[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 50 (Thursday, April 7, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2269-S2270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER:
  S. 759. A bill to provide to the Secretary of the Interior a 
mechanism to cancel contracts for the sale of materials CA-20139 and 
CA-22901, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the Soledad 
Canyon High Desert, California Public Lands Conservation and Management 
Act of 2011. This bill would resolve a 21-year-old mining dispute 
between the City of Santa Clarita and CEMEX USA, and have numerous 
other benefits for communities in Los Angeles and San Bernardino 
Counties, CA.
  In 1990, the Bureau of Land Management awarded CEMEX two 10-year 
consecutive contracts to extract 56 million tons of sand and gravel 
from a site in Soledad Canyon. The City of Santa Clarita strongly 
opposed CEMEX's expansion of mining in this area. After two decades of 
conflict and nearly a decade of litigation, the two parties announced a 
truce in early 2007, and started working out an agreement.
  This legislation would implement the terms of that agreement. It 
would require the Secretary of the Interior to cancel CEMEX's mining 
contracts in Soledad Canyon and prohibit future mining at this site. 
The BLM would sell lands near Victorville, CA that are currently on its 
disposal list, and would use the proceeds to compensate CEMEX for the 
cancellation of its mining contracts. Local land use authorities, such 
as the City of Victorville and County of San Bernardino, would have the 
right of first refusal to purchase many of these parcels, which would 
help satisfy their future development needs. Some of these funds would 
also go towards the purchase of environmentally-sensitive lands in 
Southern California.
  My legislation would settle a 20-year-old dispute to all parties' 
satisfaction, complement future development plans in Southern 
California, and help secure important lands for conservation.

[[Page S2270]]

That's why it has won the support of a diverse group of interests, 
including the City of Santa Clarita, CEMEX, the Santa Monica Mountains 
Conservancy, and the Sierra Club.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to secure the passage of 
this important legislation.
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