BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1034
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Date of Hearing: April 27, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 1034
(Obernolte) - As Amended April 21, 2015
SUBJECT: Surface mining: reclamation plans: renewable energy
generation facility
SUMMARY: For purposes of amending an approved reclamation plan,
specifies that only the designated portion of mined lands to be
used for a renewable energy generation facility may be deemed a
substantial deviation from the original approved reclamation
plan.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Creates the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975
(SMARA), which prohibits a person from conducting surface
mining operations unless the lead agency for the operation
issues a surface mining permit and approves a reclamation plan
and financial assurances for reclamation. Depending on the
circumstances, a lead agency can be a city, county, the San
Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, or the
California State Mining and Geology Board (Board). Reclamation
plans and financial assurances must be submitted to the
director of the Department of Conservation (DOC) for review.
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2)Provides a mechanism by which the Board can strip a local
agency of its lead agency status for its failure to implement
state law, the Board then serves as the lead agency.
3)Requires the Board to adopt regulations that establish state
policy for the reclamation of mined lands in accordance with
the intent of SMARA.
4)Requires lead agencies to require financial assurances for
each surface mining operation to ensure reclamation is
performed in accordance with the surface mining operation's
approved reclamation plan.
5)Requires the financial assurance to remain in effect for the
duration of the surface mining operation and until the
reclamation is complete. Requires the amount of financial
assurance to be adjusted annually to account for new lands
disturbed by surface mining operations, inflation, and
reclamation of lands accomplished in accordance with the
approved reclamation plan.
6)Requires the lead agencies to conduct annual mine inspections
to determine compliance with SMARA.
7)Prohibits substantial deviations from the original plan until
an amendment has been filed with, and approved by, the lead
agency.
8)Requires, pursuant to regulations adopted by the Board, when
substantial amendments are proposed to reclamation plans, that
were approved prior to January 15, 1993, the lead agency shall
apply the the most current reclamation standards in approving
or denying the amended reclamation plan.
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THIS BILL:
1)For purposes of amending an approved reclamation plan,
specifies that only the designated portion of mined lands to
be used for a renewable energy generation facility may be
deemed a substantial deviation from the original approved
reclamation plan.
2)Requires the proposed amendment to the designate a portion of
the mine's land for the construction and operation of a
renewable energy generating facility to comply with all of the
following:
a) Article 5 of SMARA dealing with reclamation and mining
operation standards.
b) All required permits for the construction, landscaping,
or related land improvements that have been approved by a
public agency in accordance with applicable provisions of
state law and locally adopted plans and ordinances,
including, but not limited to, the California Environmental
Quality Act.
c) The operating permit for the surface mining operation
has an approved closure plan and financial assurance that
the lead agency determines to be sufficient to perform the
removal of the surface mining operation and to restore the
mined lands. A calculated surplus or salvage value shall
not be utilized to offset the costs of reclaiming the mined
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lands subject to the approved reclamation plan.
3)Prohibits an amendment for renewable energy generation
facility from adversely impacting the operator's vested right
or be incompatible with future mining.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's statement:
California has a mandatory target of generating 33 %
of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
Siting renewable energy projects can be difficult
given the acreage they require, aesthetics, mitigation
requirements, and local opposition to some projects.
Mining locations present mutually beneficial
opportunities to utilize disturbed lands for renewable
energy in out-of-the-way locations and allow other
lands appropriate for more robust economic development
to remain available. The same is true of pristine or
near-pristine public lands that have conservation or
recreational value. Further, utilization of previously
disturbed lands preserve pre-existing habitat
conservation lands that were established as offset
mitigation for prior disturbances.
2)Reclamation. There are over a thousand active mines in
California that remove aggregate for building material,
metals, and minerals. California is the only state in the
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U.S. where surface mine reclamation is not regulated by
the state. Local governments, including cities and
counties, are the lead agencies for most mines. However,
DOC and the Board oversee their permitting, inspection,
and enforcement actions. Mining operators are required
under SMARA to develop and implement reclamation plans,
which will return the mine to a condition where it can be
used for another purpose after the mining operation is
complete. Annual reports and inspections are supposed to
ensure that mining operators are making progress towards
reclamation. However, there are instances when the mine
operator cannot be located or are unable to complete the
mine reclamation. Financial assurances are required to
make sure there will be resources available to reclaim
the mine. The state and lead agencies have an interest
in properly reclaimed mines, because a surface mine is a
large hole in the ground and can have many dangerous
features. If the mine is reclaimed, the land can be
returned to another use. If it is not, the state or the
lead agency could be responsible for protecting the
public from the dangers of the mine, cleaning up the
mine, and reclaiming the mine. Mine reclamation plans
approved prior to January 15, 1993 are subject to less
specific reclamation standards. Post 1993 reclamation
standards require more specificity to ensure that proper
the slope, soil, vegetative cover, and erosion control
standards are in place to reclaim the mine. To comply
with the post 1993 reclamation standards, mining
operators often hire technical experts.
3)AB 1034. The sponsor of the bill wishes to promote the
colocation of renewable energy generation facilities with
mines. Many mines are in rural locations and are already
disturbed lands. Therefore, they may be ideal locations
for renewable energy generation facilities. Miners, who
have grandfathered (pre 1993) reclamation plans, may not
want to allow renewable energy generation facilities on
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their land because doing so would require them to be
subject to the new reclamation standards. AB 1034 intends
to offer a solution to this problem by requiring the land
where the renewable energy generation facility will be
built to be subject to the new standards, but the rest of
the mine would not. This preserves the status quo while
encouraging mine operators to co-locate renewable energy
generation facilities. However, due to a drafting error,
AB 1034 might actually not do this because it calls the
designated area a substantial deviation, which would
trigger the post 1993 standards for the whole mine. The
author and committee may wish to amend the bill to fix
this drafting error and align the bill with the intent of
the author by making it clear that only the land where
renewable energy generation facilities is located is
subject to the post 1993 standards.
4)Related and Prior legislation.
SB 209 (Pavley) makes numerous and significant changes to SMARA.
This bill is awaiting hearing in the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
AB 1142 (Gray) makes numerous and significant changes to SMARA.
The bill will also be heard by this committee on April 27.
SB 1270 (Pavely, 2013) would create the Division of Mines within
DOC, which would be responsible for DOC's role under mining
laws, and would amend the roles of the Board so that it is an
appeals and rule-making body. This bill was held in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
SB 447 (Lara), Chapter 417, Statutes of 2013, allows, until
January 1, 2019, a surface mine operator whose operations are
not in compliance with its approved reclamation plan, to remain
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on the AB 3098 list (list of operators that are eligible to sell
to the state or a local agency) if the operator stipulated to an
order to comply with the lead agency and or DOC.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
County of San Bernardino (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092
AB 1034
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