U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer

[Sen. Boxer] – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) reintroduced the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act on Tuesday, legislation that would resolve a 15-year-long mining dispute between the City of Santa Clarita and CEMEX USA by requiring the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to cancel current mining contracts in Soledad Canyon and prohibit future mining at this site. The legislation was updated to make clear that it will have no cost to the federal government or taxpayers.

“By ensuring that this bill will have no cost to the government or taxpayers, I believe we have increased our chances of passing it,” Senator Boxer said. “This legislation has the support of the City of Santa Clarita and CEMEX USA, and I am hopeful that we can work with both Republicans and Democrats in Congress to resolve this decades-long dispute and protect the people of the Santa Clarita Valley from pollution and traffic congestion.”

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Senator Boxer is also sending a letter to Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) and Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), requesting that the provisions of her bill be included in the Interior Appropriations bill if it is passed in this Congress. In addition, she sent a letter to Environment and Natural Resources Chairman Mary Landrieu and Ranking Member Murkowski (R-AK) asking for their support for the legislation as well.

In 2007, the City of Santa Clarita and CEMEX USA announced that they would seek a compromise agreement that would avoid mining in Soledad Canyon while compensating CEMEX USA for the value of the mining contracts.

Boxer’s bill, which has the strong support of Santa Clarita officials, would implement a balanced solution. The bill directs the BLM to cancel CEMEX USA’s sand and gravel mining leases at Soledad Canyon and withdraw this site from future mining. The bill calls for the BLM to sell lands near Victorville, California that have already been identified for disposal and use the proceeds to compensate CEMEX USA for the canceled contracts.

The Congressional Budget Office has reviewed the revised language in the bill and concluded that it has a zero score. The measure would ensure that no cost would be incurred by the taxpayers to complete the agreement to cancel CEMEX USA’s mining leases – either before or after the sale of the BLM lands.

Santa Clarita officials recently sent a letter to the Administration expressing their interest in donating the mine property to the federal government to serve as a gateway point for the recently designated San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, as the mine sits directly on the new monument’s northwestern boundary.  However, the mining dispute would first need to be resolved before the city could donate the property.

In November 2013, Boxer and Santa Clarita then-Mayor Bob Kellar testified in support of the measure before the Senate Energy and National Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands. Senator Boxer previously introduced similar legislation in the 111th and 112th Congresses.