BILL ANALYSIS �
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2011-2012 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: SB 133 HEARING DATE: April 12, 2011
AUTHOR: Wolk URGENCY: No
VERSION: April 5, 2011 CONSULTANT: Bill Craven
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Natural resources: Cache Creek Resource Management
Plan.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
The Cache Creek Resource Management Plan (Plan) was initially
approved by the Legislature in 1999 and the sunset provision was
twice extended, most recently in 2007 by AB 646 (Wolk). The
current sunset date is 2012.
Sec 2715.5 of the Public Resources Code states that the Plan
shall be considered a functional equivalent of a reclamation
plan that would otherwise be required by the California Surface
Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA). That section also requires,
as conditions of the statute, that Yolo County approve a site
specific plan and that other erosion, channel stabilization,
habitat, and flood control measures be included in the site
specific plan that is approved by that county's board of
supervisors. Other requirements of reclamation plans, such as an
annual report to the Department of Conservation, remain in
effect. Additionally, all surface mining operations are required
to obtain financial assurances as required by SMARA.
Yolo County succeeded in creating the Plan as a way to shift
commercial mining activities to off-channel mining while
developing an integrated approach to maintain sufficient
capacity in the creek to convey flood waters which is supported,
to a certain extent, by the private firms that conduct
off-stream mining. The Plan anticipates that sand and gravel
would be removed from the channel of the creek only to maintain
and restore adequate capacity.
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The State Mining and Geology Board approved the local ordinance
and deemed it consistent with state policy in 2009.
In addition to the Plan, Yolo County has obtained a series of
general permits from federal and state regulatory agencies for
purposes of meeting regulatory requirements from the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the
Central Valley Regional Water Board, and the Department of Fish
and Game. These general permits authorize activities pursuant to
the Plan and avoid the need for project specific permitting.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would extend the sunset provision until December 2017
and deletes the provision requiring the approval of the local
ordinance by the State Mining and Geology Board.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
Yolo County states that the bill is necessary for environmental
restoration and channel stabilization projects in Cache Creek
and to continue to implement the Plan's essential compromise
which was to move commercial mining off-stream.
The local Sierra Club group and Tuleyome, a local conservation
group, support the bill but encourage the author to expand the
bill to deal with mercury accumulation from upstream sources.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received
COMMENTS
The sponsor, Yolo County, to its credit, very early on informed
the Committee that through a mistake, its federal general
permits for the Plan had not been renewed. It is in the process
of correcting that error. Commercial mining off-stream is not
affected by this development, and any in-stream activities that
the county wants to pursue will be done through project-specific
permits.
In discussions with the county and the author, an agreement was
reached to extend the sunset for five more years and for the
county to provide the Legislature with the annual programmatic
report. Early on in this period, all the parties expect that the
county will obtain the reauthorization of its federal general
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permits and that fact will be reflected in the annual report.
While it is too early to predict what a future Legislature might
do, it seems reasonable to mention that the sunset might be
extended in 2017 until 2026, which is year that the off-channel
permits also expire.
SUPPORT
County of Yolo (Sponsor)
Yolo County Resource Conservation District
Teichert Aggregates
CalCIMA
Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
Cache Creek Conservancy
City of Woodland
Granite Construction Company
Water Resources Association of Yolo County
Tuleyome
Sierra Club, Yolano Group
OPPOSITION
None Received
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