HISTORY OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE MINING AND GEOLOGY BOARD - 125 YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF EARTH SCIENCE POLICY

The State Mining and Geology Board (SMGB) was established in 1885 as the Board of Trustees (Board). Its purpose was to oversee the activities of the State Mineralogist and the Bureau of Mines, now the California Geological Survey (CGS), which was created by the Legislature five years earlier. The Board was abolished in 1913, and reestablished as the State Mining Board in 1929. During these early years, the State Mining Board provided general policy for guidance to the Governor and the Division of Mines. These responsibilities recognize the impacts that California’s complex geology, large amounts of federally managed lands, high mineralization, and potential for geologic hazards have on the State’s economy, land use, and public safety. As with the survey, the State Mining Board would evolve with time, and renamed the State Mining and Geology Board (SMGB) in 1965. Focus was primarily on development of the state's mineral resources until the mid-1970s. By 1975, the SMGB was granted additional powers and duties, and became involved with the implementation of policy pertaining to geologic hazards and surface mining. Today’s SMGB is housed within the Department of Conservation and is composed of nine members appointed by the Governor, and confirmed by the Senate, for four-year terms. By statute, SMGB members must have specific professional backgrounds in geology, mining engineering, environmental protection, groundwater hydrology and rock chemistry, urban planning, landscape architecture, mineral resource conservation, and seismology, with one non-specialized member representing the public. The SMGB is granted certain autonomous responsibilities and obligations under several statutes. In concert with the Department of Conservation, the CGS and the Office of Mine Reclamation (OMR), the SMGB has been fully engaged in implementing the legislative mandates of the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 (SMARA), the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act (A-P Act), and the Seismic Hazards Mapping Act (SHMA).