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 ASSEMBLY  JULY 7, 2015
	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 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 authorize,   would, 
after the director has made the prescribed certification to the
Secretary of  State,   State and after
prescribed public hearings and workshops, authorize  the state
board or a regional board to 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  is  
equipment used for mining operations that  contains any of
specified components for purposes of permits issued by the department
and for purposes of the 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  Arnold  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   Californians  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.
  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  is equipment used for mining operations that 
contains any of the following:
   (1) A hose that vacuums sediment from  the bed or bank of
 a river, stream, or lake.
   (2) A motorized pump.
   (3) A motorized sluice box. 
   (4) Related small-scale mechanized mining equipment. 
  SEC. 3.  Section 13172.5 is added to the Water Code, to read:
   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,  and after conducting appropriate workshops and
hearings pursuant to subdivision (b),  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:
   (A) Mercury loading to downstream reaches of surface water bodies
affected by suction dredge mining.
   (B) Methylmercury formation in water bodies.
   (C) Bioaccumulation of mercury in aquatic organisms.
   (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. 
   (b) (1) Before determining what action to take pursuant to
subdivision (a), the state board or regional board shall solicit
stakeholder input by conducting at least one public workshop. If the
state board is soliciting stakeholder input, the state board shall
conduct the public workshops in areas of the state where, in 2009, a
substantial number of residents held a suction dredge mining permit
issued by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. To promote
participation in the public workshops, the state board or regional
board shall proactively reach out to mining groups, environmental
organizations, and California Native American tribes, as defined in
Section 21073 of the Public Resources Code.  
   (2) Before taking a proposed action pursuant to subdivision (a),
the state board shall conduct at least two public hearings, and the
regional board at least one public hearing, regarding that proposed
action.  
   (3) To avoid duplication of efforts between the state board and a
regional board of a public workshop or public hearing that covers the
same regional area, the state board and a regional board may work in
collaboration to share information obtained through the public
workshop or public hearing.  
   (b) 
    (c)  For purposes of this section, a suction dredge 
is equipment used for mining operations that  contains any of
the following:
   (1) A hose that vacuums sediment from  the bed or bank of
 a river, stream, or lake.
   (2) A motorized pump.
   (3) A motorized sluice box. 
   (4) Related small-scale mechanized mining equipment.