Bill Text: CA SB637 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Suction dredge mining: permits.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-10-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 680, Statutes of 2015. [SB637 Detail]

Download: California-2015-SB637-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 637	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 2, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 5, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 22, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Allen

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to amend Section 5653 of the Fish and Game Code, and to add
Section 13172.5 to the Water Code, relating to dredging.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 637, as amended, Allen. Suction dredge mining: permits.
   Existing law prohibits the use of any vacuum or suction dredge
equipment by any person in any river, stream, or lake of this state
without a permit issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Existing law requires, before any person uses any vacuum or suction
dredge equipment in any river, stream, or lake of this state, that
person to submit an application for a permit for a vacuum or suction
dredge to the department specifying certain information. Existing law
requires the department to issue a permit, if the department
determines that the use of a vacuum or suction dredge will not be
deleterious to fish, upon the payment of a specified fee. Existing
law designates the issuance of permits to operate vacuum or suction
dredge equipment to be a project under the California Environmental
Quality Act and suspends the issuance of permits and mining pursuant
to a permit until the department has completed an environmental
impact report for the project as ordered by the court in a specified
court action. Existing law prohibits the use of any vacuum or suction
dredge equipment in any river, stream, or lake of this state until
the Director of Fish and Wildlife makes a prescribed certification to
the Secretary of State, including certifying that new regulations
fully mitigate all identified significant environmental impacts and
that a fee structure is in place that will fully cover all costs to
the department related to the administration of the program.
   This bill would require the department to issue a permit if the
department determines that the use does not cause any significant
effects  on   to  fish and wildlife and
would authorize the department to adjust the specified fee to an
amount sufficient to cover all reasonable costs of the department in
regulating suction dredging activities. This bill would prohibit the
department from issuing a permit until the permit application is
deemed complete, as prescribed.
   Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and
the California regional water quality control boards prescribe waste
discharge requirements in accordance with the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (state
act). The state act, with certain exceptions, requires a waste
discharger to file certain information with the appropriate regional
board and to pay an annual fee. The state act additionally requires a
person, before discharging mining waste, to submit to the regional
board a report on the physical and chemical characteristics of the
waste that could affect its potential to cause pollution or
contamination and a report that evaluates the potential of the mining
waste discharge to produce acid mine drainage, the discharge or
leaching of heavy metals, or the release of other hazardous
substances.
   This bill would  require, by July 1, 2017  
authorize, after the director has made the prescribed certification
to the Secretary of State  , the state board  or a regional
board  to  establish a permitting process for suction
dredge mining and related mining activities in rivers and streams in
the state, consistent with requirements of the state act. The bill
would require that the regulations, at a minimum, address cumulative
and water quality impacts of specified issues. A person who violates
these regulations would be liable for an unspecified penalty. The
bill would provide that the state board is not prohibited from
adopting regulations that would prohibit suction dredge mining, if
the state board makes a certain finding relating to water quality
objectives, to the extent consistent with federal law. The bill would
prohibit these provisions from affecting any other law, including
the California Environmental Quality Act and specified provisions
relating to streambed alteration requirements.   adopt
waste discharge requirements that address water quality impacts of
specified issues, specify certain conditions or areas where the
discharge of waste from a suction dredge is prohibited, or prohibit
particular methods of suction dredge mining if the state board or
regional board makes a certain determination. 
   The bill would specify that a suction dredge contains any of
specified components for purposes of permits issued by the department
and for purposes of the  permitting  
regulatory  process established by the state board  or a
regional board  .
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) In 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 670
(Chapter 62 of the Statutes of 2009) which established a temporary
ban on suction dredge mining until after a court-ordered
environmental review was completed.  
   (b) The Department of Fish and Wildlife draft regulations and
draft environmental impact report were issued in February 2011. The
draft environmental impact report identified nine significant and
unmitigable impacts from suction dredge mining. The report concluded
that suction dredge mining for gold mobilizes and discharges toxic
levels of mercury, harming drinking water quality and potentially
poisoning fish and wildlife, harms fish, amphibians, and songbirds by
disrupting habitat, and causes substantial adverse changes statewide
in American Indian cultural and historical resources.  
   (c) In July 2011, the Legislature enacted Assembly Bill 120
(Chapter 133 of the Statutes of 2011), extending the prohibition on
suction dredge mining until 2016, and requiring the department to
create a fee structure that would cover all of its administrative
costs relating to suction dredge mining.  
   (d) In 2012, the Legislature acted again on suction dredge mining
by enacting Senate Bill 1018 (Chapter 39 of the Statutes of 2012),
which eliminated the sunset provision from Assembly Bill 120. Senate
Bill 1018 also directed the department to consult with various
agencies and to provide recommendations to the Legislature by April
1, 2013, regarding statutory changes or authorizations necessary for
the department to promulgate suction dredge regulations. Those
recommendations were to include ways to fully mitigate all identified
significant environmental impacts and a fee structure to cover the
department's costs of administering the program.  
   (e) On April 1, 2013, the department submitted the required report
to the Legislature. The department considers the environmental
impact report on its proposed suction dredge mining regulatory permit
program to be the most comprehensive review of suction dredge mining
ever compiled in California. The report identified impacts that the
department said could not be mitigated within its legal authorities.
 
   (f) In January 2015, the San Bernardino Superior Court issued a
tentative ruling that state-issued suction dredge mining permits
could not be required on federal land. The court noted that, while
the state clearly has the power to issue suction dredge mining
permits, the state's refusal or inability to issue the permits
creates an obstacle to conforming with federal law.  
   (g) Given the importance of protecting the water supply for all
Californian's from degradation, the need to protect what is left of
California native cultural sites, and the value of protecting the
state's wildlife, it is urgent that the Legislature act immediately
to clarify the laws regulating suction dredge mining and other
related forms of small scale motorized gold mining in the state's
streams and waterways. 
   SECTION 1.   SEC. 2.   Section 5653 of
the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:
   5653.  (a) The use of a vacuum or suction dredge equipment by a
person in a river, stream, or lake of this state is prohibited,
except as authorized under a permit issued to that person by the
department in compliance with the regulations adopted pursuant to
Section 5653.9. Before a person uses a vacuum or suction dredge
equipment in a river, stream, or lake of this state, that person
shall submit an application for a permit for a vacuum or suction
dredge to the department, specifying the type and size of equipment
to be used and other information as the department may require.
   (b) (1) The department shall not issue a permit for a vacuum or
suction dredge until the permit application is deemed complete. A
complete permit application shall include copies of all required
permits, including permits required under the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251 et seq.) and the Water Code, and
any other applicable permit required to fully mitigate all identified
significant environmental impacts pursuant to regulations adopted
under subdivision (b) of Section 5653.1.
   (2) If the State Water Resources Control Board or the appropriate
regional water quality control board determines that no water quality
or water rights permit is necessary for the use of a vacuum or
suction dredge, a letter stating this determination signed by the
Executive Director of the State Water Resources Control Board, the
executive officer of the appropriate regional water quality control
board, or their designee shall be part of the permit application.
   (3) For the purpose of the Permit Streamlining Act (Chapter 4.5
(commencing with Section 65920) of Division 1 of Title 7 of the
Government Code), the department shall not deem the permit
application complete until the applicant submits all necessary
permits and any required letters to the department as part of the
permit application.
   (c) Under the regulations adopted pursuant to Section 5653.9, the
department shall designate waters or areas wherein vacuum or suction
dredges may be used pursuant to a permit, waters or areas closed to
those dredges, the maximum size of those dredges that may be used,
and the time of year when those dredges may be used. If the
department determines, pursuant to the regulations adopted pursuant
to Section 5653.9, that the use of a vacuum or suction dredge does
not cause any significant effects to fish and wildlife, it shall
issue a permit to the applicant. If a person operates equipment other
than that authorized by the permit or conducts the operation in any
waters or area or at any time that is not authorized by the permit,
or if any person conducts the operation without securing the permit,
that person is guilty of a misdemeanor.
   (d) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the department shall
issue a permit upon the payment, in the case of a resident, of a base
fee of twenty-five dollars ($25), as adjusted under Section 713,
when an onsite investigation of the project size is not deemed
necessary by the department, and a base fee of one hundred thirty
dollars ($130), as adjusted under Section 713, when the department
deems that an onsite investigation is necessary. Except as provided
in paragraph (2), in the case of a nonresident, the base fee shall be
one hundred dollars ($100), as adjusted under Section 713, when an
onsite investigation is not deemed necessary, and a base fee of two
hundred twenty dollars ($220), as adjusted under Section 713, when an
onsite investigation is deemed necessary.
   (2) The department may adjust the base fees for a permit described
in this subdivision to an amount sufficient to cover all reasonable
costs of the department in regulating suction dredging activities.
   (e) It is unlawful to possess a vacuum or suction dredge in areas,
or in or within 100 yards of waters, that are closed to the use of
vacuum or suction dredges.
   (f) For purposes of this section and Section 5653.1, a suction
dredge contains any of the following:
   (1) A hose that vacuums sediment from a river, stream, or lake.
   (2) A motorized pump.
   (3) A motorized sluice box.
   SEC. 2.   SEC. 3.   Section 13172.5 is
added to the Water Code, to read: 
   13172.5.  (a) On or before July 1, 2017, the state board shall
establish by regulation a permitting process for suction dredge
mining and related mining activities in rivers and streams in the
state. The regulations shall be consistent with the requirements of
this division and, at a minimum, address cumulative and water quality
impacts of each of the following: 
    13172.5.    (a) After the Director of Fish and
Wildlife has certified to the Secretary of State that all of the
events described in subdivision (b) of Section 5653.1 of the Fish and
Game Code have occurred, the state board or a regional board may
take one or more of the following actions:  
   (1) Adopt waste discharge requirements that, at a minimum, address
the water quality impacts of each of the following:  
   (1) 
    (A)  Mercury loading to downstream reaches of 
rivers and streams affected by suction dredge mining.  
surface water bodies affected by suction dredge mining. 

   (2) 
    (B)  Methylmercury formation in water bodies. 
   (3) 
    (C)  Bioaccumulation of mercury in aquatic organisms.

   (b) A person who violates a regulation adopted pursuant to this
section shall be liable in the amount of ____ ($____). 

   (c) Nothing in subdivision (a) shall prohibit the state board from
adopting regulations that prohibit suction dredge mining if the
state board finds that prohibition is necessary to regulate waste
discharges that violate or impair water quality objectives or other
criteria under this division, to the extent consistent with federal
law. In making this determination, the state board may consider, but
is not limited to, soil types, fueling and refueling activities, and
horsepower limitations.  
   (d) This section does not affect any other law, including the
California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with
Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code) and the Department of
Fish and Wildlife's streambed alteration requirements described in
Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1600) of the Fish and Game Code.
 
   (D) Resuspension of metals.  
   (2) Specify certain conditions or areas where the discharge of
waste from suction dredge mining is prohibited, consistent with
Section 13243.  
   (3) Prohibit any particular methods of suction dredge mining that
the state board or a regional board determines generally cause or
contribute to an exceedance of applicable water quality objectives or
unreasonably impact beneficial uses.  
   (e) 
    (b)  For purposes of this section, a suction dredge
contains any of the following:
   (1) A hose that vacuums sediment from a river, stream, or lake.
   (2) A motorized pump.
   (3) A motorized sluice box.