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AB 742

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BILL NUMBER: AB 742 AMENDED BILL TEXT

AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 16, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2011

INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Nestande Bonnie Lowenthal
( Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Roger Hernández )
( Principal coauthor: Senator Wyland )
( Coauthors: Assembly Members Allen, Atkins, Beall, Block, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Butler, Carter, Davis, Eng, Beth Gaines, Gatto, Hagman,
Hill, Hueso, Lara, Ma, Mitchell, V. Manuel Pérez, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, and Yamada )
( Coauthors: Senators Harman, Lieu, Padilla, Price, Runner, Strickland, Vargas, and Wolk )

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

An act to amend Section 2773.3 of the Public Resources Code, relating to mining, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 742, as amended, Nestande Bonnie Lowenthal . Tribal gaming: local agencies.
Surface mining: Indian reservations and Native American sacred sites.
(1) The Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 prohibits a person, with exceptions, from conducting surface mining operations unless a permit is obtained from, a reclamation plan is submitted to and approved by, and financial assurances for reclamation have been approved by, the lead agency for the operation. Existing law prohibits a lead agency from approving a reclamation plan for a surface mining operation for gold, silver, copper, or other metallic minerals or financial assurances for the operation if the operation is located on, or within one mile of, a Native American sacred site and is located in an area of special concern, unless certain criteria are met.

This bill would also prohibit a lead agency from approving a reclamation plan for an aggregate products operation if the operation is located on or within 2,000 yards of the external boundaries of an Indian reservation and is on or within 5,000 yards of a Native American sacred site, and is on or within 4,000 yards of the Santa Margarita River or an aquifer that is hydrologically connected to the river, unless the tribe whose reservation is nearest the operation consents to the operation.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

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

SECTION 1. Section 2773.3 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:
2773.3. (a) In addition to other reclamation plan requirements of this chapter and regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this chapter, a lead agency may not approve a reclamation plan for a surface mining operation for gold, silver, copper, or other metallic minerals or financial assurances for the operation, if the operation is located on, or within one mile of, any Native American sacred site and is located in an area of special concern, unless both of the following criteria are met:
(1) The reclamation plan requires that all excavations be backfilled and graded to do both of the following:
(A) Achieve the approximate original contours of the mined lands prior to mining.
(B) Grade all mined materials that are in excess of the materials that can be placed back into excavated areas, including, but not limited to, all overburden, spoil piles, and heap leach piles, over the project site to achieve the approximate original contours of the mined lands prior to mining.
(2) The financial assurances are sufficient in amount to provide for the backfilling and grading required by paragraph (1).
(b) In addition to other reclamation plan requirements of this chapter and regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this chapter, a lead agency may not approve a reclamation plan for an aggregate products operation if the operation is located on or within 2,000 yards of the external boundaries of an Indian reservation and is on or within 5,000 yards of a site that is a Native American sacred site and is on or within 4,000 yards of the Santa Margarita River or an aquifer that is hydrologically connected to that river, unless the tribe whose reservation is nearest the operation consents to the operation.
(c) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meaning meanings :
(1) “Native American sacred site” means a specific area that is identified by a federally recognized Indian Tribe, Rancheria or Mission Band of Indians, or by the Native American Heritage Commission, as sacred by virtue of its established historical or cultural significance to, or ceremonial use by, a Native American group, including, but not limited to, any an area containing a prayer circle, shrine, petroglyph, or spirit break, or a path or area linking the circle, shrine, petroglyph, or spirit break with another circle, shrine, petroglyph, or spirit break.
(2) “Area of special concern” means an area in the California desert that is designated as Class C or Class L lands or as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern under the California Desert Conservation Area Plan of 1980, as amended, by the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, pursuant to Section 1781 of Title 43 of the United States Code.
SEC. 2. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

To protect from imminent destruction Native American reservations and sacred sites threatened by proposed aggregate products mining operations, it is necessary for this measure to take effective immediately. All matter omitted in this version of the bill appears in the bill as amended in the Assembly, March 31, 2011.
(JR11)

MAKE YOUR VOICE COUNT: Let our elected representatives know that you support this very important piece of legislation by sending the petition below.

AB 742 Protect Pechanga Sacred Sites

To the Honorable Senators and Assembly Members,

Governor Jerry Brown,
Members of the California State Assembly and Senate of the State of California
Sacramento, CA 95814

August 29, 2011
Re: SUPPORT for AB 742 (B. Lowenthal)

I write today to ask you to support AB 742 (B. Lowenthal). AB 742 is an important measure which would provide greater protection for Native American sacred sites by adding aggregate operations to the list of mining activities prohibited near such sites; specifically the project which threatens the creation place of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians. This legislation will also help to protect the Santa Margarita River, the 4,500 acre Santa Margarita Ecological Preserve of San Diego State University, and the Quality of Life for residents in the communities of Temecula, Murrieta, Fallbrook and Rainbow.

This specific article of legislation will not affect mining anywhere else in the state.

Granite Construction Company has applied to the County of Riverside for a Surface Mining Permit to produce 5 million tons aggregate (crushed rock) per year from the proposed Liberty Quarry. The proposed quarry would have a working surface area equivalent to 17 football fields and a depth twenty feet less than the Empire State Building is tall. This would be one of the largest open-pit hard rock mines in the United States and it would also be located at the Pechanga and Luiseño Place of Creation.

The referenced site, while critical to the Pechanga and the Luiseño, is important to the people of the Temecula Valley. Tourism is a critical element in the Temecula Valley, employing 6,600 people directly, providing services to 67,000 visitors per month with an estimated annual impact of 605 million dollars per year. A recent report by the Rose Institute of Claremont McKenna College estimated a negative impact of a minimal impact on tourism of 60.5 million dollars. When considering all costs, the Rose Institute estimated an annual cost to the community of over 80 million dollars. While the quarry might create 99 new jobs, it would destroy at least 660 existing jobs in the tourism industry alone.

It is because of these potential impacts as well as impacts on air quality, water quality and traffic, and the loss of the only remaining wildlife linkage between the Santa Ana mountains and inland mountain ranges, that over thirty thousand valley residents have signed petitions seeking to prevent the quarry. In addition, over 520 Businesses and Non-Government Organizations have signed up opposing the quarry. These businesses are joined by 159 local physicians opposing the quarry.

The proposed “Liberty Quarry” project would mark the end of the LAST wild river of Southern California and with it the region’s LAST wildlife corridor between the coastal Santa Ana Mountains and inland Palomar Mountains. Granite Construction’s project would degrade this LAST section of living, vital land., which is filled with the living history of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians. The area of living earth which Granite has targeted for destruction is part of a greater area which is replete with all the plant and animal life unique to our area. Wanton destruction of the living earth is easily indulged with dynamite and machines. Stewardship of this unique gift of a vital, dynamic, living ecosystem for generations to come may be the more difficult route. It is also what the community wants, what the voters want, and what is right for future generations.

Should the quarry go forward its legacy will be the destruction of irreplaceable natural resources, degradation of the environment, and the birth of long-lasting animosity towards all who would have permitted the project. There are currently over thirty thousand signatories who have expressed their desire to NOT have this project in their community. Other sources for aggregate currently exist in San Diego, Riverside, and Imperial Counties.

I respectfully ask you to preserve the Earth and Sky which are Sacred to both Native Americans and to those of us who have made this great land our home. Do not let Granite Construction destroy this land and malign all those who have taken the oath of office to support the will of the people. Please support AB 742 and help to ensure the preservation of this sacred site for generations to come.

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157 signatures

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