Tuesday, Oct 20, the San Bernardino County mining ordinance revision goes before the Board of Supervisors for a vote. Have you gotten in your comment? Plan to call in, or be there in person? Find out how to be heard in our Action Alert here, and get those comments in! Thank you!

Protect Music Valley has submitted our comments to the Board. We also last week submitted a more detailed letter to County Land Use Services in response to their release of the amended ordinance revision; view that here.

The Desert Trumpet has published an excellent review and analysis of where everything stands at this moment, including a recap of their coverage to date, what the ordinance does, what the amended “redline” version does and doesn’t change, where the conservation coalition stands now, and more.

Not up to all that? Then just read their helpful “Short Version”:

What’s changed and what hasn’t: At the August 18 hearing, the Board heard more than two hours of opposition before continuing the item. Since then Land Use Services has made three changes to the text, two of them versions of fallback wording proposed by a coalition of conservation organizations, and released a frequently asked questions (FAQ) document.

The sentence that drew most of the objections, that a County permit “shall not be required” for mines on federal land with federal approval, is unchanged. The FAQ says the County never had that authority and traces the language to a 1992 state-federal agreement; that agreement does not contain the language and describes authority the County can take on, not authority it lacks.

Where critics stand: Earthworks says it would “like to see stronger language in particular places, but welcome[s] these revisions.” Protect Music Valley says the text is still unclear on CEQA review and asks the Board not to vote until the County holds a public workshop.