SECTIONS 6890-6900 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 6890-6900

6890. (a) Prospecting permits and leases for the extraction and
removal of minerals, other than oil and gas or other hydrocarbon
substances, from lands, including tide and submerged lands belonging
to the state, may be issued as provided in this article and in this
chapter insofar as not in conflict with this article. The commission
shall not issue any permit or lease under this section until it has
been submitted to the Attorney General and has been approved by the
Attorney General as to compliance with the applicable law and rules
and regulations of the commission. No lease or permit shall be issued
which results in any net adverse impact to wetlands or riparian
habitat.
(b) Where lands, other than tide and submerged lands, belonging to
the state have been dedicated to a public use, the commission may
issue permits and leases for the exploration, extraction, and removal
of minerals, other than oil and gas or other hydrocarbon substances
and geothermal resources, in accordance with this article. Where the
lands have been acquired for the use of a specific state agency, the
state agency, prior to issuance, shall approve the work to be
performed under the authority of the permit or lease and the state
agency shall specify terms and conditions required to ensure that the
work shall be performed in a manner which is not inconsistent with
the purposes for which the land is owned or operated.
(c) If the property is a wildlife management area acquired
pursuant to Section 1525 of the Fish and Game Code, the commission
shall not issue any permit or lease under this section unless the
Department of Fish and Game determines, and reports in writing to the
commission, that the proposed activity will not cause a net loss of
wildlife habitat value or acreage in that area because privately
owned land of greater total wildlife habitat value and acreage, which
has habitat values similar in type to the area to be permitted or
leased, will be acquired and dedicated to the state to replace the
land of that wildlife management area. The replacement land shall be
located within 10 miles of the wildlife management area where the
lease or permit is to be issued.
(d) The commission shall not issue a permit or lease under this
section for any land under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Parks and Recreation, for any refuge or other protected area, as
described in Division 7 (commencing with Section 10500) of the Fish
and Game Code, or for any ecological reserve, as described in Article
4 (commencing with Section 1580) of Chapter 5 of Division 2 of the
Fish and Game Code.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 6217, as of June 30 of each year, a
sum equal to 50 percent of the revenue received by the state for the
fiscal year ending on June 30 pursuant to permits and leases for the
development of minerals, other than oil, gas, or other hydrocarbon
substances and geothermal resources, on lands which have been
dedicated to a public use and are administered by a state agency
other than the commission shall be available for appropriation by the
Legislature for the support of, and apportionment and transfer by
the Controller to, that state agency.
(f) If the state agency receives a majority of its funding from a
special fund established for the general support of the agency, the
revenue made available by subdivision (e) shall be deposited in that
fund and shall be available, when appropriated, for the general
purposes of the agency.
(g) Any person issued a permit or lease under subdivision (a)
shall comply with all existing federal, state, and local government
laws.

6890.5. Notwithstanding any other law, when lands, other than tide
and submerged lands, are owned by another state agency, the
commission, when issuing permits and leases for the exploration,
extraction, and removal of minerals, other than oil and gas or other
hydrocarbon substances and geothermal resources, may agree that the
state agency owning the land will receive additional lands or in-kind
payments, the value of which shall be deducted from the money
royalty, including land rental payments, or a percentage of the net
profits from mineral extraction.

6891. The commission may issue a prospecting permit, under such
rules and regulations as it may prescribe, for lands which are not
known mineral lands, to any qualified applicant, upon the payment to
the commission of a reasonable charge, as determined by the
commission, of not less than one dollar ($1) per acre for each acre
in area embraced within the boundaries of the lands described in the
permit. No permit shall be issued for any lands which have been
classified by the commission prior to the application as containing
commercially valuable mineral deposits. Upon receipt of an
application for a permit, the commission shall determine whether the
lands described therein are known mineral lands. If the commission
determines that the lands are known mineral lands, it shall thereupon
so classify them and shall reject the application for a prospecting
permit.
Subject to such terms and conditions as the commission may
determine to be in the best interest of the state, a prospecting
permit shall give to the permittee the exclusive right for a period
not exceeding two years to prospect for minerals other than oil and
gas or other hydrocarbon substances upon lands wherein the mineral
deposits belong to the state.
The commission may, in its discretion, extend the term of any
permit for a period not exceeding one year, but the term of any
permit, including extensions, shall be limited to a total of three
years.

6892. If the applicant erects upon the land for which a permit is
sought a monument not less than four feet high, at some conspicuous
place thereon, and posts written notice on or near the monument,
stating that an application for a permit will be made within 30 days
after the date of posting the notice, giving the name of the
applicant, the date of the notice, and such a general description of
the land to be covered by the permit by reference to courses and
distances from the monument or from such other natural objects or
permanent monuments, or both, as will reasonably identify the land,
stating the amount thereof in acres, and if the applicant records a
copy of the notice, within two days after the posting thereof, in the
county recorder's office of the county in which the land is
situated, he shall be entitled to a preferential right over others to
a permit for the land so identified for a period of 30 days
following such marking and posting.

6894. The applicant shall, within 90 days after receiving a permit,
mark each of the corners of the tract described in the permit upon
the ground with substantial monuments, so that the boundaries can be
readily traced upon the ground, and shall post in a conspicuous place
upon the lands a notice that such permit has been granted and a
description of the land covered thereby; provided, however, that if
the tract described in any such permit consists of tide or submerged
lands, it shall be deemed a compliance with the provisions of this
section to record such notice with the county recorder of the county
in which the lands or the greater portion thereof are located.

6895. Upon establishing to the satisfaction of the commission that
commercially valuable deposits of minerals have been discovered
within the limits of any permit, the permittee shall be entitled to a
lease for not more than 960 acres of the land included in the
prospecting permit, if there is that number of acres within the
permit. The area selected by the permittee shall be in compact form
and, if surveyed, shall be described by the legal subdivisions of the
public lands surveys; if unsurveyed, the area shall be surveyed by
the commission at the expense of the applicant for the lease, in
accordance with rules and regulations prescribed by the commission,
and the lands leased shall be conformed to, and taken in accordance
with, the legal subdivisions of the surveys. The lease shall provide
for the payment of an annual rental of not less than one dollar ($1)
per acre, as determined by the commission. The lease shall also
provide for payment, which may be taken in kind, of either a royalty,
to be taken in money or in kind, at the option of the commission, of
not less than 10 percent of the gross value of all mineral
production from the leased lands, less any charges approved by the
commission that were made or incurred with respect to transporting or
processing the state's royalty share of production, or a percentage,
to be determined by the commission, of the net profits derived from
mineral extraction operations under the lease. Payment as a royalty
or as a percentage of net profits shall be specified in the permit.
Notwithstanding the 960-acre limitation of this section, whenever the
lands for which a lease is sought are tide and submerged lands, the
commission may divide the lands into the size and number of parcels
as the commission determines will not substantially impair the public
rights to navigation and fishing or interfere with the trust upon
which the lands are held.

6896. Until the permittee applies for a lease as to that portion of
the area described in the permit herein provided, he shall pay to
the State 20 per cent of the gross value of the minerals secured by
him from the lands embraced within his permit and sold or otherwise
disposed of or held by him for sale or other dispostion.

6897. (a) All deposits of minerals, other than oil, gas, and
geothermal resources in lands belonging to the state, which have been
classified by the commission as lands containing commercially
valuable mineral deposits and all deposits of such minerals within
lands embraced within a prospecting permit and not subject to
preferential lease to the permittee, may be leased by the commission
in either of the following ways:
(1) By competitive bidding to the highest qualified and
responsible bidder. The bidding shall be on the basis of a cash
bonus, royalty rate, net profit, or other single biddable factor, and
shall be conducted under general regulations and in a form to be
determined by the commission to be in the best interest of the state.
(2) By a negotiated lease or other agreement, if the lands are
determined by the commission to be unsuitable for competitive bidding
for reasons such as small size, irregular configuration, lack of
access, or if a negotiated lease is in the best interest of the
state.
(b) In addition to the payment of a royalty in money or in kind or
a percentage of the net profits derived from mineral extraction
operations provided therein, each bid and each lease shall also
provide for an annual payment in advance of rent of not less than one
dollar ($1) per acre or a greater sum as the commission may specify.

6898. Leases under this article shall be for terms not to exceed 20
years with the preferential right in the lessee to renew the lease
for successive periods not to exceed 10 years each, upon such
reasonable terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the
commission.

6898.5. Notwithstanding Section 6898, any lease in effect on July
1, 1991, of lands, within the bed of Owens Lake for the development
of minerals other than oil and gas and geothermal resources may be
immediately extended by the commission for an additional 20 years
beyond its current expiration date, with the subsequent lease renewal
in accordance with Section 6898.

6899. The commission shall prescribe such additional terms,
covenants and conditions, consistent with the provisions of this
chapter, of permits and leases issued under this article as will in
its opinion effectually protect the interests of the State in the
mineral deposits reserved to it by this chapter.

6900. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 6890, the
commission may, when it appears to be in the public interest, grant
leases for the extraction of minerals other than oil and gas to the
highest responsible bidder by competitive bidding from tide and
submerged lands of the State whenever it appears that the execution
of such leases and the operations thereunder will not interfere with
the trust upon which such lands are held or substantially impair the
public rights to navigation and fishing.