Benchmark Resources Presents at CalCIMA’s 2016 Education Conference.

November 8, 2016.

Bruce Steubing presented with Anne McQueen, Yorke Engineering, at the 2016 CalCIMA Annual Education Conference in Rancho Mirage, California. The presentation was entitled “Recent CEQA Challenges Related to Air Quality Requirements for Permitting Mines.” When completing air quality analysis under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), mine operators are facing increasing variations in the way data, modeling, and technical evaluations are presented to lead agencies and air districts. Recent legal and regulatory developments in greenhouse gas analysis, dispersion modeling, and health risk assessments have complicated the process. The procedures for technical evaluations are extremely complex and revisions based on lead agency requests can be costly. This presentation included a review of key CEQA air quality developments and the challenges that operators are encountering. Bruce and Anne provided recommendations and strategies for preparing and defending the air quality technical evaluations and used case studies to present approaches for addressing these issues.

David Brown and Andrew White participated on a panel discussion on the recently approved revisions to the California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA). CalCIMA gathered a panel of industry experts to answer questions regarding, for example, changes to financial assurances and the technical criteria of reclamation plans. The panel offered advice from their years of experience preparing financial assurance cost estimates and developing reclamation plans. The panel also shared their experiences working with lead agencies and the California Department of Conservation on common issues.