Bill Text: CA SB110 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Real property disclosures: mining operations.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2011-09-06 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 253, Statutes of 2011. [SB110 Detail]

Download: California-2011-SB110-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 110	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 2, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Rubio

                        JANUARY 14, 2011

    An act to add Section 3482.8 to the Civil Code, relating
to nuisance.   An act to amend Section 1103.4 of the
Civil Code, relating the property disclosures. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 110, as amended, Rubio.  Nuisance: mining activities.
  Real property disclosures: mining operations. 

   Existing law limits the liability of a transferor under certain
conditions for failing to disclose natural hazards or make other
disclosures in specified property transactions and either or
transferee the transferor obtains a report or opinion prepared by a
licensed engineer, land surveyor, geologist, or expert in natural
hazard discovery dealing with matters within the scope of the
professional's license or expertise. Existing law conditions this
limitation in specified ways, including the requirement that when an
expert responds to a request regarding natural hazards, that the
expert determine whether the property is within an airport influence
zone, the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and
Development Commission, or designated farm land and, if so, provide a
specified notice or notices with his or her report.  
   This bill would further condition the limitation on liability
described above by requiring an expert, when responding to a request
regarding natural hazards, to also determine whether the property is
presently located within 1000 feet of a parcel of real property
subject to mine operations identified in a Notice of Reclamation Plan
Approval recorded with the county recorder, as specified, and to
provide a specified notice in this regard.  
   Existing law defines a nuisance, in part, as anything that is
injurious to health, or is indecent or offensive to the senses, or an
obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the
comfortable enjoyment of life or property. Existing law authorizes
various remedies for nuisances, including remedies to effect
abatement and damages. Existing law provides, among other things,
that no agricultural activity, operation, facility, or appurtenances
thereof, as defined, in operation for more than 3 years, and
conducted or maintained for commercial purposes in a manner
consistent with proper and accepted customs and standards, shall
become a nuisance due to any changed condition in the locality if it
was not a nuisance at the time it began, except as specified.
 
   This bill would provide that no mining activity, operation or
facility, or appurtenances thereof, as defined, in operation for more
than 3 years, and conducted or maintained for commercial purposes in
a manner consistent with proper and accepted customs and standards,
shall become a nuisance due to any changed condition in the locality
if it was not a nuisance at the time it began, except as specified.

   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 1103.4 of the   Civil
Code   is amended to read: 
   1103.4.  (a) Neither the transferor nor any listing or selling
agent shall be liable for any error, inaccuracy, or omission of any
information delivered pursuant to this article if the error,
inaccuracy, or omission was not within the personal knowledge of the
transferor or the listing or selling agent, and was based on
information timely provided by public agencies or by other persons
providing information as specified in subdivision (c) that is
required to be disclosed pursuant to this article, and ordinary care
was exercised in obtaining and transmitting the information.
   (b) The delivery of any information required to be disclosed by
this article to a prospective transferee by a public agency or other
person providing information required to be disclosed pursuant to
this article shall be deemed to comply with the requirements of this
article and shall relieve the transferor or any listing or selling
agent of any further duty under this article with respect to that
item of information.
   (c) The delivery of a report or opinion prepared by a licensed
engineer, land surveyor, geologist, or expert in natural hazard
discovery dealing with matters within the scope of the professional's
license or expertise  ,  shall be sufficient
compliance for application of the exemption provided by subdivision
(a) if the information is provided to the prospective transferee
pursuant to a request therefor, whether written or oral. In
responding to that request, an expert may indicate, in writing, an
understanding that the information provided will be used in
fulfilling the requirements of Section 1103.2 and, if so, shall
indicate the required disclosures, or parts thereof, to which the
information being furnished is applicable. Where that statement is
furnished, the expert shall not be responsible for any items of
information, or parts thereof, other than those expressly set forth
in the statement.
   (1) In responding to the request, the expert shall determine
whether the property is within an airport influence area as defined
in subdivision (b) of Section 11010 of the Business and Professions
Code. If the property is within an airport influence area, the report
shall contain the following statement:
           NOTICE OF AIRPORT IN VICINITY
    This property is presently located in the
vicinity of an
airport, within what is known as an airport
influence area. For that
reason, the property may be subject to some of
the annoyances or
inconveniences associated with proximity to
airport operations
(for example: noise, vibration, or odors).
Individual sensitivities
to those annoyances can vary from person to
person. You may wish to
consider what airport annoyances, if any, are
associated with the
property before you complete your purchase and
determine whether they
are acceptable to you.


   (2) In responding to the request, the expert shall determine
whether the property is within the jurisdiction of the San Francisco
Bay Conservation and Development Commission, as defined in Section
66620 of the Government Code. If the property is within the
commission's jurisdiction, the report shall contain the following
notice:
  NOTICE OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
JURISDICTION

   This property is located within the jurisdiction of the San
Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. Use and
development of property within the commission's jurisdiction may be
subject to special regulations, restrictions, and permit
requirements. You may wish to investigate and determine whether they
are acceptable to you and your intended use of the property before
you complete your transaction.

   (3) In responding to the request, the expert shall determine
whether the property is presently located within one mile of a parcel
of real property designated as "Prime Farmland," "Farmland of
Statewide Importance," "Unique Farmland," "Farmland of Local
Importance," or "Grazing Land" on the most current "Important
Farmland Map" issued by the California Department of Conservation,
Division of Land Resource Protection, utilizing solely the
county-level GIS map data, if any, available on the Farmland Mapping
and Monitoring Program  website  Web site 
. If the residential property is within one mile of a designated
farmland area, the report shall contain the following notice:


   NOTICE OF RIGHT TO FARM

   This property is located within one mile of a farm or ranch land
designated on the current county-level GIS "Important Farmland Map,"
issued by the California Department of Conservation, Division of Land
Resource Protection. Accordingly, the property may be subject to
inconveniences or discomforts resulting from agricultural operations
that are a normal and necessary aspect of living in a community with
a strong rural character and a healthy agricultural sector. Customary
agricultural practices in farm operations may include, but are not
limited to, noise, odors, dust, light, insects, the operation of
pumps and machinery, the storage and disposal of manure, bee
pollination, and the ground or aerial application of fertilizers,
pesticides, and herbicides. These agricultural practices may occur at
any time during the 24-hour day. Individual sensitivities to those
practices can vary from person to person. You may wish to consider
the impacts of such agricultural practices before you complete your
purchase. Please be advised that you may be barred from obtaining
legal remedies against agricultural practices conducted in a manner
consistent with proper and accepted customs and standards pursuant to
Section 3482.5 of the Civil Code or any pertinent local ordinance.

    (4)     In responding to the request, the
expert shall determine whether the property is presently located
within 1000 feet of a parcel of real property subject to mine
operations identified in a Notice of Reclamation Plan Approval
recorded with the county recorder pursuant to Section 2772.7 of the
Public Resource   s   Code. If the residential
property is within 1000 feet of real property subject to mine
operations identified in a Notice of Reclamation Plan Approval, the
report shall contain the following notice: 


   NOTICE OF MINING OPERATIONS
 
   This property is located within 1000 feet of a mine operation that
has been identified in a Notice of Reclamation Plan Approval
recorded with the county recorder pursuant to Section 2772.7 of the
Public Resources Code. Accordingly, the property may be subject to
inconveniences resulting from mining operations. You may wish to
consider the impacts of these practices before you complete your
transaction.
 
  SECTION 1.    Section 3482.8 is added to the Civil
Code, to read:
   3482.8.  (a) No mining activity, operation or facility, or
appurtenances thereof, whether underground or in a quarry or pit,
conducted or maintained for commercial purposes, and in a manner
consistent with proper and accepted customs and standards, as
established and followed by similar mining operations in the same
locality, shall become a nuisance, private or public, due to any
changed condition in or about the locality, after it has been in
operation for more than three years, if it was not a nuisance at the
time it began.
   (b) Subdivision (a) shall not apply if the mining activity,
operation, or facility, or appurtenances thereof, obstruct the free
passage or use, in the customary manner, of any navigable lake,
river, bay, stream, canal, or basin, or any public park, square,
street, or highway.
   (c) Subdivision (a) shall not invalidate any provision contained
in the Health and Safety Code, Fish and Game Code, Food and
Agricultural Code, or Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of
the Water Code, if the mining activity, operation, or facility, or
appurtenances thereof, constitutes a nuisance, public or private, as
specifically defined or described in any of those provisions.
   (d) This section shall prevail over any contrary provision of an
ordinance or regulation of a city, county, city and county, or other
political subdivision of the state. However, nothing in this section
shall preclude a city, county, city and county, or other political
subdivision of this state, acting within its constitutional or
statutory authority and not in conflict with other provisions of
state law, from adopting an ordinance that allows notification to a
prospective homeowner that the dwelling is in close proximity to a
mining activity, operation, facility, or appurtenances thereof, and
is subject to the provisions of this section consistent with Section
1102.6a.
   (e) For purposes of this section, the term "mining activity,
operation, or facility, or appurtenances thereof" shall include, but
not be limited to, the excavation, extraction, or removal from land
of ores and minerals, including sand, gravel, shells, or stone, or
combinations thereof, used to produce a construction material or an
industrial product or other commercial product directly from those
ores and minerals, including the private ways, roads, and areas
necessary to conduct that activity or operation, and the operation of
a plant site for processing those ores and minerals, including
associated onsite structures, equipment, machines, tools, or other
materials, including the onsite stockpiling and onsite recovery of
those ores and minerals.