(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) Thousands of abandoned mines have been identified in this state. Waste, including acid rock drainage from abandoned mines, has a devastating effect on aquatic life and has degraded some major water bodies in the state. Abandoned mines are the overwhelming source of copper loading to the Sacramento River and the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. In some instances, waste from abandoned mines can cause public health and safety problems.

(2) The formation of acid rock drainage is a process that can continue for centuries after the abandonment of a mine and is difficult to control. The complete elimination of acid rock drainage is not possible at this time.

(3) Unless action is taken either by public agencies or private parties, who are not responsible for creating the waste, abandoned mines will continue to discharge waste indefinitely. The cleanup of this waste for the protection of the public and the waterways of the state should be facilitated by limiting the financial responsibility for that cleanup.

(4) Public agencies and private parties, who are not otherwise legally responsible for the abandoned mined land, are reluctant to remediate abandoned mined lands unless they are assured that they will be held responsible for completing only the remedial work that they undertake. The public agencies and private parties may be willing to implement partial remediation but they do not have sufficient resources to pay the cost of meeting all applicable regulatory standards.

(b) The Legislature further finds and declares that it is the policy of the state to establish a program that permits public agencies and cooperating private parties to reduce the threat to water quality caused by abandoned mined lands without becoming responsible for completely remediating abandoned mine waste to a point that meets water quality objectives and related regulatory requirements. This program should provide a streamlined process for the purpose of approving an abandoned mine remediation plan in lieu of certain state permits and requirements. The implementation of this program will foster projects to improve water quality while ensuring that the taxpayers are not unfairly burdened.

(Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 878, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1996.)