Natural Resources and Mining Law Blog
A bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week creates a new “idle reserve” mining category, allowing aggregate mines to remain idle for up to 25 years instead of 15, changes the test for determining “idle”, along with additional changes. This article explains what the bill, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2027, means to mine operators.
Assembly Bill 982 amends the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (“SMARA”) to (1) create a new classification of mine status known as “Idle Reserve Mine Status,” which allows qualifying construction aggregate mines that have temporarily ceased surface mining operations and are already classified as “idle” to remain idle for up to 10 additional years before the mine must begin reclamation of the site; and (2) replace the production-based definition of an “idle” mine with an activity-based definition, applicable to any and all surface mines in the state. The law also adds the new mine statuses to the annual reports operators file and, from 2028 through 2032, requires the Division of Mine Reclamation (“DMR”) to post each mine’s status publicly by lead agency.
AB 982 was authored by Assemblymember Juan Carrillo (D-Palmdale) and sponsored by JMM client California Construction and Industrial Materials Association (“CalCIMA”). It revisits two issues the Legislature last addressed in SB 108 (2011), which refined, but ultimately retained, the production-based definition of “idle,” and SB 143 (2012), which capped the term of an Interim Management Plan (“IMP”) at 15 years. The Legislature stated its intent to “minimize the waste of construction resources, while ensuring the timely reclamation of idle construction aggregate mines, and to prevent indefinite delays in or avoidance of reclamation efforts.”