BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 889|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 889
Author: Aanestad (R), et al
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 7-1, 3/23/10
AYES: Cogdill, Hollingsworth, Huff, Lowenthal, Padilla,
Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Kehoe
NO VOTE RECORDED: Pavley
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-0, 5/3/10
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Corbett, Leno, Price, Walters, Wolk, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alquist, Denham, Wyland
SUBJECT : Vacuum or suction dredge equipment: permits:
refund
SOURCE : 49rs Prospecting Organization
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Fish and
game to provide a refund for suction dredge mining permit
fees, due to the closure of suction dredge mining in the
middle of the 2009 season.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law
1.Prohibits the use of any vacuum or suction dredge
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equipment by any person in any river, stream, or lake of
this state without a permit issued by the Department of
Fish and Game (DFG).
2.Designates the issuance of permits to operate vacuum or
suction dredge equipment to be a project under the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and suspends
the issuance of permits, and mining pursuant to a permit,
until the department has completed an environmental
impact report for the project as ordered by the court in
a specified court action.
3.Prohibits the use of any vacuum or suction dredge
equipment in any river, stream, or lake, for instream
mining purposes, until the Director of Fish and Game
certifies to the Secretary of State that (a) DFG has
completed the environmental review of its existing vacuum
or suction dredge equipment regulations as ordered by the
court, (b) DFG has transmitted for filing with the
Secretary of State a certified copy of new regulations,
as necessary, and (c) the new regulations are operative.
This bill requires DFG, upon request, to refund the amount
of the permit fee paid in 2009 by a person issued a vacuum
or suction dredge equipment permit and subject to the
latter prohibition.
Background
Suction dredge mining uses a vacuum system to pull gravel
and other materials up from a river, stream or lake bed.
On-board equipment is used to process the collected matter
and remove any trace amounts of gold before exhausting the
remainder back into the water. A permit is required to
operate suction dredge mining equipment in California. In
the last decade, the DFG sold approximately 3,200 resident
and additional non-resident suction dredge mining permits
annually. In 2009, the permit for state residents cost
$47, increasing to $185.25 for non-residents.
Recently, lawsuits and legislative action have required
environmental review of suction dredge mining. On July 9,
2009, a court issued a preliminary injunction restricting
DFG from issuing suction dredge mining permits (Leeon
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Hillman et al., vs. California Department of Fish and Game
et al., Alameda Co. Superior Ct., No. RG09- 434444) until
the litigation was resolved or the court issued a new
order . On August 6, 2009, suction dredge mining was
suspended in any California river, stream or lake when SB
670 [Wiggins], Chapter 62, Statutes of 2009) became law.
There are limited exceptions to the mining ban and suction
dredging operations for regular maintenance of energy or
water supply management infrastructure, flood control or
navigational purposes are still allowed. Suction dredge
mining will remain prohibited until DFG completes an
environmental impact report and updates its regulations,
and the regulations take effect. DFG estimates the review
will be completed in late summer of 2011.
DFG issued 3,643 suction dredge mining permits in 2009.
However, no suction dredge mining was allowed after August
6. Current law does not allow DFG to provide refunds to
permit holders. Suction dredge permit fees are deposited
in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund where they are used
to support DFG functions. DFG does not specifically track
employee time spent on suction dredge mining. The DFG
estimates its costs for enforcement and permit processing
at approximately $50,000 and $6,000, respectively, of the
$175,000 collected in permit fees in 2008.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Senate Appropriations Committee analysis states, the total
number of permit holders that will request refunds under
this bill is unknown, but is likely to be high, given the
mid-season closure in 2009 and the prominence of this issue
amongst permit holds. DFG estimates the cost to refund all
permits issued in 2009 to be about $270,000 including
administrative costs to process refunds.
If this bill is not enacted, the DFG may face legal
challenges. To date, there has been one small claims court
case against the Department ( Wegner v. Koch et. al. , Los
Angeles County Small Claims Court). In that case, the
court found for the plaintiff and ordered the DFG to refund
the plaintiff's permit fee ($47.00) and pay court costs
($32.50). In addition to the cost of the judgment, the DFG
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and the Attorney General's office incurred legal expenses
associated with the claim. Given the outcome of this case,
additional claims against the state are likely.
The potential costs to the state from future claims are
unknown. However, if 50 percent of permittees pursue legal
action against the DFG and other courts make similar
findings, costs to the DFG could be over $200,000,
including permit refunds, administration, and legal
oversight costs.
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/4/10)
49rs Prospecting Organization (source)
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/4/10)
Friends of the River
Karuk Tribe
Klamath Riverkeeper
Pacific Federation of Fishermen's Associations
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"the bill provides relief for the miners who bought their
permits on the assumption they would be valid throughout
the year. SB 889 is an issue of fairness to allow those
miners to be reimbursed, upon request, for the cost of
their prohibited permit."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents of the bill "are
supportive of providing miners pro-rated refunds of their
permit fees but do not believe that new legislation is
needed for this purpose. Instead, the Governor could
direct DFG to provided refunds in the same manner as he did
in 2008 and 2009 when the commercial salmon fishing seasons
were cancelled." The opponents indicate they would support
this approach.
CTW:DLW:do 5/4/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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