BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER Senator Fran Pavley, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 1734 Hearing Date: June 14, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Obernolte | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Version: |February 1, 2016 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|William Craven | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Mining claims: recording BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW 1) Pursuant to federal mining law, a mining claimant is required to file an annual affidavit that is recorded with the county recorder with the mailing addresses of the individuals involved in the claim. This changed in 2012. Prior to 2012, the annual mining form required both the mailing and residential addresses of those individuals. 1) Pursuant to state mining law, the California version of the annual form (which is required for claims on BLM land as well as private lands) requires both the mailing and residential addresses of the individuals involved in the claim to be filed annually with the county recorder. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown PROPOSED LAW This bill would conform state reporting requirements to the federal reporting requirements. ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT According to the author, county recorders in California may not legally process the federal form. Claimants may be at risk of losing their claim if the corrected forms are not received and recorded by the prescribed deadline. AB 1734 (Obernolte) Page 2 of ? Data provided by the author from Inyo County illustrates the issue. According to the county, one mining claim may generate several annual forms because a claim may have more than one individual associated with it. The actual number of active mining claims requiring an annual notice is around 350. The total number of documents recorded in Inyo County in 2015 is 4,376. In that year, the county rejected 100% of Affidavit of Assessments who mailed in their Affidavit using the approved BLM form. Because the county mailed every miner the modified form in 2015, it was able to mitigate rejection rates in Inyo County by directing miners to the form posted on its website. However, the county is not aware of how other counties are handling the problem. ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION None received SUPPORT County Recorders Association of California County of Inyo Rural County Representatives of California OPPOSITION None Received -- END --