Soledad Canyon Settlement Act
I thank Chairman Hastings for yielding. Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege to speak on my bill, H.R. 5742, the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before the House, and I want to thank Speaker Boehner,…
I thank Chairman Hastings for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege to speak on my bill, H.R. 5742, the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before the House, and I want to thank Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader McCarthy, and Chairman Hastings for their steadfast support of this legislation. Without their support, we wouldn't be standing here today on the floor with this bill.
I would also like to thank the gentlewoman from California, Senator Boxer, for her efforts in finding an agreeable solution for the inclusion of language that brought the score of the bill to zero. And I second the remarks of Chairman Hastings and hope that she will be able to bring this to a conclusion in the final days that the Senate is in session. One of the things that Senator Boxer added to this bill was introducing legislation that brought the cost of this bill to zero. Crossing that hurdle has moved us to this point now in solving this intractable issue.
Finally, I would like to thank the gentleman from California, Congressman Sherman, for his support of my legislation. I continue to believe in bipartisanship as the way to address critical issues for our constituents, and we have shown time and again that we can find common ground if we try.
Mr. Speaker, the Soledad Canyon mine, operated by CEMEX, is located just outside the city of Santa Clarita, California, in the 25th Congressional District that I have had the opportunity to represent now for the last 22 years. Under two current contracts held by CEMEX, they are authorized to extract approximately 56 million tons of sand and gravel over a 20-year period, with two 10-year contracts.
Residents of my congressional district and city leaders have been expressing their concerns for the past 24 years about a large mine operating in close proximity to where they live. And, as the chairman mentioned, this has become much closer over the years. They fear the effects of pollution, increased truck traffic, and environmental health issues on their families and the community. Throughout my 22 years in Congress, I have worked endlessly to find a solution. I have engaged with civic leaders, residents of my district, environmental leaders, the county of Los Angeles, CEMEX, BLM, the Department of the Interior, Chairman Hastings, and the leadership of our conference.
Mr. Speaker, allow me to give just a bit of background on the situation that has arisen in my district. In 1990, two privately held valid Federal contracts were awarded 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.
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 the growing concerns among Santa Clarita residents about the impact that mining operations in Soledad Canyon have on air quality and health, truck traffic, and declining property values in Santa Clarita. 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.
Under the California Environmental Quality Act, the county of Los Angeles
completed the environmental impact report in 2001 and subsequently voted in 2002 to deny the permit, citing the right and responsibility of the county to impose reasonable environmental and resource protection and regulation on mining in Soledad Canyon.
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. A consent degree resulted from the settlement of CEMEX, Inc. v. County of Los Angeles in 2004. The consent decree contains the mitigation agreement between CEMEX and the county of Los Angeles, 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.
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned before, I have worked throughout my entire congressional career to bring all parties together to work out a deal that is mutually beneficial. I have introduced eight bills on this issue over the years, each of which took a different approach to dealing with the mine as new issues arose.
In the 106th Congress, I introduced H.R. 3060, which would have withdrawn specified lands from the operation of Federal mining and mineral leasing laws and would have nullified any existing permits issued on those lands. The same bill was introduced as H.R. 679 in the 107th Congress. In the 108th Congress, I introduced H.R. 3529, the Soledad Canyon Mine Lease Cancellation Act. This legislation would have canceled the two mining permits for the Soledad Canyon mine and would have prohibited the Secretary of the Interior from issuing permits for mining above historical levels in Soledad Canyon.
In the 109th Congress, I introduced H.R. 5471, the Soledad Canyon Mine Leases Adjustment Act. This legislation would have canceled the two mining permits for the Soledad Canyon mine, directed the Secretary of the Interior to provide additional financial and mineral production opportunities in exchange for the economic value invested to that date on the two permits, and would have prohibited the Secretary of the Interior from issuing permits for mining above historical levels in Soledad Canyon.
In the 110th Congress, I introduced H.R. 5887, the Soledad Canyon Mine Act. This legislation would have authorized the Secretary of the Interior to cancel the two mining contracts, prohibited future mining in Soledad Canyon, provided a means for CEMEX to recover just compensation for the cancelation of the contracts, provided the Bureau of Land Management with the necessary tools to verify the expenses incurred by CEMEX, provided relief to CEMEX for such expenses, and provided for a dispute resolution process.
In the 111th Congress, I introduced H.R. 4332, the Soledad Canyon High Desert, California Public Lands Conservation and Management Act of 2009. This legislation had a similar set of actions as H.R. 5887, but added two notable ones: it provided a mechanism to offer for sale, by competitive bidding, lands identified for disposition near Victorville, California; and to acquire environmentally-sensitive land and collect the proceeds of the sale of lands near Victorville, California.
Finally, in the 112th Congress, I introduced H.R. 6469, the Soledad Canyon Mine Mitigation and Relocation Act of 2012. This legislation would have begun a study of the legal and administrative steps-- including obtaining sufficient funding--necessary to carry out the goals of the Soledad Canyon High Desert, California Public Lands Conservation and Management Act of 2009, H.R. 4332.
I mention each of these in order to illustrate how the tug and pull of all parties influenced the legislative process. Each party gave ideas to further perfect legislation that would finally solve this vexing issue that affects the residents of my district.
I believe because of all our joint efforts, we have reached a critical mass on this issue. It is time for a solution once and for all. I am looking forward to the full House acting on H.R. 5742 today, a solution that would take the mine out of commission and lift this two decades' long burden off the backs of my constituents.
This is a solution borne from the great compromise between the city of Santa Clarita and CEMEX, who each offered to put up the difference in cost to bring the cost of the bill to zero. This zero score is critical to the bill's success and couldn't have been achieved without the partnership that has developed over the many years of action on this matter.
The bill achieves all the aims of my previous legislation, particularly H.R. 4332, with the solution to the vexing issue of how to ensure there is no cost to the Federal Government.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. I thank the gentleman again for allowing me the time to explain this critical issue in my district and thanks again to our House leadership and Chairman Hastings for bringing this legislation to the floor.