A publication of the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association
Spring Issue
AB 219 Prevailing Wage Legislation - 4 AB 1142 California SMARA Update - 8 Regional Councils Telematics - 10 2016 CalCIMA Spring Thaw - 12
LEGISLATIVE
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The Conveyor • 2016 Spring Issue
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LEGISLATIVE
California smara Update AB 1142 and SB 209: What operators need to know about SMARA modernization Changes will be effective January 1, 2017 By Kerry Shapiro and Matthew J. Sanders, Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP June 15, 2016 Kerry Shapiro Kerry Shapiro leads the mining practice at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP and has represented the mining, construction and building materials industries on mineral extraction and land development projects for more than 25 years. Kerry also serves as General Counsel to the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA) and in that capacity participated extensively in the legislative debate on SMARA modernization reflected in AB 1142 and SB 209. Contact Kerry Shapiro at kshapiro@jmbm.com. Matthew J. Sanders Matthew Sanders is of Counsel at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP and is a leading environmental and natural resources attorney. He represents the surface mining industry in a wide variety of permitting, counseling, and litigation matters. Contact Matthew Sanders at msanders@jmbm.com. About CalCIMA CalCIMA is a trade association for the construction and industrial materials industries in California, which includes aggregate, industrial mineral, and ready mixed concrete producers. In all there are about 70 producer member companies that include over 250 production sites in every county of California. Members also include over 70 supplier and service providers to the industry. For more information see www.calcima.org.
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On April 18, 2016, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law two bills that together provide the most significant update to the California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA) in 25 years. Assembly Bill (AB) 1142 (Gray) and Senate Bill (SB) 209 (Pavley) are the outgrowth of more modest changes in recent years, and of a promise by the Governor, in 2013, to reform SMARA from “top to bottom.” Although the bills are not effective until January 1, 2017, operators must be aware of their changes and start planning for their implementation. Most important in the near term are changes to SMARA’s inspections process, financial assurance approval process, reclamation plan requirements, and inspector qualifications. Inspections Process Beginning in 2017, operators must request, on their annual reports, an inspection date within 12 months of their prior inspection. For inspections conducted in 2016, the 12-month date will be triggered for 2017. Financial Assurances The annual inspection date is the starting point for
wholly new annual financial assurance review and approval processes. Note the plural—under AB 1142 and SB 209, SMARA will now have (1) a process for financial assurance cost estimates (FACEs) for new or amended reclamation plans and (2) another process for annual FACE updates. Each process sets new steps and deadlines that are tied to the annual inspection date. Moreover, each process provides the Department of Conservation (DOC) a new right to formally consult with lead agencies and operators during the FACE review process, and to give DOC a new right to appeal a lead agency’s approval of a FACE. Annual financial assurance review was already a SMARA requirement, but the new legislation formalizes the review process to provide greater clarity and transparency. Corporate self-bonding is now permitted for companies worth more than $35 million, subject to regulations which will be approved by the SMGB. Multiple operations can combine their assets to pass the financial test, but selfbonding is limited to 75% of the value of an operator’s FACE(s).
The Conveyor • 2016 Spring Issue
Reclamation Plans Beginning in 2017, each new reclamation plan must be consolidated in a single document with all relevant charts, appendices, and so on. Plan maps must be of higher quality and supported as necessary by surveys from licensed land surveyors or engineers. Plans should be easier to use and administer but more challenging and expensive to put together.
On the administrative side, the bills: • Re-organize the process by which the SMGB can assume control of a lead agency’s authority to give the SMGB more options, short of a full takeover, to promote compliance. • Provide lead agencies operating borrow pits more relaxed idle mine standards and less frequent inspections.
Fees AB 1142 and SB 209 raise the maximum annual fee for operations from $4,000 to $10,000 (adjusted by the Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)), with the increase to be phased in over the next four years. Compliance AB 1142 and SB 209 still allow lead agencies and the DOC to issue Notices of Violation, but they are now required to provide more information to the operator about the alleged violations. Lead agencies and the DOC must also give operators two opportunities to enter into a stipulated Order to Comply, and operators subject to stipulated Orders to Comply can remain on the SMARA § 2717 list.
• Subject state-licensed inspectors to heightened qualifications, but relax their conflict-of-interest rules. • Allow lead agency employees, not just licensed professionals, to serve as inspectors of lead agency-managed operations. • Rename the Office of Mine Reclamation the “Division of Mine Reclamation” and establish as the Division’s head a new “Supervisor of Mine Reclamation.”
Other changes
• Raise the total annual revenue cap for all reporting fees from $3.5 to $8 million per year (again, COLA-adjusted), and require the DOC Director to file a new fees report to the Legislature.
AB 1142 and SB 209 modernize SMARA in many other ways. These changes generally fall into two categories: (1) how lead agencies administer SMARA, and (2) how operators comply with it.
• As mentioned, add a new SMARA section that allows the DOC Director to appeal a lead agency’s approval of a financial assurance cost estimate (FACE) to the State Mining & Geology Board (SMGB).
The Conveyor • 2016 Spring Issue
On the compliance side, AB 1142 and SB 209: • Impose new steps and deadlines for lead agency review of reclamation plans. • Streamline the hearing and seizure requirements in cases of financial incapability or abandonment, and allow lead agencies to use forfeited assurances for “remediation” where they are insufficient for full reclamation. Summary and Additional Resources AB 1142 and SB 209 represent a significant SMARA overhaul. Operators should decide when they want their annual inspections (and hence FACE approvals) to take place; shore up their FACEs; and, for projects in process, review the technical and organizational requirements for reclamation plans. Education workshops for implementation of AB 1142 and SB 209 are in the planning stages. In the meantime, more information (including a handy presentation) is available on Jeffer Mangels’ website: 2016 SMARA Modernization. http://articles.jmbm. com/2016/04/21/recentlegislative-reforms-californiassurface-mining-reclamationact-smara/ Copyright ©Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP 2016. All rights reserved.
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TECHNOLOGY
Telematics Drives More Efficiency Into Your Business By Suzanne Seivright, Director of Local Governmental Affairs, CalCIMA
A
growing number of off-road equipment owners are more fully understanding and using telematics technology. But there are still fundamental questions about how, precisely, the technology can work for them. Telematics provide real-time access to off-road equipment. Operators can receive alerts via fault codes when something is wrong with a piece of equipment outfitted with electronic monitors. And although it may be easy to get the impression that the technology is so widely understood, accepted, and usefully employed, that there isn’t anything left to say, questions still remain among several fleets. Telematics systems can solve problems and improve efficiencies
equipment’s computer to diagnose issues. Prior to telematics, many fleets had to rely either on calling to schedule routine maintenance or spend ample time in the field constantly monitoring and recording hours. Now, an email can be issued when service is coming to allow a fleet to have everything ready. For example, if track rails on an excavator wore out about 1,000 hours earlier than those on an identical piece of equipment doing the same type of work. Analyzing telematics data can help to determine that the unit with the faster-wearing rails spent triple the time moving in high-speed mode, in comparison to the other unit and an equipment manager can use the information as an operator training opportunity.
fleet owners can also use the technology to set ‘thresholds’ to limit speed, reverse operation, idling, or excessive brake usage. When infractions of these thresholds are uncovered by telematics, an equipment manager can promptly address this by coaching equipment operators. Be business savvy and pay attention to technology that can help you out Telematics are being integrated into some fleets’ business management software systems for the purpose of generating information that help with tasks such as project billing, maintenance scheduling, utilization assessment, and machine-idling control. Functionality
Off-road fleets of all sizes are using telematics to improve fueling operations, give access to equipment location, retrieve fuel-burn data, or perhaps to track down the source of an excavator’s brisk undercarriage wear by using equipment-specific performance data available from telematics. This information can prove to be invaluable for keeping up with a fleet and making sure equipment is maintained properly, especially with Tier 4 emissions controls.
Beneficial aspects of telematics today Telematics systems can allow the daily inspections for cranes, aerial lifts, and forklifts to be performed digitally, with the results transferred wirelessly to a server that can send data to the equipment owner’s software system. Additionally,
Whether telematics systems are “embedded” by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) at the factory or installed by thirdparty (non-OEM) suppliers in the field, they share two common elements: a GPS unit that provides equipment location and a ‘telematics box’ that retrieves data from the
Today’s telematics systems can allow an equipment manufacturer’s ability to work on equipment more efficiently by allowing technicians to remotely access the 10
The Conveyor • 2016 Spring Issue
equipment’s electronic control unit, which collects data from sensors that are placed in equipment systems and report such variables as pressure, temperature, level, position, speed, and time intervals. Equipment location and sensor data are then wirelessly transmitted via a cellular or satellite network to the telematics supplier’s server, where they are processed and presented on a secure website for the equipment owner to view.
have a plan for how to use telematics data prior to asking for it! Some people may have the idea the telematics will completely change the way they do business. But actually, telematics only complements what you’re already doing; it’s a means for gathering data already being collected and using it in a more efficient manner. It’s important for equipment operators to be judicious about
the data selected for use. Users might request to be notified by text or email about a specific abnormal operating condition. For example, one might choose to start small by concentrating on machine-idling reports. Excess idling quickly depreciates equipment. It moves the machine that much closer to its next service, wastes fuel, and uses up warranty.
Telematics specification tip Those new to telematics should discuss with their supplier whether a cellular or satellite connection – or a dual-mode system that uses both – is best for a particular operation. There are business implications to consider when selecting a particular solution inclusive of not only the initial cost of the equipment, but also the recurring (monthly) airtime cost for transmitting data.
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The more-data-is-better mindset
Equipment operators are steadily being asked to take on extra tasks which can include the monitoring of telematics data. Telematics data needs to make things easier for people, not give them more to do. Receipt of only the data that is pertinent to a fleet, can make fleets more efficient in lieu of creating unnecessary complexities within a fleet owner’s existing business-management system. So, The Conveyor • 2016 Spring Issue
The Conveyor 05/16
There sometimes appears to be a desire for collecting more data just for the sake of having more data. However fleet owners need to try to figure out exactly what telematics data they really need. Some needs are extensive with a very defined application, such as monitoring diagnostic fault codes for predictive maintenance or while others needs are very basic.
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9/05/2016 8:29:51 a.m.
SAFETY
2016 CalCIMA Spring Thaw Recap CalCIMA CONFERENCE INFORMS INDUSTRY Written by Charley Rea, Director of Communications & Policy, CalCIMA Member panels on customer truck safety highlighted this year’s two Spring Thaw Mine Safety Conferences. The customer truck safety panels were unique in that they featured miners and workers— loader operators, scale house personnel, operational personnel, and truckers. The panels allowed the miners and workers in the audience to ask questions directly to their colleagues. The questions were wide and varied. What is your greatest challenge with customer trucks? How do you get them to follow traffic rules in a mine site? How do you establish a rapport with truckers? What do you do when you see a trucker outside their truck? How do you address communication barriers? Who is empowered at your plant to
direct truckers or raise safety concerns? What happens if a trucker climbs on their truck? How do you address truckers that won’t wear hard hats due to religious reasons? What training—signage, videos, brochures—works best at your site for truckers? Customer trucks are a continuing safety challenge at mine operations, since hundreds may come through a plant in a day, they are mobile, drivers frequently change, they speak non-English languages, and they are not under direct regulatory control of the Mine Safety & Health Administration or CalOSHA. In response, CalCIMA’s Safety & Health Committee has developed a number of training resources, including uniform signage, training videos, and hazard alert postcards and brochures for truckers.
The panels were a way to let mine operators and personnel share their challenges and solutions. “This was the best panel we have had at the Spring Thaw Safety Conferences. It let us talk peer-to-peer,” said Johnnie Schrader, a panelist from Lehigh Hanson’s Irwindale Rock Plant.
Customer truck safety panel Johnny Schraeder (left), Tiffani Wagner and Gil Covarrubias.
Charley Rea, Director of Communications & Policy, CalCIMA.
Tim Tighe, Apex Bulk Commodities gave a presentation on truck driver training.
Joshua Schultz, Law Offices of Adele L. Abrams PC presented on Safety & Health Management Programs in Mining.
Tom Walsh with Enterprise Risk Management Services gave tips for managing contractors.
The CalCIMA Spring Thaw was well attended with 220 attendees.
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THE PANELISTS: Johnny Schraeder, Yard Loader Operator, Lehigh Hanson Gil Covarrubias, Shipping Operator, 3M Timothy Tighe, Safety Director, Apex Bulk Commodities Tiffani Wagner, Scale House, Lehigh Hanson Shane Harrison, Loader Operator, Calaveras Materials Inc.
The Conveyor • 2016 Spring Issue
Kenny Bair, Safety and Environmental Technician, Syar Industries, Inc. Stephanie Lovell, Production Manager, Graniterock Peter Lemon, Plant Manager, Graniterock
In addition to the customer truck panels, the Spring Thaws featured the introduction of contractor safety training materials prepared by CalCIMA’s Safety & Health Committee. A work group of Terry Tyson, Lehigh Hanson; Meghan Neal, 3M; and Brian Bigley, Lehigh Southwest Cement, prepared the materials. Contractor safety is another challenging safety area at mines,
Exhibitors at the CalCIMA Spring Thaw.
since contractors often don’t know all the safety requirements or hazards. The training materials are aimed first at helping mine operators manage the contractor workforces. They include checklists, forms, and questionnaires that mine operators can use to screen contractors and make sure they have proper training and certifications. They also include a handy brochure to share with contractors that provide an overview of requirements and safety challenges. The Spring Thaw Mine Safety Conferences also included panels from the Mine Safety & Health Administration and CalOSHA
Applied Industrial Technologies exhibit.
2016 Spring Thaw Sponsors:
Mining & Tunneling Unit, as well as individual talks on conveyor safety, truck driver training, non-monetary safety incentives, elevator safety, safety and health management plans, and proposed MSHA rules. The talks can be found on CalCIMA’s website at www.calcima.org In all, 220 miners attended the Spring Thaw Safety Conferences held March 1 in Ontario and March 27 in Sacramento. The Safety & Health Committee has already started planning next year’s Spring Thaw Mine Safety Conferences. They welcome more participants. If you would like to help out, please contact CalCIMA.
Dan Jacques, Hardrok (left), Ted Zebroski, Hardrok and Richard Shields, Martin Engineering.
2016 Spring Thaw Exhibitors: • Air Resources Board • Baldor Electric – Dodge • Benchmark Resources • California Screen & Conveyor, Inc. • EnviroTech Services, Inc. • HARDROK Equipment Inc • Health Science Associates • Henkel Corporation • ICR Staffing Services, Inc. • Ramos Oil Co., Inc. • RMC Engineering • SKF USA, Inc. • Timken • U.S. Tsubaki Power Transmission LLC
The Conveyor • 2016 Spring Issue
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