republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20112012/sb-792.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Surface mining: mineral resource management policies."
description: "The Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 prohibits a person, with exceptions, from conducting surface mining operations unless a permit is obtained from, a reclamation plan is submitted to and approved by, and financial assurances for reclamation have been approved by, the lead agency for the operation. Existing law requires a lead agency, within 12 months of certain occurrences, to establish, in accordance with state policy, mineral resource management policies to be incorporated into the lead agency's general plan. Existing law requires these policies to, among other things, assist in the management of land use that affects areas of statewide and regional significance."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20112012"
identifier: "SB 792"
citation: "California SB 792 (20112012)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Surface mining: mineral resource management policies."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Steinberg"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 21
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2011-02-18"
last_action: "2011-09-26"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/3ce91091-4869-4964-850b-1c9a40e4b057"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB792"
source_hash: "54f95c02c3ab579c091ead4ab2eac4794d6e45d8578a377cfae7d22b26d330a3"
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 792 (20112012) — Surface mining: mineral resource management policies.

The Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 prohibits a person, with exceptions, from conducting surface mining operations unless a permit is obtained from, a reclamation plan is submitted to and approved by, and financial assurances for reclamation have been approved by, the lead agency for the operation. Existing law requires a lead agency, within 12 months of certain occurrences, to establish, in accordance with state policy, mineral resource management policies to be incorporated into the lead agency's general plan. Existing law requires these policies to, among other things, assist in the management of land use that affects areas of statewide and regional significance.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/18/11 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB792&version=20110SB79299INT)
2. **09/26/11 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB792&version=20110SB79297CHP)
3. **SB792** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB792)
4. **08/26/11 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB792&version=20110SB79298ENR)

## Votes

- SB 792 Steinberg Consent Calendar Second Day — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, to Consent Calendar. — **17–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but re-refer to the Committee on Rules. — **7–1** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations. — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading — **31–8** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Steinberg — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2011-02-18** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2011-02-20** From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 22.
- **2011-03-10** Referred to Coms. on N.R. & W. and RLS. `referral-committee`
- **2011-03-11** Set for hearing March 22.
- **2011-03-22** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on RLS. (Ayes 7. Noes 1. Page 416.) (March 22). Re-referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-03-29** Withdrawn from committee.
- **2011-03-29** Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee`
- **2011-04-01** Set for hearing April 11.
- **2011-04-11** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8. `committee-passage`
- **2011-04-12** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-04-25** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 31. Noes 8. Page 706.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-04-25** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2011-05-02** Referred to Com. on NAT. RES. `referral-committee`
- **2011-06-14** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 13). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-08-18** From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (August 17). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-08-22** Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-08-25** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 2596.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-08-25** In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
- **2011-08-30** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 11:30 a.m.
- **2011-09-26** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2011-09-26** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 345, Statutes of 2011.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/3ce91091-4869-4964-850b-1c9a40e4b057`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).