Except as provided in this chapter, no person shall conduct surface mining operations unless a use permit, reclamation plan, and financial assurances for reclamation have first been approved by the city. Any applicable exemption from this requirement does not automatically exempt a project or activity from the application of other regulations, ordinances or policies of the city, including but not limited to, the application of CEQA, the requirement of use permits or other permits, the payment of development impact fees, or the imposition of other dedications and exactions as may be permitted under the law. The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all lands within the city, public and private.

This chapter shall not apply to the following activities, subject to the above-referenced exceptions:

(a) Excavations or grading conducted for farming or on-site construction or for the purpose of restoring land following a flood or natural disaster;

(b) Onsite excavation and onsite earthmoving activities which are an integral and necessary part of a construction project that are undertaken to prepare a site for construction of structures, landscaping, or other land improvements, including the related excavation, grading, compaction, or the creation of fills, road cuts, and embankments, whether or not surplus materials are exported from the site, subject to all of the following conditions:

(1) All required permits for the construction, landscaping, or related land improvements have been approved by a public agency in accordance with applicable provisions of state law and locally adopted plans and ordinances, including, but not limited to, the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”, Public Resources Code, division 13, section 2l000 et seq.,

(2) The city’s approval of the construction project included consideration of the onsite excavation and onsite earthmoving activities pursuant to CEQA,

(3) The approved construction project is consistent with the general plan or zoning of the site,

(4) Surplus materials shall not be exported from the site unless and until actual construction work has commenced and shall cease if it is determined that construction activities have terminated, have been indefinitely suspended, or are no longer being actively pursued;

(c) Operation of a plant site used for mineral processing, including associated onsite structures, equipment, machines, tools, or other materials, including the onsite stockpiling and onsite recovery of mined materials, subject to all of the following conditions:

(1) The plant site is located on lands designated for industrial or commercial uses in the city’s general plan,

(2) The plant site is located on lands zoned industrial or commercial, or are contained within a zoning category intended exclusively for industrial activities by the city,

(3) None of the minerals being processed are being extracted onsite,

(4) All reclamation work has been completed pursuant to the approved reclamation plan for any mineral extraction activities that occurred onsite after January 1, 1976;

(d) Prospecting for, or the extraction of, minerals for commercial purposes and the removal of overburden in total amounts of less than one thousand cubic yards on any one parcel in any one location of one acre or less;

(e) Surface mining operations that are required by federal law in order to protect a mining claim, if those operations are conducted solely for that purpose;

(f) Any other surface mining operations that the State Mining and Geology Board determines to be of an infrequent nature and which involve only minor surface disturbances;

(g) Emergency excavations or grading conducted by the department of water resources or the reclamation board for the purpose of averting, alleviating, repairing, or restoring damage to property due to imminent or recent floods, disasters, or other emergencies;

(h) Road construction and maintenance for timber or forest operations if the land is owned by the same person or entity, and if the excavation is conducted adjacent to timber or forest operation roads. This exemption is only available if slope stability and erosion are controlled in accordance with State Mining and Geology Board regulations and, upon closure of the site, the person closing the site implements, where necessary, revegetation measures and postclosure uses in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. This exemption does not apply to onsite excavation or grading that occurs within one hundred feet of a Class One watercourse or seventy-five feet of a Class Two watercourse, or to excavations for materials that are, or have been, sold for commercial purposes. (Ord. No. 1606, § 2 (part).)