BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 2509
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 9, 2012

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                   AB 2509 (Nielsen) - As Amended:  April 23, 2012 

          Policy Committee:                              Natural 
          ResourcesVote:9-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill exempts from certain regulatory requirements of the 
          Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA) excavation or grading 
          of lands for purposes of farming or for restoration of 
          following, within a reasonable amount of time, a flood or 
          natural disaster.  The bill allows a person to sell any amount 
          of mineral or material produced by restoration activities if the 
          proceeds are used only to offset the costs of restoring the land 
          to its condition prior to the flood or natural disaster, and 
          requires such a person to maintain records for five years.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Minor absorbable costs to the Department of Conservation, which 
          expects application of the exemptions provided by this bill to 
          be rare.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  .  The author intends this bill to clarify that the 
            current-law SMARA exemption for excavation and grading for 
            farming and restoration of lands following floods are distinct 
            exemptions, for regulatory purposes.  The author contends this 
            clarification will ensure farmers and ranchers can remove and 
            sell soil that was deposited on their land by a flood or other 
            natural disaster in order to restore the land. 

           2)Background.   SMARA generally prohibits surface mining 
            operations without a permit from a lead agency.  The law 
            provides several exemptions to this prohibition, including 
            excavations or grading conducted for farming or the immediate 








                                                                  AB 2509
                                                                  Page  2

            excavation or grading of lands affected by a flood or natural 
            disaster for the purpose of restoring those lands to their 
            prior condition.  Farmers and ranchers contend the Mining and 
            Geology Board regulations do not treat the farming exemption 
            and the restoration exemption as distinct, limiting their 
            ability remove flood-deposited soil from their fields.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081