[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3529 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3529

  To direct the Secretary of the Interior to cancel certain Bureau of 
  Land Management leases that authorize extraction of sand and gravel 
from the Federal mineral estate in lands in Soledad Canyon adjacent to 
     the City of Santa Clarita, California, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 19, 2003

  Mr. McKeon introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of the Interior to cancel certain Bureau of 
  Land Management leases that authorize extraction of sand and gravel 
from the Federal mineral estate in lands in Soledad Canyon adjacent to 
     the City of Santa Clarita, California, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Soledad Canyon Mine Lease 
Cancellation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Transit Mixed Concrete Corporation holds two Bureau of 
        Land Management leases for the extraction of sand and gravel 
        from the Federal mineral estate in lands in Soledad Canyon 
        adjacent to the City of Santa Clarita, California, numbered CA-
        20139 and CA-22901. Such lands contain approximately 56,000,000 
        tons of sand and gravel.
            (2) Mining 56,000,000 tons of sand and gravel under the 
        terms of the leases would produce harm to the environment and 
        cause major transportation problems for the City of Santa 
        Clarita, surrounding areas, and other users of the 
        transportation systems in the vicinity.
            (3) It is in the best interest of the citizens of 
        California and the Federal Government to cancel those leases 
        and make available new leases for those resources that reflect 
        the level of mining that has historically occurred in the 
        Soledad Canyon area of California.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act, the term--
            (1) ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Interior;
            (2) ``TMC'' means the Transit Mixed Concrete Corporation; 
        and
            (3) ``historical mining level'' means ____ tons per year.

SEC. 4. TMC LEASE CANCELLATIONS.

    The Secretary shall cancel Bureau of Land Management leases CA-
20139 and CA-22901, effective on the date of enactment.

SEC. 5. FUTURE LEASES FOR SAND AND GRAVEL IN SOLEDAD CANYON AREA OF 
              CALIFORNIA.

    (a) Restriction.--The Secretary may not issue any lease or leases 
for mining sand and gravel in the Soledad Canyon area of California as 
described on the map titled _____ and dated _____ on file with the 
Secretary, that authorize mining that, in aggregate, exceeds the 
historical mining level of _____ tons per calendar year.
    (b) Consultations and Consideration Required.--Before issuing any 
lease authorizing the mining of sand or gravel in the Soledad Canyon 
area of California, the Secretary shall--
            (1) consult with the City of Santa Clarita, California, Los 
        Angles County, California, and surface owners in that area; and
            (2) take into consideration the environmental and 
        transportation impacts of such mining on that area.
                                 <all>