California Fish and Game Code 5800 – (a) It is unlawful to conduct any mining operation in the …
(a) It is unlawful to conduct any mining operation in the Trinity and Klamath River Fish and Game District between July 1 and November 30, except when the debris, substances, tailings or other effluent from those operations do not and cannot pass into the waters in that district.
(b) It is unlawful between July 1 and November 30 to pollute, muddy, contaminate, or roil the waters of the Trinity and Klamath River Fish and Game District, or to deposit in or cause, suffer, or procure to be deposited in, permit to pass into, or place where it can pass into, those waters, any debris, substance or tailings from hydraulic, placer, milling, or other mining operation affecting the clarity of those waters. The clarity of those waters shall be deemed affected when those waters at a point a distance of one mile below the confluence of the Klamath River and the Salmon River or at a point a distance of one mile below the confluence of the South Fork of the Trinity River and the Trinity River, contain 50 parts per million, by weight, of suspended matter, not including vegetable matter in suspension and suspended matter occurring in the stream or streams due to an act of God.
Terms Used In California Fish and Game Code 5800
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- County: includes city and county. See California Fish and Game Code 32
- District: means fish and game district. See California Fish and Game Code 41
- Fish: means a wild fish, mollusk, crustacean, invertebrate, amphibian, or part, spawn, or ovum of any of those animals. See California Fish and Game Code 45
- Mile: means either a statute mile (5,280 feet) or a nautical mile (6,077 feet) depending on the application. See California Fish and Game Code 55
- Person: means any natural person or any partnership, corporation, limited liability company, trust, or other type of association. See California Fish and Game Code 67
(c) It is unlawful, between July 1 and November 30 to carry on or operate any hydraulic mine of any kind on, along, or in any waters flowing into the Trinity and Klamath River Fish and Game District.
(d) Nothing in this section shall prevent the operation of a hydraulic mine where the tailings, substance, or debris, or other effluent from that mine does not or will not pass into the waters of the Trinity and Klamath River Fish and Game District, between July 1 and November 30, and any person, firm, or corporation engaged in hydraulic mining shall have the right until July 15 to use water for the purpose of cleaning up.
(e) Any structure or contrivance that is used to violate this section is a public nuisance.
(f) Any person, firm, or corporation that maintains or permits a structure or contrivance used in violating this section is guilty of maintaining a public nuisance.
(g) It is the duty of the district attorney of the county where the violation occurs or the acts creating the public nuisance occur to bring action to abate that nuisance.
(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 132, Sec. 114. (AB 1760) Effective January 1, 2024.)