BILL NUMBER: AB 2654 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 7, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 11, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Morrell
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend and repeal Section 3060 of the Civil Code,
relating to mining liens, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2654, as amended, Morrell. Mining liens: definitions.
The California Constitution provides that mechanics, persons
furnishing materials, artisans, and laborers of every class have a
lien upon the property upon which they have bestowed labor or
furnished material for the value of the labor done and material
furnished. The California Constitution also requires the Legislature
to provide, by law, for the speedy and efficient enforcement of those
liens.
Existing statutory law governs works of improvement, including
mining liens. These provisions govern the conditions required to
enforce a lien and for a mining lien to be deemed valid, and, as of
July 1, 2012, defines define the term
"mine" to mean a mining claim or real property worked on as a mine.
This bill would define "mine" for the purposes of enforcing mining
liens to include , but not be limited to, any quarry or
pit, from which rock, gravel, sand, or any other mineral-containing
property is extracted by any mining, or surface mining, operation.
The bill would declare that it is the intent of the Legislature in
enacting the bill to supercede supersede
the holding of the Fourth Appellate District Court of Appeals
in Sukut Construction Const. , Inc. v.
Rimrock CA , LLC (2011) 199 Cal.App.4th 817.
The bill would declare that its provisions are declaratory of
existing law.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated
local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 3060 of the Civil Code, as amended by Chapter
1362 of the Statutes of 1969, is amended to read:
3060. (a) Any person who performs labor in any mining claim or
claims, or in or upon any real property worked as a mine, either in
the development thereof or in working thereon by the subtractive
process, or furnishes materials to be used or consumed therein, has a
lien upon the same and the works owned and used by the owners for
milling or reducing the ores from the same, for the value of the work
or labor done or materials furnished by each respectively, whether
done or furnished at the instance of the owner of such mining claim
or claims or real property worked as a mine, or his agent, and every
contractor, subcontractor, superintendent, or other person having
charge of any mining or work or labor performed in and about such
mining claim or claims or real property worked as a mine, either as
lessee or under a working bond or contract thereon , shall
be held to be the agent of the owner for the purposes of this
section. The liens provided for by this section shall be enforced in
the same manner as those provided for by Title 15 (commencing with
Section 3082) , Part 4, Division 3 .
(b) As used in this section, "mine" means a mining claim or real
property worked on as a mine, including , but not limited to,
any quarry or pit, from which rock, gravel, sand, or any other
mineral-containing property is extracted by any mining, or surface
mining, operation.
(c) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2012, and, as
of January 1, 2013, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2013, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 3060 of the Civil Code, as amended by Section 14
of Chapter 697 of the Statutes of 2010, is amended to read:
3060. (a) As used in this section, "mine" means a mining claim or
real property worked on as a mine including , but not limited
to, any quarry or pit, from which rock, gravel, sand, or any
other mineral-containing property is extracted by any mining, or
surface mining, operation.
(b) Any person who performs labor in a mine, either in its
development or in working on it by the subtractive process, or
furnishes materials to be used or consumed in it, has a lien upon the
mine and the works owned and used by the owners for milling or
reducing the ores from the mine, for the value of the work or labor
done or materials furnished by each, whether done or furnished at the
instance of the owner of the mine, or the owner's agent, and every
contractor, subcontractor, superintendent, or other person having
charge of any mining or work or labor performed in and about the
mine, either as lessee or under a working bond or contract thereon
, shall be held to be the agent of the owner for the
purposes of this section. The liens provided for by this section
shall be enforced in the same manner as those provided for by Part 6
(commencing with Section 8000) of Division 4.
(c) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2012.
SEC. 3. It is the intent of the Legislature, in amending the
definition of "mine" in Section 3060 of the Civil Code, to supercede
the holding of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Sukut
Construction Const. , Inc. v. Rimrock CA
, LLC (2011) 199 Cal.App.4th 817.
SEC. 4. Sections 1 and 2 of this act are
declaratory of existing law.
SEC. 5. SEC. 4. This act is an
urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of
the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts
constituting the necessity are:
In its holding in Sukut Construction
Const. , Inc. v. Rimrock CA , LLC (2011) 199
Cal.App.4th 817, the Fourth District Court of Appeal misapplied
Section 3060 of the Civil Code as it was intended by the Legislature.
In order to properly apply the law as intended by the Legislature,
it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.