Barstow Municipal Code Art. II Definitions

The term "backfilling" means to replace material removed during mining with earth, overburden, mine waste or imported material.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.070; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "borrow pitting" means to create an excavation by the surface mining of rock, unconsolidated geologic deposits or soil to provide material (borrow) for fill elsewhere.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.080; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The abbreviation "CEQA" means the California Environmental Quality Act, located at Public Resources Code § 21000 et seq., as amended.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.090; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "commission" means the planning commission of the city.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.100; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "critical gradient" means the maximum stable inclination of an unsupported slope under the most adverse conditions that it will likely experience, as determined by current engineering technology.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.110; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "department" means the community development department of the city.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.120; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "director" means the community development director of the city, or the designee thereof.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.130; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "financial assurances" mean security posted by the owner or operator of a surface mining operation to guarantee satisfactory performance of a reclamation plan.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.140; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "grading" means to bring an existing surface to a designed form by cutting, filling and smoothing operations.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.150; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "idle" means to curtail a surface mining operation for a period of one year or more, with the intent to resume those surface mining operations at a future date, by more than 90 percent of the operation's previous maximum annual mineral production within any of the last five years during which an interim management plan has not been approved.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.160; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "interim management plan" means a report setting forth the measures that will be implemented to maintain the site of an idle surface mining operation in compliance with this chapter.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.170; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "mined lands" means the surface, subsurface, and groundwater of an area in which surface mining operations will be, are being, or have been conducted, including private ways and roads appurtenant to any such area, land excavations, workings, mining waste, and areas in which structures, facilities, equipment, machines, tools, or other materials or property which result from, or are used in, surface mining operations are located.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.180; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "minerals" means any naturally occurring chemical element or compound, or groups of elements or compounds, formed from inorganic processes and organic substances, including, but not limited to, coal, peat, and bituminous rock. The term "minerals" shall not include geothermal resources, natural gas, and petroleum.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.190; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "operator" means any person who is engaged in surface mining operations, or who contracts with others to conduct operations on his behalf, except a person who is engaged in surface mining operations as an employee with wages as his sole compensation.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.200; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "overburden" means soil, rock, or other materials that lie above a natural mineral deposit or in between mineral deposits, before or after their removal by surface mining operations.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.210; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "reclamation" means the combined process of land treatment that minimizes water degradation, air pollution, damage to aquatic or wildlife habitat, flooding, erosion, and other adverse effects from surface mining operations, including adverse surface effects incidental to underground mines, so that mined lands are reclaimed to a usable condition which is readily adaptable for alternate land uses and create no danger to public health or safety. The process may extend to affected lands surrounding mined lands, and may require backfilling, grading, resoiling, revegetation, soil compaction, stabilization, or other measures.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.220; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "reclamation plan" means a completed and approved plan for reclaiming the lands impacted by a surface mining operation conducted after January 1, 1976.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.230; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "resoiling" means the process of artificially building or reconstructing a soil profile.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.240; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The abbreviation "SMARA" means the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975, located at Public Resources Code § 2710 et seq., as amended.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.250; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "stream bed skimming" means excavation of sand and gravel from stream bed deposits above the mean summer water level or stream bottom, whichever is higher.

(Code 1969, § 15.28.260; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)

The term "surface mining operation" means all, or any part of, the process involved in the mining of minerals on mined lands by removing overburden and mining directly from the mineral deposits, open-pit mining of minerals naturally exposed, mining by the auger method, dredging and quarrying, or surface work incident to an underground mine. The term "surface mining operation" includes, but is not limited to, in place distillation or retorting or leaching, the production and disposal of mining waste, prospecting and exploratory activities, borrow pitting, stream bed skimming, and segregation and stockpiling of mined materials (and recovery of same).

(Code 1969, § 15.28.270; Ord. No. 747, § 1(part), 1999)