Title PRC — California Pub. Res. Code

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975.

(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the extraction of minerals is essential to the continued economic well-being of the state and to the needs of the society, and that the reclamation of mined lands is necessary to prevent or minimize adverse effects on the environ…

It is the intent of the Legislature to create and maintain an effective and comprehensive surface mining and reclamation policy with regulation of surface mining operations so as to assure that: (a) Adverse environmental effects are prevented or minimized and that mined lands are…

It is not the intent of the Legislature by the enactment of this chapter to take private property for public use without payment of just compensation in violation of the California and United States Constitutions.

This chapter does not apply to any of the following activities: (a) Excavations or grading of lands conducted for farming. (b) Onsite excavation and onsite earthmoving activities that are integral and necessary for the construction of structures and that are undertaken to prepare…

No provision of this chapter or any ruling, requirement, or policy of the board is a limitation on any of the following: (a) On the police power of any city or county or on the power of any city or county to declare, prohibit, and abate nuisances. (b) On the power of the Attorney…

(a) The Cache Creek Resource Management Plan, in conjunction with a site specific plan deemed consistent by the lead agency with the Cache Creek Resource Management Plan, shall be considered to be a functional equivalent of a reclamation plan for the purposes of this chapter. No …

(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply: (1) “Metropolitan Water District” means the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. (2) “Metropolitan Reclamation Plan” means a master reclamation plan that may be approved pursuant to this section for…

(a) Any interested person may commence an action on his or her own behalf against the board, the lead agency, the State Geologist, the supervisor, or the director for a writ of mandate pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1084) of Title 1 of Part 3 of the Code of Civil …

(a) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the board shall submit to the Legislature on December 1 of each year a report on the actions taken pursuant to this chapter during the preceding fiscal year. The report shall include a statement of the actions, including…

If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the …

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, neither the state nor any county, city, district, or other political subdivision shall be exempt from any fee imposed upon a mining operation pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 2207.

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions set forth in this article shall govern the construction of this chapter.

“Area of regional significance” means an area designated by the board pursuant to Section 2790 which is known to contain a deposit of minerals, the extraction of which is judged to be of prime importance in meeting future needs for minerals in a particular region of the state wit…

“Area of statewide significance” means an area designated by the board pursuant to Section 2790 which is known to contain a deposit of minerals, the extraction of which is judged to be of prime importance in meeting future needs for minerals in the state and which, if prematurely…

“Idle” means that an operator of a surface mining operation has curtailed production at the surface mining operation, with the intent to resume the surface mining operation at a future date, for a period of one year or more by more than 90 percent of its maximum annual mineral pr…

“Lead agency” means the city, county, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, or the board which has the principal responsibility for approving a reclamation plan pursuant to this chapter.

“Mined lands” includes the surface, subsurface, and ground water of an area in which surface mining operations will be, are being, or have been conducted, including private ways and roads appurtenant to any such area, land excavations, workings, mining waste, and areas in which s…

“Mining waste” includes the residual of soil, rock, mineral, liquid, vegetation, equipment, machines, tools, or other materials or property directly resulting from, or displaced by, surface mining operations.

“Operator” means any person who is engaged in surface mining operations, himself, or who contracts with others to conduct operations on his behalf, except a person who is engaged in surface mining operations as an employee with wages as his sole compensation.

“Overburden” means soil, rock, or other materials that lie above a natural mineral deposit or in between mineral deposits, before or after their removal by surface mining operations.

“Permit” means any authorization from, or approval by, a lead agency, the absence of which would preclude surface mining operations.

“Reclamation” means the combined process of land treatment that minimizes water degradation, air pollution, damage to aquatic or wildlife habitat, flooding, erosion, and other adverse effects from surface mining operations, including adverse surface effects incidental to undergro…

“State policy” means the regulations adopted by the board pursuant to Section 2755.

“Surface mining operations” means all, or any part of, the process involved in the mining of minerals on mined lands by removing overburden and mining directly from the mineral deposits, open-pit mining of minerals naturally exposed, mining by the auger method, dredging and quarr…

“Financial assurances” means a current approved financial assurance cost estimate and a financial assurance mechanism that is at least equal to the current approved financial assurance cost estimate.

In carrying out the provisions of this chapter, the board may establish districts and appoint one or more district technical advisory committees to advise the board. In establishing districts for these committees, the board shall take into account physical characteristics, includ…

The members of the committee shall receive no compensation for their services, but shall be entitled to their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

The board shall adopt regulations that establish state policy for the reclamation of mined lands in accordance with Article 1 (commencing with Section 2710) of this chapter and pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Gover…

State policy shall apply to the conduct of surface mining operations and shall include, but shall not be limited to, measures to be employed by lead agencies in specifying grading, backfilling, resoiling, revegetation, soil compaction, and other reclamation requirements, and for …

The state policy adopted by the board shall be based upon a study of the factors that significantly affect the present and future condition of mined lands, and shall be used as standards by lead agencies in preparing specific and general plans, including the conservation and land…

Such policy shall include objectives and criteria for all of the following: (a) Determining the lead agency pursuant to the provisions of Section 2771. (b) The orderly evaluation of reclamation plans. (c) Determining the circumstances, if any, under which the approval of a propos…

The state policy shall be continuously reviewed and may be revised. During the formulation or revision of the policy, the board shall consult with, and carefully evaluate the recommendations of, the supervisor, any district technical advisory committees, concerned federal, state,…

The board shall not adopt or revise the state policy, unless a public hearing is first held respecting its adoption or revision. At least 30 days prior to the hearing, the board shall give notice of the hearing by publication pursuant to Section 6061 of the Government Code.

(a) On or before January 1, 1977, and, at a minimum, after the completion of each decennial census, the Office of Planning and Research shall identify portions of the following areas within the state that are urbanized or are subject to urban expansion or other irreversible land …

(a) Within 12 months of receiving the mineral information described in Section 2761, and also within 12 months of the designation of an area of statewide or regional significance within its jurisdiction, a lead agency shall, in accordance with state policy, establish mineral reso…

(a) If an area is designated by the board as an area of regional significance, and the lead agency either has designated that area in its general plan as having important minerals to be protected pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 2762, or otherwise has not yet acted pursuant…

(a) Upon the request of an operator or other interested person and payment by the requesting person of the estimated cost of processing the request, the lead agency having jurisdiction shall amend its general plan, or prepare a new specific plan or amend any applicable specific p…

(a) Except as provided in this section, a person shall not conduct surface mining operations unless a permit is obtained from, a reclamation plan has been submitted to and approved by, and financial assurances for reclamation have been approved by the lead agency for the operatio…

For the purposes of a borrow pit surface mining operation that is owned or operated by a lead agency solely for use by that lead agency, all of the following shall apply: (a) (1) In addition to the requirements of Sections 2772 and 2773, the lead agency shall include in its recla…

Whenever surface mining operations are proposed in the 100-year flood plain for any stream, as shown in Zone A of Flood Insurance Rate Maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and within one mile, upstream or downstream, of any state highway bridge, the lead agency…

(a) Whenever surface mining operations are proposed within the boundaries of the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority that may penetrate the groundwater, and whenever proposed reclamation activities may impact groundwater quality, the lead agency reviewing an application to …

Whenever a proposed or existing surface mining operation is within the jurisdiction of two or more public agencies, is a permitted use within the agencies, and is not separated by a natural or manmade barrier coinciding with the boundary of the agencies, the evaluation of the pro…

(a) The reclamation plan shall be filed with the lead agency, on a form provided by the lead agency, by any person who owns, leases, or otherwise controls or operates on all or any portion of any mined lands and who plans to conduct surface mining operations on the lands. (b) The…

(a) (1) Prior to approving a surface mining operation’s reclamation plan or plan amendment, the lead agency shall submit the reclamation plan or plan amendment to the supervisor for review. The reclamation plan or plan amendment shall be submitted to the supervisor as early as pr…

(a) A reclamation plan by any person who owns, leases, or otherwise controls or operates on all, or any portion of any, mined lands within the boundaries of the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority, and who plans to conduct surface mining operations on those lands, in additi…

(a) In addition to meeting the requirements of Section 2773.1, the financial assurance cost estimate required of a surface mining operation within the boundaries of the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority for any one year shall be in an amount not less than that required to…

(a) A lead agency, upon approval of a reclamation plan or an amendment to a reclamation plan, shall record a “Notice of Reclamation Plan Approval” with the county recorder. The notice shall read: “Mining operations conducted on the hereinafter described real property are subject …

(a) The reclamation plan shall be applicable to a specific piece of property or properties, shall be based upon the character of the surrounding area and such characteristics of the property as type of overburden, soil stability, topography, geology, climate, stream characteristi…

(a) Notwithstanding subdivision (e) of Section 2773.1, a financial assurance mechanism may include corporate financial tests combined with surety bonds, irrevocable letters of credit, or trust funds, as described in this section, that together ensure the completion of reclamation…