Richmond Municipal Code Ch. 12.46 Surface Mining and Reclamation

(a) This chapter is adopted pursuant to the California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975, Chapter 9, Public Resources Code.

(b) The council finds and declares that the extraction of minerals is essential to the continued economic well-being of the City and to the needs of the society, and that the reclamation of mined lands is necessary to prevent or minimize adverse effects on the environment and to protect the public health and safety.

(c) The council further finds that the reclamation of mined lands as provided in this chapter will permit the continued mining of minerals and will provide for the protection and subsequent beneficial use of the mined and reclaimed land.

(d) The council further finds that surface mining takes place in diverse areas where the geologic, topographic, climatic, biological, and social conditions are significantly different and that reclamation operations and the specifications therefore may vary accordingly.

(a) "Exploration" or "prospecting" means the search for minerals by geological, geophysical, geochemical or other techniques, including, but not limited to, sampling, assaying, drilling, or any surface or underground works needed to determine the type, extent, or quantity of minerals present.

(b) "Mined lands" includes 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.

(c) "Minerals" means any naturally occurring chemical element or compound, or groups of elements and compounds, formed from inorganic processes and organic substances, including, but not limited to, coal, peat, and bituminous rock, but excluding geothermal resources, natural gas and petroleum. Rock, sand, gravel and earth shall also be considered minerals when extracted by surface mining operations.

(d) "Mining waste" includes the residual of soil, rock, mineral, liquid, vegetation, equipment, machines, tools, or other materials or property directly resulting from, or displaced by, surface mining operations.

(e) "Operator" means any person who is engaged in surface mining operations, himself, or who contracts with others to conduct operations on his behalf.

(f) "Overburden" means soil, rock, or other materials that lie above a natural mineral deposit or in between deposits, before or after their removal, by surface mining operations.

(g) "Permit" means any formal authorization from, or approved by, the City, the absence of which would preclude surface mining operations.

(h) "Person" means any individual, firm, association, corporation, organization, or partnership, or any city, county, district, or the State or any department or agency thereof.

(i) "Reclamation" means the process of land treatment that minimizes water degradation, air pollution, damage to aquatic or wildlife habitat, flooding, erosion, and other 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.

(j) "State Board " means the State Mining and Geology Board, in the Department of Conservation, State of California.

(k) "State Geologist" means the individual holding office as structured in Section 677 of Article 3, Chapter 2 of Division 1 of the Public Resources Code.

(l) "Surface mining operations" 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. Surface mining operations shall include, but are not limited to:

(1) Inplace distillation, retorting or leaching.

(2) The production and disposal of mining waste.

(3) Prospecting and exploratory activities.

(a) The provisions of this chapter shall apply to the incorporated areas of the City of Richmond.

(b) The provisions of this chapter are not applicable to:

(1) Excavations or grading conducted for farming or onsite construction or for the purpose of restoring land following a flood or natural disaster.

(2) Prospecting and exploration for minerals of commercial value where less than one thousand cubic yards of overburden is removed in any one location of one acre or less.

(3) Any surface mining operation that does not involve either the removal of a total of more than one thousand cubic yards of minerals, ores, and overburden, or involve more than one acre in any one location.

(4) Surface mining operations that are required by Federal law in order to protect a mining claim, if such operations are conducted solely for that purpose.

(5) Such other mining operations that the City determines to be of an infrequent nature, and which involve only minor surface disturbances and are categorically identified (no such identifications made as of the effective date of these regulations) by the State Board pursuant to Section 2714(d) and 2758(c), California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975.

(a) Any person, except as provided in Section 2776, California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975, who proposes to engage in surface mining operations as defined in this chapter shall, prior to the commencement of such operations, obtain:

(1) A conditional use permit in accordance with Section 15.04.190 of the Richmond Municipal Code; and

(2) Approval of a reclamation plan by the planning commission, in accordance with the provisions set forth in this chapter and as further provided in Article 5, California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975. A fee may be prescribed in sum set by resolution of the City Council for the permit to mine and approval of the reclamation plan.

All applications for a reclamation plan for surface mining operations shall be made on forms provided by the City Planning Department, and as called for by Section 2772 of California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975.

(b) No person who has obtained a vested right to conduct a surface mining operation prior to January 1, 1976, shall be required to secure a permit pursuant to the provisions of this chapter as long as such vested right continues; provided, that no substantial change is made in that operation except in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. A person shall be deemed to have such vested rights if, prior to January 1, 1976, he has in good faith and in reliance upon a permit or other authorization as required, diligently commenced surface mining operations and incurred substantial liabilities for work and materials necessary therefor. Expenses incurred in the issuance of a permit for a particular operation shall not be deemed liabilities for work or materials.

A person who has obtained a vested right to conduct surface mining operations prior to January 1, 1976, shall submit to the City Planning Department and receive, within a period of twelve months, approval of a reclamation plan for operations to be conducted after January 1, 1976, unless a reclamation plan was approved by the City of Richmond prior to January 1, 1976, and the person submitting that plan has accepted responsibility for reclaiming the mined lands in accordance with that plan. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as requiring the filing of a reclamation plan for or the reclamation of mined lands on which surface mining operations were conducted prior to, but not after, January 1, 1976.

(c) The State Geologist shall be notified of the filing of all permit applications.

(d) This chapter shall be continuously reviewed and revised, as necessary, in order to ensure that it is in accordance with the State policy for mined lands reclamation.

(a) The planning department shall review the permit application for compliance with the general plan and zoning ordinance. The Public Works Department shall review the reclamation plan for compliance with the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975. The planning director shall schedule a public hearing at a meeting of the planning commission within sixty days of the filing of both the permit application and the reclamation plan.

(b) Where the permit to mine and/or reclamation plan is a project subject to the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970, as amended, the sixty-day period shall commence the day following certification of the final environmental impact report by the environmental impact panel pursuant to the City Council Resolution No. 91-77, or expiration of the negative declaration appeal period, or if appealed, final resolution of the appeal, pursuant to City Council Resolution No. 91-77, as amended.

(c) The planning commission may approve a request of the applicant to continue the public hearing on the permit to mine and/or reclamation plan to a future specified date. However, this public hearing must be held within one year of the date the permit application was filed, whether or not an environmental impact report or negative declaration is prepared.

(d) Where the procedures for processing an application for a conditional use permit to conduct a surface mining operation, as stated in this chapter, differ from those stated in Chapter 15.04, the procedures of this chapter shall apply.

Upon a finding by the planning commission that a supplemental guarantee for the reclamation of the mined land is necessary, and upon the determination by the planning department of the cost of the reclamation of mined lands according to reclamation plan, a surety bond, lien, or other security guarantee conditioned upon the faithful performance of the reclamation plan shall be filed with the planning department. Such surety shall be executed in favor of the City of Richmond and reviewed and revised, as necessary, biannually. Such surety shall be maintained in an amount equal to the cost of completing the remaining reclamation of the site as prescribed in the approved or amended reclamation plan during the succeeding two-year period, or other reasonable term.

Reclamation plans, reports, applications, and other documents submitted pursuant to this chapter are public records unless it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the City that the release of such information, or part thereof, would reveal production, reserves, or rate of depletion entitled to protection as proprietary information. The City shall identify such proprietary information as a separate part of each application. A copy of all permits, reclamation plans, reports, application, and other documents submitted pursuant to this chapter, including proprietary information, shall be furnished to the District Geologist of the State Division of Mines (and Geology) by the City of Richmond.

Proprietary information shall be made available to persons other than the State Geologist only when authorized by the mine operator and by the mine owner in accordance with Section 2778, California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975.

As a condition of approval for the permit or the reclamation plan, or both, the planning commission shall establish a schedule for periodic inspections of the site to evaluate continuing compliance with the permit and the reclamation plan.

Amendments to an approved reclamation plan may be submitted to the planning commission at any time, detailing proposed changes from the original plan. Substantial deviations from the original plan shall not be undertaken until such amendment has been filed with, and approved by, the planning commission.

Amendments to an approved reclamation plan shall be approved by the same procedure as is prescribed for approval of a reclamation plan.

Variances from an approved reclamation plan may be allowed upon request of the operator and applicant, if they are not one and the same, and upon a finding by the planning commission that each registered variance is necessary to achieve the prescribed or higher post-mining use of the reclaimed land.

The provisions of this chapter shall be enforced by the Director of Public Works, or such other persons as may be designated by the council.

Any person aggrieved by an act or determination of the planning commission in the exercise of the authority granted in this chapter shall have the right to appeal to the City Council in accordance with subdivision 8 of subsection C of Section 15.04.190 of the Richmond Municipal Code. Any appeal must be filed on forms provided within ten days after the rendition, in writing, of the decision.

If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this chapter is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, it shall not affect the remaining portions of this chapter.

(Source: Ordinance No. 6-79 N.S.)