republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20112012/sb-143.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Surface mining: idle mines."
description: "The Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975, with exceptions, prohibits a person from conducting a surface mining operation unless, among other things, a reclamation plan has been submitted to, and approved by, the lead agency for the operation. The act requires an operator, within 90 days of a surface mining operation becoming idle, to submit to the lead agency for review and approval, an interim management plan. The act authorizes an interim management plan to remain in effect for a period not to exceed 5 years, after which the lead agency is authorized to take certain actions, including renewing the interim management plan for additional 5-year periods at the expiration of each 5-year period, if the lead agency finds that the surface mining operator has complied fully with the interim management plan."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20112012"
identifier: "SB 143"
citation: "California SB 143 (20112012)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Surface mining: idle mines."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Rubio"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 29
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2011-01-31"
last_action: "2012-09-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/86af2180-e72f-457e-98e0-4d8b70c40fc1"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB143"
source_hash: "de8ef016181178599a8e0195cb40fdba1ff26e4a3612947d7f593a17a143c18f"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 143 (20112012) — Surface mining: idle mines.

The Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975, with exceptions, prohibits a person from conducting a surface mining operation unless, among other things, a reclamation plan has been submitted to, and approved by, the lead agency for the operation. The act requires an operator, within 90 days of a surface mining operation becoming idle, to submit to the lead agency for review and approval, an interim management plan. The act authorizes an interim management plan to remain in effect for a period not to exceed 5 years, after which the lead agency is authorized to take certain actions, including renewing the interim management plan for additional 5-year periods at the expiration of each 5-year period, if the lead agency finds that the surface mining operator has complied fully with the interim management plan.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **01/31/11 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB143&version=20110SB14399INT)
2. **03/22/11 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB143&version=20110SB14398AMD)
3. **05/10/11 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB143&version=20110SB14397AMD)
4. **06/11/12 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB143&version=20110SB14396AMD)
5. **09/14/12 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB143&version=20110SB14394CHP)
6. **SB143** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB143)
7. **08/30/12 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB143&version=20110SB14395ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading — **23–13** (pass) · upper
- SB 143 Rubio Senate Third Reading By SOLORIO — **51–26** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **12–5** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **6–2** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended, and re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations. — **4–2** (pass) · upper
- Unfinished Business SB143 Rubio Concurrence — **26–10** (pass) · upper
- From committee: That the Assembly Amendments be concurred in. — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- Placed on Appropriations Suspense file. — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations. — **6–1** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Rubio — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2011-01-31** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2011-02-01** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 3.
- **2011-02-10** Referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee`
- **2011-03-22** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `reading-2, reading-1, committee-passage, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2011-03-31** Re-referred to Com. on E.Q. `referral-committee`
- **2011-04-05** Set for hearing May 2.
- **2011-05-09** From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 2. Page 853.) (May 2). `amendment-passage, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-05-10** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `reading-2, reading-1, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2011-05-13** Set for hearing May 23.
- **2011-05-23** Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- **2011-05-25** Set for hearing May 26.
- **2011-05-26** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 2. Page 1113.) (May 26). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-05-27** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-06-02** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 23. Noes 13. Page 1261.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-06-02** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2011-06-13** Referred to Com. on NAT. RES. `referral-committee`
- **2012-06-11** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES. `reading-2, reading-1, committee-passage, amendment-passage, referral-committee`
- **2012-07-03** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (July 2). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2012-08-09** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 5.) (August 8). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2012-08-13** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2012-08-20** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 51. Noes 26. Page 6015.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2012-08-21** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2012-08-22** Re-referred to Com. on RLS. pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10. `referral-committee`
- **2012-08-22** From committee: Be re-referred to Com. on N.R. & W. pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 4687.) Re-referred to Com. on N.R. & W. `referral-committee, committee-passage`
- **2012-08-23** From committee: That the Assembly amendments be concurred in. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 4792.) `committee-passage`
- **2012-08-27** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 26. Noes 10. Page 4845.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2012-08-31** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 7:30 p.m.
- **2012-09-14** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2012-09-14** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 324, Statutes of 2012.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/86af2180-e72f-457e-98e0-4d8b70c40fc1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).