BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 108 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 108 (Rubio) As Amended August 26, 2011 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :39-0 NATURAL RESOURCES 9-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Chesbro, Knight, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, | | |Brownley, Dickinson, | |Blumenfield, Bradford, | | |Grove, Halderman, Hill, | |Charles Calderon, Campos, | | |Monning, Skinner | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, | | | | |Hall, Hill, Lara, | | | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, | | | | |Solorio, Wagner | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Amends the definition of an idle mine by taking a snapshot of a five-year period, rather than the life of the mine, to determine if production has been curtailed to the point where the interim management plan (IMP) requirements should apply; allows a mining operator to come into compliance with the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act's (SMARA) idle mine requirements by July 1, 2013, if the operator has neglected to prepare an interim management plan as required by law. Specifically, this bill: 1)Defines idle mines as those at which operations are curtailed for a period of one year or more by more than 90% of the maximum annual mineral production within any of the last five years and where there is an intent to resume surface mining operations at a future date. 2)Permits a mine operator who has failed to properly report a mine's mineral production or mine status on its annual report to the director of the Department of Conservation (DOC) to correct the report in its 2012 annual report if the following occurs: a) The 2012 annual report is submitted on or before July 1, 2013; and, SB 108 Page 2 b) The lead agency confirms in writing to the DOC all of the following: i) The operator has notified the lead agency and the director of DOC that it intends to continue surface mining operations and provides evidence to support any production modified on the corrected annual report; ii) The operator has an existing, valid permit or a vested right to conduct surface mining operations; iii) The operator's reclamation plan has been approved and is in compliance with SMARA and the mining operation is in compliance with the approved reclamation plan, has an approved financial assurance in place, and has been inspected by the lead agency. The Office of Mine Reclamation may enter a mine site to conduct an inspection; and, iv) The operator demonstrates that there are commercially useful mineral reserves remaining at the permitted surface mining operation. 3)Requires payment of all unpaid fees for the years during which the operation's status was not properly reported. 4)Allows a mine operation that is considered abandoned because it became idle and did not have an approved IMP to return to the idle status at the request of the operator if an IMP is approved by July 1, 2013, and 2) and 3) above are met. 5)Requires the mine operator to be responsible for the reasonable costs of an inspection conducted by the Office of Mine Reclamation pursuant to 2) b) iii) above. EXISTING LAW : 1)Prohibits conducting surface mining operations without first obtaining a permit, submitting a reclamation plan, and providing financial assurances to a lead agency, which is usually a local government. 2)Requires a surface mining operator to submit an IMP to the lead agency for review and approval within 90 days of a SB 108 Page 3 surface mining operation becoming idle. 3)Defines idle mines as those at which operations are curtailed for a period of one year or more by more than 90% of the previous maximum annual mineral production and where there is an intent to resume surface mining operations at a future date. 4)Requires that an IMP, among other things, provide measures for maintaining the site in a safe and stable condition. 5)Establishes that an IMP is an amendment to the applicable reclamation plan and is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. 6)Allows an IMP to remain in effect for a period not to exceed five years, at which time the lead agency shall either: a) renew the IMP for another period not to exceed five years if the surface mining operator has complied fully with the IMP; or, b) require the surface mining operator to commence reclamation in accordance with its approved reclamation plan. 7)Classifies a surface mining operation that remains idle for over one year without an approved IMP as "abandoned" and requires the operator to commence and complete reclamation in accordance with the approved reclamation plan. 8)Requires the owner or the operator of a mining operation within the state to annually provide the director of the Department of Conservation with a report that identifies, among other things, the mining operation's status (i.e., active, idle, reclaimed, or in the process of being reclaimed) and the commodities produced by the mine and the type of mining operation. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, unknown one-time costs, potentially exceeding $200,000 to the Department of Conservation during 2011-12 and 2012-13 to inspect mines for which the owners seek to change the mine's status from abandoned to idle. COMMENTS : According to a 2011 State Mining and Geology Board report, lack of operator adherence to statutory requirements can result in many surface mining operations becoming abandoned even SB 108 Page 4 if such operations had an intent to resume mining. Currently, 97 mines should have IMPs but only 35 have them, and 35 lead agencies (more than 28% of all lead agencies in California) had mines that required IMPs but did not have them in place. Lack of operator compliance with SMARA's idle mine requirements, and lack of IMP monitoring by SMARA lead agencies, has resulted in many surface mining operations becoming statutorily abandoned, even if such operations had an intent to resume mining. In the report's conclusion, the State Mining and Geology Board highlights the need for legislative action to provide relief to operators that failed to follow statutory requirements for IMPs. This bill provides a brief amnesty period for a mining operator who did not adhere to SMARA's statutory requirements regarding IMPs. Specifically, this bill will allow a mining operator to come into compliance with the idle mine requirements by July 1, 2013. Without this amnesty, an operator of a mine that has inadvertently become abandoned will be forced to execute its reclamation plan. If an operator wishes to resume mining, it would be able to do so once reclamation is completed and new permits are obtained. This would lead to an absurd and unproductive result since the operator would have to essentially undue the reclamation work it was required to complete. This bill also amends the definition of an idle mine by taking a snapshot of a five year period, rather than the life of the mine, to determine if production has been curtailed to the point where the interim management plan requirements should apply. This amendment is in response to the recession and will prevent a mine from becoming idle simply because the demand for materials is significantly lower than usual. Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0002287 SB 108 Page 5