FINAL BILL REPORT

                   SB 5439

                          C 142 L 97

                      Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Providing an exclusion for what constitutes surface mining.

Sponsors:  Senators Morton, Hargrove, Stevens and Benton.

Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Parks

House Committee on Natural Resources

Background:  During the 1996 legislative session, legislation was passed which exempts county fees for small gravel pits and surface mines used for public works projects.  Counties must still pay for reclamation plans.  An exemption to the Surface Mining Act for small counties would affect pits from three to seven acres.

Summary:  Surface mining excludes excavations or grading used primarily for public works projects, if the mines are owned or operated primarily by counties with 1993 populations of less than 20,000 persons, and each mine has an area of less than seven acres of disturbed area.

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate 46 1

House     62 36

Effective:  July 27, 1997