Bill Text: CA AB1734 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Mining claims: recording.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-07-25 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 95, Statutes of 2016. [AB1734 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB1734-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1734 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 95
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 25, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 25, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE JUNE 30, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Obernolte
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Mathis)
FEBRUARY 1, 2016
An act to amend Section 3913 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to mining.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1734, Obernolte. Mining claims: recording.
Existing law requires, whenever labor is performed, improvements
are made, or a maintenance fee is paid on a mining claim, that a
specified affidavit be recorded in the county in which the mining
claim is situated. Existing law requires that affidavit to include,
among other things, the names, current mailing addresses, and current
residential addresses of the person who makes the proof and the
owner of the claim.
Existing law requires the recorder of each county to accept for
recordation any instrument, paper, or notice that is authorized or
required by law to be recorded. Existing law requires those
documents, except as otherwise provided by another law or regulation,
to comply with specified standards respecting margins, quality of
paper, print size and color, and other related matters.
This bill would no longer require the recorded mining claim
affidavit to include the current residential addresses of the person
who makes the proof and the owner of the claim.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 3913 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
3913. (a) Whenever labor is performed, improvements are made, or
a maintenance fee is paid as required by law upon any mining claim,
the person on whose behalf the labor was performed, improvements
made, or a maintenance fee was paid, or someone in his or her behalf,
within 30 days after the time required by law for performing the
labor, making the improvements, or paying the maintenance fee, shall
make and have recorded by the county recorder in the county in which
the mining claim is situated an affidavit setting forth all of the
following:
(1) The name of the claim and the serial number, if any, assigned
to the claim by the Bureau of Land Management in the United States
Department of Interior.
(2) A reference by book and page or document number to the public
record of the notice of location of the claim and, if amended, of the
last recorded amendment thereof.
(3) The section or sections, township, range, and meridian of the
United States survey within which all or any part of the claim is
located.
(4) A description of the labor performed or improvements made upon
or for the benefit of the claim for which the proof is made, the
value of each item, and the dates on which, or the period of time
within which, the labor was performed or the improvement was made, or
a statement that a maintenance fee in the amount prescribed by the
laws of the United States has been or will be paid, the amount of the
maintenance fee, and the date of payment or anticipated payment.
(5) The name and current mailing address of the person who makes
the proof and of the owner of the claim, as known to the affiant.
(6) A statement that the claim is held and claimed by the owner,
or the person making the proof if he or she is entitled to possession
thereof, for the valuable mineral contained therein.
(7) The name and address of the person who performed or made the
work and improvements described in the affidavit as known to the
affiant, if applicable.
(8) A statement that all monuments required by law to have been
erected upon the claim and all notices required by law to have been
posted on the claim or copies thereof were in place at a date within
the assessment year for which the affidavit is made and a statement
of the date.
(9) A statement that, at that date, each corner monument bore or
contained a marking sufficient to appropriately designate the corner
of the mining claim to which it pertains and the name of the claim.
(b) An affidavit recorded as required by subdivision (a), or a
copy thereof duly certified by the county recorder, shall be prima
facie evidence of the performance of the labor, the making of the
improvements, or the payment of the maintenance fee as stated in the
affidavit.
(c) (1) The neglect or failure of the owner of any mining claim to
record, or cause to be recorded, within the time allowed by this
section an affidavit containing the statements required by
subdivision (a) creates a prima facie presumption of the act and
intent of the owner to abandon the claim at the end of the assessment
year within which the labor should have been performed, the
improvements should have been made, or the maintenance fee should
have been paid under the laws of the United States, and imposes the
burden of proof upon the owner of the claim to show that the labor
has been performed, that the improvements have been made, or that the
maintenance fee has been paid in any contest, suit, or proceeding
touching the title to the claim.
(2) If the affidavit is executed and recorded by anyone other than
an owner within the 30-day period, and the owner apprehends that
there are deficiencies in the recorded affidavit, he or she may
supplement the recorded affidavit by further affidavit to comply with
the section and may record the supplemental affidavit within 30 days
following the last day of the 30-day period after the time required
by law for performance of the work, making of improvements, or
payment of the maintenance fee, and thereby obtain the prima facie
evidence of the performance of labor, the making of improvements, or
the payment of the maintenance fee, and avoid the prima facie
presumption of abandonment and the burden of proving the performance
of labor, the making of improvements, or the payment of the
maintenance fee required by law.
(d) Any person who willfully makes a false statement with respect
to any mining claim on the affidavit required by subdivision (a), or
on the supplementary affidavit permitted by subdivision (c), is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a
fine of not more than two hundred dollars ($200) or by imprisonment
in the county jail for not more than six months, or by both the fine
and imprisonment.
