[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6469 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6469

 To direct the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of 
  Land Management, to conduct a study of the legal and administrative 
steps necessary to carry out the goals of H.R. 4332, the Soledad Canyon 
High Desert, California Public Lands Conservation and Management Act of 
                      2009 of the 111th Congress.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 20, 2012

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of 
  Land Management, to conduct a study of the legal and administrative 
steps necessary to carry out the goals of H.R. 4332, the Soledad Canyon 
High Desert, California Public Lands Conservation and Management Act of 
                      2009 of the 111th Congress.

    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 Mitigation and 
Relocation Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Soledad Canyon area has been used to mine 
        construction aggregate resources since the 1960s.
            (2) In 1987, the State of California classified Soledad 
        Canyon as a ``regionally significant construction aggregate 
        resource area''.
            (3) The construction sand and gravel industry is valued at 
        more than $5,900,000,000 by the United States Geological 
        Survey, with an estimated 4,000 companies performing 6,400 
        construction sand and gravel operations in 50 States. 
        California leads the Nation in gross tonnage of sand and gravel 
        mined.
            (4) Sand and gravel are estimated to be used in accordance 
        with the following percentages:
                    (A) 41 percent for concrete aggregates.
                    (B) 25 percent for road base, coverings, and 
                stabilization.
                    (C) 13 percent as construction fill.
                    (D) 12 percent for asphalt.
                    (E) 4 percent for plaster.
                    (F) 5 percent for miscellaneous products, including 
                filtration and railroad ballasts, bricks, and pipes.
            (5) Two privately held valid Federal contracts, numbered 
        CA-20139 and CA-22901, issued under the Act of July 31, 1947 
        (30 U.S.C. 601 et seq.; 61 Stat 681; commonly known as the 
        Materials Act of 1947), authorize the extraction of 
        approximately 56,000,000 tons of sand and gravel from the 
        Federal mineral estate in lands located in Soledad Canyon 
        adjacent to the city of Santa Clarita, California.
            (6) Those Federal contracts were awarded in 1990 to Transit 
        Mixed Concrete. Southdown, the parent company of Transit Mixed 
        Concrete, was acquired by CEMEX in 2000, resulting in CEMEX 
        holding the Federal contracts.
            (7) The Bureau of Land Management approved a mining plan of 
        operations and prepared a draft environmental impact statement 
        with respect to the Soledad Canyon Mine, which was released on 
        May 6, 1999. The environmental impact statement was 
        subsequently modified to address growing concerns among Santa 
        Clarita residents about the impact mining operations in Soledad 
        Canyon had on air quality and health, truck traffic, and 
        declining property values in Santa Clarita.
            (8) The final environmental impact statement was released 
        to the public on June 2, 2000, with a list of eight 
        alternatives for mining the Soledad Canyon site.
            (9) The county of Los Angeles was required, with respect to 
        mining in Soledad Canyon, under the California Environmental 
        Quality Act (Cal. Public Resources Code, section 21000 et seq.) 
        to prepare an environmental impact report to comply with the 
        California Surface Mining Reclamation Act (Cal. Public 
        Resources Code, section 2710 et seq.). The final environmental 
        impact report was released in April 2001, but the County Board 
        of Supervisors voted to deny a permit under such Act (Cal. 
        Public Resources Code, section 2710 et seq.) in early 2002, 
        citing the right and responsibility of the county to impose 
        reasonable environmental and resource protection and regulation 
        on mining in Soledad Canyon.
            (10) Numerous lawsuits were filed between 2002 and 2004 
        involving the city of Santa Clarita, the county of Los Angeles, 
        the Center for Biological Diversity, and CEMEX.
            (11) Exhibit H to the Consent Decree resulting from the 
        settlement of CEMEX Inc. v. County of Los Angeles, filed on May 
        20, 2004, in the United States District Court for the Central 
        District of California, Western Division, contains the 
        mitigation agreement between CEMEX and the county of Los 
        Angeles (entitled ``Settlement Project Conditions''), which 
        lists 40 conditions that CEMEX is required to meet in order to 
        mitigate the environmental, health, traffic, endangered 
        species, and safety concerns raised by the county, local 
        residents, and the city of Santa Clarita.
            (12) Congressman Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon of California 
        has introduced the following bills with respect to the Soledad 
        Canyon Mine:
                    (A) H.R. 3060 (106th Congress) to withdraw 
                specified lands from the operation of Federal mining 
                and mineral leasing laws and to nullify any existing 
                permits issued on such lands.
                    (B) H.R. 679 (107th Congress) to reintroduce H.R. 
                3060 from the 106th Congress.
                    (C) H.R. 3529 (108th Congress), the Soledad Canyon 
                Mine Lease Cancellation Act, to cancel two mining 
                permits for the Soledad Canyon Mine and to prohibit the 
                Secretary of the Interior from issuing permits for 
                mining above historical levels in Soledad Canyon.
                    (D) H.R. 5471 (109th Congress), the Soledad Canyon 
                Mine Leases Adjustment Act--
                            (i) to cancel two mining permits for the 
                        Soledad Canyon Mine;
                            (ii) to direct the Secretary of the 
                        Interior to provide additional financial and 
                        mineral production opportunities in exchange 
                        for the economic value invested to date on the 
                        two permits; and
                            (iii) to prohibit the Secretary of the 
                        Interior from issuing permits for mining above 
                        historical levels in Soledad Canyon.
                    (E) H.R. 5887 (110th Congress), the Soledad Canyon 
                Mine Act--
                            (i) to authorize the Secretary of the 
                        Interior, acting through the Bureau of Land 
                        Management, to cancel mining contracts CA-20139 
                        and CA-22901;
                            (ii) to prohibit future mining in the 
                        Soledad Canyon;
                            (iii) to provide a means for CEMEX to 
                        recover as just compensation for the 
                        cancellation of the contracts the fair market 
                        value of, and the expenditures and covered 
                        liabilities of Transit Mixed Concrete in 
                        pursuing the development of, the contracts;
                            (iv) to provide the Bureau of Land 
                        Management with the necessary tools to verify 
                        the expenses incurred by CEMEX and provide 
                        relief to CEMEX for such expenses;
                            (v) to provide timelines for the 
                        verification of such expenses and the 
                        determination of just compensation; and
                            (vi) to provide for a dispute resolution 
                        process.
                    (F) H.R. 4332 (111th Congress), the Soledad Canyon 
                High Desert, California Public Lands Conservation and 
                Management Act of 2009--
                            (i) to authorize the Secretary of the 
                        Interior, acting through the Bureau of Land 
                        Management, to cancel mining contracts CA-20139 
                        and CA-22901;
                            (ii) to withdraw the areas that were 
                        subject to such contracts from further mineral 
                        entry under all mineral leasing and sales 
                        authorities available to the Secretary;
                            (iii) to provide compensation to CEMEX for 
                        such contracts;
                            (iv) to offer for sale by competitive 
                        bidding lands identified for disposition near 
                        Victorville, California; and
                            (v) to acquire environmentally sensitive 
                        land and collect the proceeds of the sale of 
                        lands near Victorville, California.
            (13) Congressman McKeon was instrumental in CEMEX and the 
        city of Santa Clarita entering into an agreement (entitled the 
        ``Principles of Cooperation'') on January 8, 2007, which was 
        renewed eight times and expired on May 31, 2012. The Principles 
        of Cooperation governed the conduct between the two parties, 
        ensured that no mining permits were initiated at any level, and 
        ensured that all parties would work toward a mutually favorable 
        legislative solution.
            (14) On November 4, 2011, Congressman McKeon was informed 
        by the Chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources of the 
        House of Representatives, Congressman Doc Hastings of 
        Washington, that H.R. 4332 (111th Congress) was considered a 
        congressional earmark under the Rules of the House of 
        Representatives for the 112th Congress.
            (15) Clause 9(e) of rule XXI of the Rules of the House of 
        Representatives for the 112th Congress defines a congressional 
        earmark as ``a provision or report language included primarily 
        at the request of a Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, or 
        Senator providing, authorizing or recommending a specific 
        amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or 
        other spending authority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, 
        grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with or to an 
        entity, or targeted to a specific State, locality or 
        Congressional district, other than through a statutory or 
        administrative formula-driven or competitive award process.''.

SEC. 3. STUDY REQUIRED BY BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT.

    (a) Study Required.--Beginning not later than 90 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, 
acting through the Bureau of Land Management, shall commence a study of 
the legal and administrative steps, including obtaining sufficient 
funding, necessary to carry out the goals of H.R. 4332 (111th Congress) 
referred to in section 2(12)(F).
    (b) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall submit to 
the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and 
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report of 
the findings of the study conducted under subsection (a). The report 
shall include recommendations on the best means to achieve the goals of 
H.R. 4332 (111th Congress) referred to in section 2(12)(F).
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