County Board of Supervisors expected to approve mining ordinance changes
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors meets in regular session on Tuesday (October 20).
The Board will hold a public hearing on proposed changes to mining project approvals. The issue first came before the Board of Supervisors on August 18, and the language of the update has changed since it was first presented. Shortly after the August 18, meeting Third District County Supervisor Dawn Rowe spoke about the update with Z107.7’s Gary Daigneault. At that time, she described changes to County policy as,
“It is the county bringing their development code as it relates to mining into state compliance with that California Surface and Mining Reclamation Act. So the state has updated their standards and their regulatory framework. And what we did, the planning commission did yesterday, was they adopted everything that the state now requires of our mining department to be in compliance with the state.”
The issue drew the attention of Twentynine Palms residents since the initial public hearing coincided with a mining claim being staked near Twentynine Palms.
Since August, the County says that they have conducted an additional review of the Proposed Ordinance and public outreach. The County say that the ordinance will “preserve local administration and oversight of surface mining and reclamation activities while ensuring that the County’s procedures are consistent with current State law.”
The Board is expected to approve the updated ordinance.
The Board will accept a donation of two 2026 Polaris off-roading vehicles. The vehicles were donated by the Morongo Basin Search and Rescue Team and go to the County Sheriff’s Morongo Basin station. The County values each vehicle at around $52,000, and they say that the vehicles will increase the capacity of Sheriff’s Department and Search and Rescue team personnel.
The County Board of Supervisors meets Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. at their chambers at 385 North Arrowhead Avenue in San Bernardino.
San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors
Col. Paul Cook (Ret.)
Curt Hagman
Dawn Rowe
Jesse Armendarez
