BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 209 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 209 (Pavley) As Amended March 17, 2016 Majority vote SENATE VOTE: 25-13 -------------------------------------------------------------------- |Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------| |Natural |7-1 |Williams, Cristina |Harper | |Resources | |Garcia, Hadley, | | | | |McCarty, Rendon, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Mark Stone, Wood | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+-----------------------+---------------------| |Appropriations |12-4 |Gomez, Bloom, Bonta, |Bigelow, Chang, | | | |Calderon, Nazarian, |Gallagher, Jones | | | |Eggman, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Eduardo Garcia, | | | | |Holden, Quirk, Rendon, | | | | |Weber, Wood | | | | | | | SB 209 Page 2 | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: Revises the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 (SMARA), renames the Office of Mine Reclamation to instead be the Division of Mine Reclamation, and creates the Supervisor of Mine Reclamation to direct the Division. Specifically, this bill: 1)Increases the maximum reporting fee for any single mining operation from $4,000 to $10,000 annually over a three-year period. Increases the total allowable revenue generated by the reporting fees from $3.5 million to $8 million annually. 2)Requires lead agencies that own or operate a borrow pit to include an interim management plan in their reclamation plan. Authorizes the interim management, which will cover the borrow pit when it is idle plan, to remain in effect until reclamation is complete instead of the current five-year limit. 3)Allows lead agencies to conduct inspections once every two years for their borrow pits, rather than once per year. 4)Allows lead agency employees, with specified qualifications, to inspect lead agency owned or operated surface mining operations. 5)Exempts a borrow pit surface mining operation, owned or operated by the lead agency solely for use by the lead agency from certain requirements that apply to idle mines. SB 209 Page 3 6)Requires that this bill will only become operative if both this bill and AB 1142 (Gray) of the current legislative session, are enacted. EXISTING LAW: 1)Creates 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 Board. Reclamation plans and financial assurances must be submitted to the Director for review. 2)Requires the Board to impose an annual reporting fee for each active or idle mining operation. Specifies that the maximum fee for any single mining operation may not exceed $4,000 annually and may not be less than $100 annually, as adjusted for the cost of living, for the purpose of carrying out SMARA. 3)Provides a mechanism by which the Board can strip a local agency of its lead agency status for failure to implement state law, the Board then serves as the lead agency. 4)Requires lead agencies to require financial assurances of 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 SB 209 Page 4 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 lead agencies to conduct annual mine inspections to determine compliance with SMARA. FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the administrative fee increase authorized in the bill will result in an estimated increase in revenue between $3.6 million and $6.2 million (special fund). The actual revenue increase will depend upon how the Board calculates fees for different operations. The statute requires that Board set fees on an equitable basis reflecting the size and type of operation. COMMENTS: 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 United States 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 toward reclamation. However, there are instances when the mine operator cannot be located or is 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 SB 209 Page 5 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. In the Governor's signing statement for SB 447 (Lara), Chapter 417, Statutes of 2013, he called for a top-to-bottom review of SMARA. Multiple stakeholder group meetings have been held to discuss the administration's concerns with SMARA. Issues that are under discussion include: 1)Meaningful reclamation of disturbed mine lands; 2)Adequate financial assurance; 3)Financial assurances are not released until reclamation is complete; 4)Financial assurance can be used for reclamation if the mine owner does not reclaim their mine; 5)Quality inspections of mines occur annually; 6)When inspectors find non-compliance enforcement is clear, timely, and meaningful; 7)The Board has tools to improve local SMARA implementation; 8)Reporting fees and penalties are paid by operators and that fees cover the cost of the program; and, SB 209 Page 6 9)Inappropriate exemptions from SMARA are stopped. The goal of these talks is to amend SMARA to meet its intent. This bill and AB 1142 are the product of the Governor's stakeholder process. Analysis Prepared by: Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0002664