STATE MINING AND GEOLOGY BOARD CONSIDERS AMENDED SURFACE MINING AND RECLAMATION ACT (SMARA) REGULATIONS AFFECTING VESTED MINING RIGHTS

摘要

In December 2007, the State Mining and Geology Board (SMGB) proposed new regulations to determine vested mining rights in those areas of the state where the SMGB is the lead agency. The proposed new regulations are in direct response to the decision in Calvert v. Yuba County, 145 Cal. App. 4th 613 (2006). In Calvert, the court held that determinations of pre-SMARA vested rights are adjudicative rather than ministerial actions when they implicate the diminishing asset doctrine. In that case, Western Aggregates applied to the county for a determination of its pre-SMARA vested rights pursuant to Cal. Pub. Res. Code para 2776, to conduct surface mining operations on the Yuba goldfields. Without notice to adjacent landowners or to the public, and without a hearing, the county determined that Western had obtained vested rights to 3,430 acres, expanding the operation from its present 1,200-acre size. Subsequently, William Calvert, an adjacent landowner, sued the county to set aside the vested rights determination.