Dredge Mining Ban Bill Passes Key Assembly Committee Today

Dredge Mining Ban Bill Passes Key Assembly Committee Today

by Dan Bacher

State Senator Pat Wiggin's SB 670 - the bill that puts a moratorium on the issuance of suction dredge permits by the California Department of Fish and Game until a CEQA review and rules revision is conduced - passed out of the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee on a 11-0 vote today.

SB 670 is headed to headed to the Appropriations Committee next week, then on to the Assembly Floor. The bill is supported by a broad coalition of California Indian Tribes, commercial fishing organizations, recreational fishing groups and environmental organizations.

"It has already passed the Senate with a two-thirds majority," said Craig Tucker, Klamath Coordinator for the Karuk Tribe. "We seek to have two-thirds majority in the Assembly, as this is needed to make it an 'urgency' bill. This means that the law would go into effect upon signing by the Governor as opposed to Jan 1 of next year."

Tucker noted that bill so far has enjoyed significant bipartisan support and he and other supporters of the legislation are "very optimistic" that it will pass and be signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“It is heartening to see such strong support for SB 670 in both the Senate and Assembly," said Scott Harding, Executive Director of the Klamath Riverkeeper. "This bill helps address the dramatic decline of California’s fisheries and promotes equality by no longer allowing a small group of hobby miners to harm the state’s important commercial fisheries and tourism economies that rely on clean, healthy rivers."

“Current California regulations permit monster-sized dredges capable of moving thousands of yards of river bottom in a summer season,” said Wiggins, in explaining her reasons for sponsoring the legislation. “This kills fish eggs, immature eels and churns up long-buried mercury left over from the gold mining era. In short, it’s harmful to fish at a time when they need our help the most.”

Earlier this year, DFG Director Don Koch rejected a petition by tribes and fishing groups to imposium a moratorium on suction dredge mining until environmental studies were conducted. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar measure last fall, as well as a previous bill sponsored by then-Assembly Member Lois Wolk in 2007.

"Gold dredge miners scour the bottom of river beds with large floating vacuum cleaners that filter out gold particles and spit the remaining silt back into the river," according to California Trout, one of the legislation's sponsors. "Besides muddying up clear waters, dredge mining kills fish eggs, immature eels and churns up long-buried mercury left over from the gold-mining era."

The bill is supported by a broad coalition of Indian Tribes, fishing groups and environmental groups. Supporters include the California Coastkeeper Alliance, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Tribal Business Alliance, California Trout, Clean Water Action, Friends of the River, Karuk Tribe, Klamath Riverkeeper, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Planning and Conservation League, Ramona Band of Cahuila, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Sierra Club California, Sierra Fund, Sierra Nevada Alliance and Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation.

The bill’s opponents include the County of Siskiyou, New 49′ers and Regional Council of Rural Counties. Earlier this year the New 49′ers, a mining advocacy group, and other mining organizations filed a petition with the California Fish and Game Commission to ban the Karuk Tribe from dip net fishing for salmon on the Klamath, but the petition was rejected.

The New 49′ers argue that no scientific information points to suction dredging as a cause in the collapse of salmon and that the collapse is due to ocean conditions and an over-reliance on hatchery fish. They claim that a moratorium would violate the private property rights of those who have federal mining claims and create “takings” liability on the part of the state.

Harding noted that California’s taxpayers heavily subsidize the state’s suction dredge permit program through the California Department of Fish and Game. "The state spends $1.25 million more per year on the permit program than it receives in permit fees, amounting to a $400 subsidy for each of the 3,200 miners that obtain permits," said Harding.

The Klamath Riverkeeper has supported SB 670 and is also a co-plaintiff in a pending lawsuit against the DFG over their suction dredge mining program. “We have multiple avenues to seek a ban on this harmful mining practice until it can be scientifically evaluated and properly regulated," concluded Harding. "The committee passage of SB 670 is another step toward a legislative solution to this critical issue."

For more information, go to http://www.caltrout.org and http://www.klamathriver.org.