§683 Tax on Operation of Hydraulic Mines; “debris Fund”; Advances by Mine Owners; Storage for Water and Use of Outlet Facilities

Summary

When the California Debris Commission builds dams or reservoirs to catch debris from hydraulic mining and then allows a mine to operate so its debris is held by those works, the mine operator must pay a tax for every cubic yard taken from the natural bank. The tax is calculated by taking the total capital cost of the dam, reservoir, and rights‑of‑way and dividing it by the reservoir’s debris capacity, as the California Debris Commission decides. The tax is paid each year on a date the Commission sets, under rules from the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Treasurer of the United States may receive the payments. All money goes into a fund called the “debris fund.” The Commission, under the Chief of Engineers and the Secretary of the Army, uses that money to repay advances for building and to pay for maintenance. Mine owners may give advance payments to help build works; those advances are refunded as the tax is paid into the debris fund, and the United States will not refund money except as this rule allows. The Secretary of the Army may also sell water storage or outlet use from these reservoirs for domestic, irrigation, or power purposes; money from those contracts goes to the reservoir’s account and reduces the capital cost that mining taxes must repay.