BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1142 (Gray) - Mining and geology: surface mining.
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|Version: August 18, 2015 |Policy Vote: N.R. & W. 8 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: August 24, 2015 |Consultant: Marie Liu |
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This bill may meet the criteria for referral to the Suspense
File.
Bill
Summary: AB 1142 would establish a new process by which the
director of the Department of Conservation (DOC) can review
reclamation plans and financial assurances under the Surface
Mining and Reclamation Act
Fiscal
Impact: Unknown costs to the Surface Mining and Reclamation
Account (special) for additional review by the director of
reclamation plans and financial assurances.
Background: The Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 (SMARA, PRC
§2710 et seq.) regulates surface mining operations to minimize
environmental impacts and to provide for the reclamation of
mined lands to a usable condition while encouraging the
production, conservation, and protection of the state's mineral
resources. SMARA applies to the mining of hard metals minerals,
AB 1142 (Gray) Page 1 of
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and sand and gravel. SMARA generally requires a surface mining
operation to obtain a mining permit, to have an approved
reclamation plan, and to have secured financial assurances.
Financial assurances are surety documents that can be used to
pay for any mine reclamation costs in the event that a mine
operator defaults on its obligation to reclaim a mine at the end
of its useful life.
The role of lead agency: SMARA is administered by the DOC's
Office of Mine Reclamation and the State Mining and Geology
Board (SMGB), but allows local entities to operate as the lead
agency and issue mining permits if the local entity has adopted
an ordinance governing mining activities that meet specified
requirements. However, reclamation plans and financial
assurances must be submitted to the director DOC for review
(§2774). Mines are required to be inspected annually, and are
the basis for establishing financial assurance amounts.
Oversight of local agencies: Existing law establishes the
procedures by which the director can submit comments to a lead
agency regarding its pending approval of a reclamation plan and
financial assurances and the lead agency's required response to
such comments. Individuals may appeal specific lead agency
actions, including denying approval of a reclamation plan, to
the SMGB (§2770(e)).
Revoking of local agency responsibilities: Existing law enables
the SMGB to assume the role of the lead agency, except for local
permitting authority, if the lead agency is failing to fulfill
its statutory obligations, including if the lead agency approves
a reclamation plan and financial assurances that are not
consistent with SMARA (§2774.4). The SMGB is required to restore
powers to the lead agency within three years if the lead agency
takes corrective actions.
Proposed Law:
This bill would make various changes to SMARA. Specifically,
this bill would, among other things:
Require reclamation plans to include a chart identifying the
specific location in the plan which addresses various
requirements.
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Establish a process by which the director may review a
reclamation plan or plan amendment. The director would have 45
from the receipt of a complete reclamation plan or plan
amendment to prepare written comments. The lead agency would
be required to respond in writing to the director's comments
and give a 30 day notice of its intention to approve the
reclamation plan or amendment.
Establish a process by which the director may review financial
assurances for a new reclamation plan or adjustments to
financial assurances as a result of a plan amendment. The
director would and local agency would have an unspecified
amount of time to respond are review the financial assurances.
Make numerous technical and clarifying changes
Related
Legislation: SB 209 would make various changes to SMARA
including raising the annual reporting fee and establishing a
new process to review reclamation plans. AB 209 is currently on
the Assembly Appropriations suspense file.
Staff
Comments: Under existing law, the director has the authority to
review reclamation plans and financial assurances. However, if
the director finds that the plan or financial assurances are
insufficient, the director has few options to compel changes
other than revoking the lead agency's responsibilities under
SMARA. This bill aims to improve the reviews by assuring the
director receives all the necessary information in an orderly
and timely fashion and by giving the director authority to
submit comments to the local agencies which the local agency
must respond.
By giving the director specific authorities in which he or she
may review reclamation plans and financial assurance and compel
necessary changes, this review is likely to be more thorough and
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therefore may require additional workload. The extent of the
additional workload is unknown.
The authors of this bill and SB 209 are currently in discussions
with the Governor's office and various stakeholders regarding
the provisions in both bills. Further amendments to this bill
are likely as a result of those discussions.
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