2011) 199 Cal.App.4th 817, the Fourth District Court of Appeal
misapplied Section 3060 of the Civil Code as it was intended by the
Legislature. In order to properly apply the law as intended by the
Legislature, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.