Gov. Jerry Brown has signed Senator Fran Pavley and Assemblyman Adam Gray’s mining reform legislation that will protect communities and ensure professional sand-and-gravel mining operations will continue to provide the raw material for California.

The legislation is the outcome of months of negotiation among the mining industry, local governments and environmental groups that followed Gov. Brown’s call for a “top to bottom” overhaul of mining laws.

“Mining law reform is important because local communities can be affected by any number of impacts from mines that do not function properly,” Pavley said. “We knew that mines were not being inspected, that mines had posted inadequate financial guarantees, and that mines were operating under outdated reclamation plans.”

Pavley said that the Governor recognized the importance of mining reform and convened numerous state agency, industry and environmental organizations to hammer out changes. Those changes were divided among two bills that the Governor signed on Monday.

“The package contains provisions that are important to industry, that will make the bureaucracy work more smoothly, and that will provide the public with better mining operations while providing necessary materials for houses, roads and infrastructure,” said Assemblyman Gray.

There are more than 1,000 active mines in California that remove aggregate for building material, metals, and minerals. Mining operators are required under the state’s Surface Mining and Reclamation Act to develop and implement reclamation plans, which will return the mine to a condition where it can be used for another purpose after the mining operation is complete.

However, there have been numerous instances when a mine operator cannot be located or is unable to complete the mine reclamation. Financial assurances are required to make sure there will be resources available to reclaim the mine. When the resources are inadequate, a community can be left with a large hole in the ground that can be a danger to the public.

The two reform bills are Senator Pavley’s SB 209, which was sponsored by The Sierra Fund; and Assemblyman Gray’s AB 1142, sponsored by an industry coalition.

In the interest of achieving consensus, the issues were divided between the two bills.

SB 209 contains the provisions that formalize the state’s role in mining oversight by establishing the Division of Mines and reclamation within the Department of Conservation and creating the Supervisor of Mines and Reclamation. It also contains the provision relating to the fees paid by industry, provides and authorizes the Board of Mining and Geology to develop a corporate financial test that will limit the amount of financial guarantees that financially sound firms are required to post.

AB 1142 contains the provisions relating to reclamation plans, financial assurances, training of local government inspectors and enforcement.

“Most observers have said the two bills represent the most significant upgrades to the state’s mining laws in nearly a generation,” Pavley said. “There is more to do, but I think we have established a stronger footing for annual inspections, strengthened the role of local governments, provided for better enforcement, reclamation plans, and surety documents for when operators walk away from a mine without completing reclamation.”