Three Mining-Related Bills to be Subject of Public Hearing in Olympia

Three bills of interest to miners are scheduled for a public hearing on February 2 at 1:30 pm before the House Full Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources in House Hearing Room B of the John L. O'Brien Building in Olympia.

Two of these bills have already been discussed on this blog: HB 2597 which would abolish the HPA process entirely (see here, here, and here) and HB 3037 which is a companion bill to SB 6448 and would, among other horrendous things, impose a $100 fee for the Gold & Fish pamphlet (see here and here).

The third bill is HB 2974 which would make some modifications to the enforcement provisions of chapter 77.55 RCW. The meat of this proposed legislation is contained in the following wording:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 77.55 RCW to read as follows:
(1) Concurrent with the initiation of an enforcement action under RCW 77.15.300, 77.55.291, or any other provision of this chapter, and within existing resources, the department must provide the person against whom an enforcement action is being taken with a statement of violation prepared consistent with the requirements of this section.
(2) Any statement of violation prepared under this section must include, at a minimum, the following contents:
(a) A detailed explanation of how the offending project is causing harm to fish life;
(b) Evidence of individual fish actually being harmed by the project, if any, including any documentation of instances of fish mortality linked to the project; and
(c) A signature by a department biologist confirming that the biologist has personally and physically investigated the impacts of the project and attests to the accuracy of the information contained in the statement of violation.
(3) The department may not pursue enforcement against any individual for a violation of this chapter that arises after the effective date of this section unless the statement of violation is provided at the time of the initiation of the enforcement action.

The apparent purpose of this bill is to require enforcement agents to produce evidence of actual harm that has occurred to fish as the result of a project instead of the current system which seems to work along the lines of "we're fining you because we think what you're doing might harm fish." Such a change would be a step in the right direction although it will do little to mitigate the damage to prospecting and mining that will occur if something along the lines of HB 3037/SB 6448 becomes law.

HB 2974 has a substantial number of sponsors in Representatives Orcutt, Herrera, Taylor, McCune, Klippert, Pearson, Kretz, Warnick, and Johnson. You can track progress of this bill at the link here. You can find the text of HB 2974 at the link here and in a link in the Legislative Alerts section of the right-hand sidebar of this blog.

HB 3037 - Companion Bill to SB 6448 - Introduced in the House

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but SB 6448, the senate bill that would require us to pay a fee of $100 every five years for the priviledge of panning for gold or other minerals (not to mention higher fees for applying for permission to engage in other small-scale mining operations as presented in a previous post), now has a "companion" bill in the state house of representatives: HB 3037.

This latest effort in support of plundering the small-scale miners of Washington state was undertaken by Representatives Jeannie Darneille, (D - Tacoma and Majority Caucus Vice Chair); Dave Upthegrove (D - Kent); Hans Dunshee (D - Lake Stevens); and Zachary Hudgins (D - Seattle and Majority Floor Leader).

I have not read the entire text of this bill (doing so makes me ill) but looking it over it appears to be a near carbon copy of SB 6448. For those who are interested, the document can be accessed at the link in the first paragraph above as well as in .pdf form at the link here and in the "Legislative Alerts" section of the right-hand sidebar of this blog.

Both of these companion bills seem to be getting the big push while HB 2597, which would abolish the whole HPA process, seems to have gotten the shove. Government has to rob somebody to pay for all the wonderful "servicing" we enjoy and it looks like this time our mis-representatives intend for it to be the miners. Unless we can make enough noise to scare the jackels off.

More as it becomes available.

New Bill in State Senate Would Devastate Small-Scale Mining

As if to prove the truth of Judge Gideon J. Tucker's observation that "No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session," Senator Ken Jacobsen (D-Seattle) has introduced SB 6448. This particular piece of legislative perversity has a number of "features" that should prove both perplexing and dismaying to the small-scale mining community. A brief summary follows:

Things get going on page 4 with the definition:

(14) "Small scale prospecting and mining" means the use of only the following methods: Pans; nonmotorized sluice boxes; concentrators; and minirocker boxes for the discovery and recovery of minerals.

This definition sort of leaves the status of dredges, highbankers, mini-highbankers and even spiral wheels in limbo.

Page 10 discloses that Section 6 permit fees will take effect on July 1 as per the schedule on page 11:

$100 for a "Pamphlet permit," which fee must be paid every five years.
$250 for an "Application submittal," plus up to
$5,250 for a "Permit processing fee."
$150 for a "Permit modification."

In case there's any doubt, the language on page 15 makes it clear that these fees apply to small-scale mining and prospecting operations:

(4) Permittees conducting activities under authority of pamphlets issued under this section (Sec. 10. RCW 77.55.091 and 2005 c 146 s 402 - Tom) must possess proof of payment of any applicable fees required by section 6 of this act.

Page 10 also discloses that

Unlawfully undertaking hydraulic project activities is a gross misdemeanor.

The civil penalties for daring to dig the queen's gold without proper authorization are described on pages 12 and 13:

Sec. 8. RCW 77.55.291 and 2005 c 146 s 701 are each amended to read as follows:

(1)(a) The department may levy civil penalties of up to one hundred dollars per day ((for violation of any provisions of RCW 77.55.021)) when a person:

(i) Constructs any form of hydraulic project or performs other work on a hydraulic project and fails to have a hydraulic project approval required under this chapter for such construction or work;
(ii) Violates any requirements or conditions of the hydraulic project approval for the construction or work;
(iii) Fails to pay applicable application submittal or permit processing fees within thirty days of receipt of expedited permits or the written follow-up to emergency oral approvals under RCW 77.55.021;35 or
(iv) Violates any rule adopted under RCW 77.55.021, 77.55.081,2 77.55.091, or section of this act that identifies the time, manner, locations, methods, or other conditions under which an activity is approved or not approved.

This bill is scheduled for a public hearing before the full Natural Resources, Ocean & Recreation Committee on 1/20/2010 at 8:00 A.M. in Senate Hearing Room 2 of the J. A. Cherberg Building in Olympia. (In the meantime, HB 2597, discussed in posts here, here, and here and beneficial to miners, languishes in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.)

Current information on SB 6448 is available at the link near the top of this post. You may also download a .pdf copy of SB 6448 at the link here and at the link in the right-hand sidebar in the "Legislative Alerts" section of this blog.

HB 2597 Gains New Sponsors

HB 2597, which would abolish the HPA process as reported in a previous post, has two new sponsors.

Representative Kirk Pearson, who introduced the bill, has now been joined by Representatives Judy Warnick and Joel Kretz. Contact information for these three representatives may be found by clicking on their names/links above.

Update on HB 2597

HB 2597, the bill in the Washington legislature that would abolish the HPA process as reported on in a previous post, had its first reading today and was referred to the committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.

More information as it develops.

New Bill in Legislature Would Abolish HPA Process

Washington miner Bruce Beatty has kindly informed this writer of a bill in the Washington state legislature that would eliminate the HPA (Hydraulics Project Approval) process.


HB 2597, titled, "AN ACT Relating to streamlining state environmental permitting through the elimination of the hydraulics project approval process;" was "prefiled for introduction" on January 8 by Representative Kirk Pearson (R) of Index.


Perhaps the key section of the bill of interest to miners is this one:


12 NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The following acts or parts of acts are each
13 repealed:
...
27 (8) RCW 77.55.091 (Small scale prospecting and mining--Rules) and
28 2005 c 146 s 402 & 1997 c 415 s 2;


The current text of HB 2597 is 15 pages long and may be found on the legislature's website by visiting the link below and clicking the "original bill" link in the "Available Documents" section at the bottom of the page.


http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2597&year=2009


There is also an orange RSS feed link for this bill available on the above page that will allow the subscriber to recieve notices of changes in the bill's status.


In addition, I have provided a link to the .pdf file of the current bill here as well as in the right-hand sidebar under the "Legislative Alerts" heading.


Representative Pearson may be contacted via the information found here.


Washington State Miner will continue to follow this and any related legislation.