In the course of adopting the various components that comprise the CCAP, the County has determined that there is a reasonable relationship between the fees identified herein, the use to which they are to be put, and the applicability of charging said fees of permit holders. These relationships can be generally summarized as follows:
(a) CCRMP Implementation Fee and Cache Creek Conservancy Contribution. The Streamway Influence Boundary (page 21 of Final OCMP; page 10 of Final CCRMP) defines the area which has historically been occupied by Cache Creek, and where land uses continue to have an effect on streamflow. Left to natural forces, the channel would attempt to reclaim the entire area shown within the Streamway Influence Boundary. The Streamway Influence Boundary, therefore, is that area adjoining the creek within which the active creek channel may have an influence, and within which land uses adjoining the creek may have an influence on the creek. There is a spatial, hydrologic, and geologic connection between these areas. The area designated for off-channel mining is located within or in relevant proximity to the Streamway Influence Boundary, thereby establishing the nexus for funding of programs by Permit Holders, to offset the potential for influence between the two.
(b) Maintenance and remediation fee. This “contingency” fund offsets the risk of encountering costs after reclamation, associated with remediation, monitoring, and/or maintenance of permanent lakes resulting from deep mining, thereby establishing the nexus for funding by Permit Holders mining within the groundwater table.
(c) OCMP administration fee. The OCMP is a mining plan prepared and adopted for the purpose of regulating off-channel aggregate resources. This fee reimburses the County for administrative costs of implementing the Plan, from which Permit Holders receive direct benefits, thereby establishing the nexus for funding by Permit Holders.
(d) Twenty percent production exception surcharge fee. Extraction within or adjacent to the Streamway Influence Boundary, in excess of approved annual permitted production, increases the potential for influence between off-channel mining and Cache Creek. This fund offsets that potential and therefore fifty (50%) percent would be used primarily to supplement the CCRMP Implementation fund. The increased extraction addressed by this fee also increases the potential risk of encountering costs after reclamation, associated with remediation, monitoring, and/or maintenance of permanent lakes resulting from deep mining. This fund offsets that potential and therefore the remaining fifty (50%) percent would be used to supplement the Maintenance and Remediation Fund. (§ 1, Ord. 1196, eff. January 1, 1997; as amended by § 2, Ord. 1357, eff. April 26, 2007,§ 2, Ord. 1445, eff. August 14, 2014, and Ord. 1518, eff. February 13, 2020)