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| Mining Associations Challenge Financial Assurance Regulation The Mineral Associations Coalition (MAC), California Mining Association (CMA), Construction Materials Association of California (CMAC) and Southern California Rock Products Association (SCRPA) have filed suit against the State Mining & Geology Board for their adoption of regulations regarding the release of Financial Assurances, which exceed the authority granted in statute. The litigation is being handled on behalf of the associations by the Downey Brand Law Firm in Sacramento.
The regulation in question grants the Director of the Department of Conservation final say in whether reclamation is complete superceding the authority of the lead agency granted under PRC 2773.1 (c). “Financial assurances shall no longer be required of a surface mining operation, and shall be released, upon written notification by the lead agency, which shall be forwarded to the operator and the Director, that reclamation has been completed in accordance with the approved reclamation plan.” That is the lead agency is required to notify the Director, not seek his concurrence with the lead agency determination.
SMARA Seminars Attract Cross-section of Industry Players Mark
Harrison of the Diepenbrock Law Firm is conducting a series of SMARA
workshops around the State. Space is still available in the last session
in Stockton November 9, 2004.
These seminars are jointly sponsored by the Claifornia Mining Association, Construction Materials Association of California and Southern California Rock Products Association. Adam Harper, Association Manger of the California Mining Association said of the seminars, "Mark does a fantastic job of explaining the intricacies of SMARA. After attending the program, I found that Mark had reminded me of small details which even after working with the statute for years I had never fully considered." Already there have been over 150 people who have attended these seminars and the attendees range from lead agency and other county employees to mine operators, environmental consultants and attorneys. You do not want to miss this chance to get a detailed overview of every aspect of SMARA.
CMA
Announces New Members West
Coast Environmental and Engineering (WCE), is pleased to announce the
opening of a Northern California office in Nevada City. Justice
and Associates is searching for a senior environmental/land use consultant. Resource
Design relocates its northern California office. Anne
T. McQueen, Ph.D., P.E. has joined Geomatrix Consultants as Senior Engineer.
2005 Annual Conference Call for Papers The
California Mining Association is accepting speaking proposals for the
2005 Annual Conference, May 25-27 at the Resort at Squaw Creek.
Please click here and complete the form by November 29th. Please
contact Stephanie Pridmore: spridmore@calmining.org or (916) 447-1977
with any questions. |
The
California Mining Assocation is dedicated to the advancement of responsible
mining and the education of the public to the vital role of minerals and
mining to our society. |
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Realities
of Today: CMA’s 2004 annual conference in the Napa Valley was another success. We began the event with a excellent golf tournament chaired by Eric Mears with Brown and Caldwell, and ended on an elegant evening among colleagues and friends with a wine maker’s dinner.
In between the fun and excitement of our networking events, attendees were presented with top-notch educational sessions touching on hot topics such as mine planning, reclamation, and permitting. Regulatory and legislative updates were also on the agenda for the week. The Annual Conference Committee would like to send a sincere thanks to all of the conference speakers who were responsible for the success of the conference.
Conference Chairman, Bob Zaebst with Viceroy Gold Corp., would also like to express his gratitude to the exhibitors, who as always, work hard to ensure the exhibit hall is a relaxing environment conducive to networking events such as the welcome reception and the ice cream social. The CMA staff would like to thank the Annual Conference Committee for their hard work in putting together another great conference. We hope to see you at the 2005 conference scheduled for May 25 -27 at the Resort at Squaw Creek! We cannot leave without saying how fortunate we are to have the support of our conference sponsors. Their sponsorships help the association by financial means in order to help bring you an exceptional conference at a reasonable cost. Thank you to the following: Special
Thanks to:
John Bennett with CMA member California Portland Cement and Ted Stevens, general counsel for CMA member Blue Mountain Minerals attend the general session at the 2004 CMA Annual Conference held at the Napa Merriott.
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Abandoned
Mine Lands Unit Reports Over the past two fiscal years, the Abandoned Mine Lands Unit (AMLU) performed 42 abandoned mine remediation projects involving 149 mine features in the counties of Alpine (2 projects, 2 features), Nevada (5 projects, 8 features), Butte (1 project, 1 feature), Plumas (2 projects, 3 features), El Dorado (1 project, 1 feature), San Bernardino (14 projects, 39 features), Imperial (1 project, 1 feature), San Luis Obispo (1 project, 6 features), Kern (5 projects, 69 features), Sierra (5 projects, 9 features), Mariposa (3 projects, 6 features) Trinity (2 projects, 4 features). The AMLU partnered with other agencies in both the California and federal governments, including:
In October 2003, the AMLU helped coordinate the closure of a hazardous mine shaft on private property near Volcanoville. A contractor installed a polyurethane foam plug at the property owner’s expense. In November 2003, the AMLU worked with the Paradise Irrigation District to close a hazardous mine shaft adjacent to a residential area (click here for more on this project). Finally, the AMLU has worked closely with Bat Conservation International, Inc. to balance public safety and wildlife habitat needs. The AMLU co-sponsored a bat-gating building workshop in San Bernardino County in November 2003. Two abandoned mine features were remediated as a part of the workshop.
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