SECTIONS 2795-2796.5 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 2795-2796.5

2795. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the first two
million dollars ($2,000,000) of moneys from mining activities on
federal lands disbursed by the United States each fiscal year to this
state pursuant to Section 35 of the Mineral Lands Leasing Act, as
amended (30 U.S.C. Sec. 191), shall be deposited in the Surface
Mining and Reclamation Account in the General Fund, which account is
hereby created, and may be expended, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, for purposes of this chapter.
(b) Proposed expenditures from the account shall be included in a
separate item in the Budget Bill for each fiscal year for
consideration by the Legislature. Each appropriation from the account
shall be subject to all of the limitations contained in the Budget
Act and to all other fiscal procedures prescribed by law with respect
to the expenditure of state funds.

2796.5. (a) The director, with the consultation of appropriate
state and local agencies, may remediate or complete reclamation of
abandoned mined lands that meet all of the following requirements:
(1) No operator having both the responsibility and the financial
ability to remediate or reclaim the mined lands can be found within
the state.
(2) No reclamation plan is in effect for the mined lands.
(3) No financial assurances exist for the mined lands.
(4) The mined lands are abandoned, as that term is used in
paragraph (6) of subdivision (h) of Section 2770.
(b) In deciding whether to act pursuant to subdivision (a), the
director shall consider whether the action would accomplish one of
the following:
(1) The protection of the public health and safety or the
environment from the adverse effects of past surface mining
operations.
(2) The protection of property that is in danger as a result of
past surface mining operations.
(3) The restoration of land and water resources previously
degraded by the adverse effects of surface mining operations.
(c) The director may also consider the potential liability to the
state in deciding whether to act under this section. Neither the
director, the department, nor the state, or its appointees,
employees, or agents, in conducting remediation or reclamation under
this section, shall be liable under applicable state law, and it is
the intent of the Legislature that those persons and entities not be
liable for those actions under federal laws.
(d) (1) The remediation or reclamation work performed under this
section includes, but is not limited to, supervision of remediation
or reclamation activities that, in the director's judgment, is
required by the magnitude of the endeavor or the urgency for prompt
action needed to protect the public health and safety or the
environment. The action may be taken in default of, or in addition
to, remedial work by any other person or governmental agency, and
regardless of whether injunctive relief is being sought.
(2) The director may authorize the work to be performed through
department staff, with the cooperation of any other governmental
agency, or through contracts, and may use rented tools or equipment,
either with or without operators furnished.
(3) In cases of emergency where quick action is necessary,
notwithstanding any other provision of law, the director may enter
into oral contracts for the work, and the contracts, whether written
or oral, may include provisions for the rental of tools or equipment
and in addition the furnishing of labor and materials necessary to
accomplish the work. These emergency contracts are exempt from
approval by the Department of General Services pursuant to Section
10295 of the Public Contract Code.
(4) The director shall be permitted reasonable access to the
abandoned mined lands as necessary to perform any remediation or
reclamation work. The access shall be obtained with the consent of
the owner or possessor of the property or, if the consent is withheld
or otherwise unobtainable, with a warrant duly issued pursuant to
the procedure described in Title 13 (commencing with Section 1822.50)
of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure. However, in the event of
an emergency affecting the public health or safety, the director may
enter the property without consent or the issuance of a warrant.
(e) For any remediation or reclamation work accomplished, or other
necessary remedial action taken by any governmental agency, the
operator, landowner, and the person or persons who allowed or caused
any pollution or nuisance are liable to that governmental agency to
the extent of the reasonable costs actually incurred in remediating,
reclaiming, or taking other remedial action. The amount of the costs
is recoverable in a civil action by, and paid to, the governmental
agency and the director to the extent of the director's contribution
to the costs of the remediation, reclamation, cleanup, and abatement
or other corrective action.
(f) (1) The amount of the costs constitutes a lien on the affected
property upon service of a copy of the notice of lien on the owner
and upon the recordation of a notice of lien, which identifies the
property on which the remediation or reclamation was accomplished,
the amount of the lien, and the owner of record of the property, in
the office of the county recorder of the county in which the property
is located. Upon recordation, the lien has the same force, effect,
and priority as a judgment lien, except that it attaches only to the
property posted and described in the lien. The lien shall continue
for 10 years from the time of the recording of the notice of the lien
unless sooner released or otherwise discharged, and may be renewed.
(2) Not later than 45 days after receiving a notice of lien, the
owner may petition the court for an order releasing the property from
the lien or reducing the amount of the lien. In this court action,
the governmental agency that incurred the costs shall establish that
the costs were reasonable and necessary. The lien may be foreclosed
by an action brought by the director, for a money judgment. Money
recovered by a judgment in favor of the director shall be used for
the purposes of this chapter.
(g) If the operation has been idle for more than one year without
obtaining an approved interim management plan, an application for the
review of an interim management plan filed for the purpose of
preventing the director from undertaking remediation or reclamation
of abandoned mined lands under this section shall be voidable by the
lead agency or the board upon notice and hearing by the lead agency
or the board. In the event of conflicting determinations, the
decision of the board shall prevail.
(h) "Remediate," for the purposes of this section, means to
improve conditions so that threat to or damage to public health and
safety or the environment are lessened or ameliorated, including the
cleanup and abatement of pollution or nuisance or threatened
pollution or nuisance.
(i) "Threaten," for the purposes of this section, means a
condition creating a probability of harm, when the probability and
potential extent of harm make it reasonably necessary to take action
to prevent, reduce, or mitigate damages to persons, property, or the
environment.
(j) This section shall apply to abandoned mined lands on which the
mining operations were conducted after January 1, 1976.
(k) The director may act under this section only upon the
appropriation of funds by the Legislature for the purposes of
carrying out this section.
(l) Nothing in this section limits the authority of any state
agency under any other law or regulation to enforce or administer any
cleanup or abatement activity.