BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1142|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1142
Author: Gray (D)
Amended: 3/16/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 8-0, 7/14/15
AYES: Pavley, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning,
Vidak, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-0, 8/27/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 73-1, 6/4/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Mining and geology: surface mining
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill makes numerous changes to the state surface
mining provisions regarding reclamation plans, financial
assurances, annual inspections, and enforcement. It is subject
to a contingent enactment provision that is also attached to SB
209 (Pavley), another surface mining reform bill.
Senate Floor Amendments of 3/16/16 reflect an agreement between
the author and Senator Pavley to divide the subject matter of
two surface mining bills. Both bills have been amended to
reflect a consensus with the administration, local governments,
industry representatives, and conservation groups. Many of the
provisions in AB 1142 received policy committee analysis when
AB 1142
Page 2
considered in SB 209. All of the provisions in both bills were
the subject of extensive negotiation by a stakeholder process
convened by the administration.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Prohibits surface mining, with exceptions, unless a permit
is obtained from, a specified reclamation plan is submitted
and approved by, and financial assurances have been approved
by the lead agency (usually a local government) for the
operation of the surface mining operation. Operators are
entitled to be in "substantial compliance" with these
provisions.
2) Requires annual inspections of surface mining operations
by the lead agency to be performed by a state-licensed
architect, civil engineer, landscape architect, or forester.
3) Requires the lead agency to have primary responsibility
for enforcement and establishes deadlines when that
responsibility is transferred to the director of the
Department of Conservation (DOC).
This bill:
1) Revises reclamation plan requirements to include more
thorough information including maps, dates of initiation and
termination of mining, depth of mining, and other data so
that they are more likely to be complete. To the extent
these documents require preparation by a licensed
professional, the bill requires that a licensed professional
prepare the document and include his or her license number,
signature, and seal. This provision refers to documents
prepared by professional engineers, geologists, or land
surveyors.
2) Establishes a process for operators to correct
deficiencies identified by the DOC in reclamation plans.
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Page 3
3) Establishes a process for the lead agency to submit
reclamation plans to the director for review and for the
review and comment of the director back to the lead agency.
4) Revises the financial assurance provisions of the state
surface mining law to require upgrades when shown to be
necessary by the annual inspections and requires the lead
agency to submit the financial assurances to the director.
5) Standardizes the financial assurances cost estimates in a
new format that will be developed by the director and
approved by the State Mining and Geology Board (board).
6) Revises the appeals procedures for review of financial
assurances and allows the director to appeal to the board.
Incomplete financial assurances may be remanded to the lead
agency.
7) Establishes, in cases where the lead agency determines
that an operator may be financially incapable of performing
reclamation in accordance with a reclamation plan, a
procedure to forfeit the financial assurances following a
public hearing that meets specified conditions.
8) Requires actual compliance with the act for purposes of
determining compliance with the reclamation plan and
financial assurances requirements.
9) Requires, for annual inspections, proof of such
inspections, and authorizes counties to use their own
employees for such inspections assuming those employees meet
the inspection training criteria that are also created in
this bill.
10) Revises and recasts the provisions related to enforcement
to eliminate procedural dead-ends that were in the prior
law. It also authorizes the director or the board to apply
to small claims court to collect unpaid administrative
penalties.
11) Gives the board more options for oversight of local lead
agencies to improve the performance of lead agencies other
than removing them from their status as lead agency.
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12) Makes many other technical and procedural changes to the
state's surface mining law.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, there are
unknown costs to the Surface Mining and Reclamation Account
(special) for additional review by the director of reclamation
plans and financial assurances.
SUPPORT: (Verified 3/23/16)
Associated Builders and Contractors of California
BoDean Company
California Asphalt Pavement Association
California Business Properties Association
California Chamber of Commerce
California Construction and Industrial Materials Association
California Independent Petroleum Association
California Labor Federation
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
CalPortland Company
Cemex
Environmental Working Group
Fullerton Chamber of Commerce
George Reed Inc.
Granite
Knife River Corporation
Lehigh Hanson
Minerals Technologies
National Federation of Independent Business
P.W. Gillibrand Co.
Puente Ready Mix
Robertson's Rock and Sand
Rural County Representatives of California
Searles Valley Materials
Southwest California Legislative Council
Specialty Minerals
Superior Ready Mix
Teichert Materials
The Sierra Fund
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United Contractors
Vulcan Materials Company
Werner Corporation
OPPOSITION: (Verified 3/23/16)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, the Governor
called for a top to bottom review of the state mining law in his
signing message of SB 447 (Lara) in 2013. The author believes
this bill strengthens the mining law to ensure effective
communication between local lead agencies, the state, and mine
operators. The bill sets appropriate and timely inspection
schedules, promotes management flexibility while ensuring each
facility's compliance obligations are clear, and incorporates
numerous concepts from the administration's stakeholder process
that are designed to strengthen the review of approvals pursuant
to the state's mining law.
The California Construction and Industrial Materials Association
states that AB 1142 provides clarity and timelines to important
existing processes required under existing law. The group, and
the other business interests in support, argue that the bill
provides clarity regarding the content of reclamation plans and
financial assurances but in ways that are flexible enough to
allow future approvals for the benefit of operators.
A business coalition headed by the California Chamber of
Commerce supports the improvements to the inspection process, to
the financial assurance provisions, and to the enhanced
oversight of the financial assurance provisions, while at the
same time ensuring that construction aggregates remain viable
and cost-effective.
The California Labor Federation supports the bill because the
improvements to the state's mining laws minimize impacts to
existing jobs.
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The Sierra Fund and the Environmental Working Group support this
bill because of the improvements made to the inspection,
financial assurance, enforcement, and reclamation plan
provisions.
The California League of Conservation Voters has removed its
opposition.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 73-1, 6/4/15
AYES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla,
Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gonzalez, Gray, Grove,
Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein,
Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Levine
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Gomez, Gordon, Nazarian, Rendon, Ting
Prepared by:William Craven / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
3/28/16 10:28:57
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