This chapter does not apply to any of the following activities:
(a) Excavations or grading of lands conducted for farming.
(b) Onsite excavation and onsite earthmoving activities that are integral and necessary for the construction of structures and that are undertaken to prepare a site for the construction of those structures, including landscaping or other land improvements associated with those structures, including the related excavation, grading, compaction, or the creation of fills, road cuts, and embankments, whether or not surplus materials are exported from the site, subject to all of the following conditions:
(1) All required permits for the construction and any associated landscaping or related land improvements have been approved by a public agency in accordance with applicable provisions of state law and locally adopted plans and ordinances, including, but not limited to, the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)).
(2) The lead agency’s approval of the construction project included consideration of the onsite excavation and onsite earthmoving activities pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)).
(3) The approved construction project is consistent with the general plan or zoning of the site.
(4) Surplus materials shall not be exported from the site unless and until actual construction work has commenced and shall cease if it is determined that construction activities have terminated, have been indefinitely suspended, or are no longer being actively pursued.
(c) Operation of a plant site used for mineral processing, including associated onsite structures, equipment, machines, tools, or other materials, including the onsite stockpiling and onsite recovery of mined materials, subject to all of the following conditions:
(1) The plant site is located on lands designated for industrial or commercial uses in the applicable county or city general plan.
(2) The plant site is located on lands zoned as industrial or commercial or are contained within a zoning category intended exclusively for industrial activities by the applicable city or county.
(3) None of the minerals being processed are being extracted onsite.
(4) All reclamation work has been completed pursuant to the approved reclamation plan for any mineral extraction activities that occurred onsite after January 1, 1976.
(d) Prospecting for or the extraction of minerals for commercial purposes where the removal of overburden or mineral product totals less than 1,000 cubic yards in any one location and the total surface area disturbed is less than one acre.
(e) Surface mining operations that are required by federal law in order to protect a mining claim, if those operations are conducted solely for that purpose.
(f) Any other surface mining operations that the board determines to be of an infrequent nature and that involve only minor surface disturbances.
(g) The solar evaporation of sea water or bay water for the production of salt and related minerals.
(h) Emergency excavations or grading conducted by the Department of Water Resources or the Central Valley Flood Protection Board for the purpose of averting, alleviating, repairing, or restoring damage to property due to imminent or recent floods, disasters, or other emergencies.
(i) (1) Surface mining operations conducted on lands owned or leased, or upon which easements or rights-of-way have been obtained, by the Department of Water Resources for the purpose of the State Water Resources Development System or flood control, and surface mining operations on lands owned or leased, or upon which easements or rights-of-way have been obtained, by the Central Valley Flood Protection Board for the purpose of flood control, if the Department of Water Resources adopts, after submission to and consultation with, the Division of Mine Reclamation, a reclamation plan for lands affected by these activities, and those lands are reclaimed in conformance with the standards specified in regulations of the board adopted pursuant to this chapter. The Department of Water Resources shall provide an annual report to the department by the date specified by the department on these mining activities.
(2) Nothing in this subdivision shall require the Department of Water Resources or the Central Valley Flood Protection Board to obtain a permit or secure approval of a reclamation plan from any city or county in order to conduct surface mining operations specified in paragraph (1). Nothing in this subdivision shall preclude the bringing of an enforcement action pursuant to Section 2774.1, if it is determined that a surface mine operator, acting under contract with the Department of Water Resources or the Central Valley Flood Protection Board on lands other than those owned or leased, or upon which easements or rights-of-way have been obtained, by the Department of Water Resources or the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, is otherwise not in compliance with this chapter.
(j) (1) Excavations or grading for the exclusive purpose of obtaining materials for roadbed construction and maintenance conducted in connection with timber operations or forest management on land owned by the same person or entity. This exemption is limited to excavation and grading that is conducted adjacent to timber operation or forest management roads and shall not apply to onsite excavation or grading that occurs within 100 feet of a Class One watercourse or 75 feet of a Class Two watercourse, or to excavation for materials that are, or have been, sold for commercial purposes.
(2) This exemption shall be available only if slope stability and erosion are controlled in accordance with subdivision (f) of Section 3704 and subdivision (d) of Section 3706 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations and, upon closure of the site, the person closing the site implements, where necessary, revegetation measures and postclosure uses in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(k) Excavations, grading, or other earthmoving activities in an oil or gas field that are integral to and necessary for ongoing operations for the extraction of oil or gas that comply with all of the following conditions:
(1) The operations are being conducted in accordance with Division 3 (commencing with Section 3000).
(2) The operations are consistent with any general plan or zoning applicable to the site.
(3) The earthmoving activities are within oil or gas field properties under a common owner or operator.
(4) No excavated materials are sold for commercial purposes.
(l) (1) The immediate excavation or grading of lands affected by a natural disaster for the purpose of restoring those lands to their prior condition.
(2) The immediate removal of material deposited by a flood onto lands being farmed for the purpose of restoring those lands to their prior condition.
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 521, Sec. 28. (SB 809) Effective January 1, 2018.)