8-2-4 Aggregate Production Reporting

The purpose of this policy is to outline the process for reporting aggregate production and provide guidelines for conversion of tons to cubic yards for compliance purposes.

Reporting accurate annual production numbers has several important purposes.

The 1994 Aggregate Resources Management Plan (ARM Plan) requires that the aggregate industry fund an Aggregate Road Mitigation Fund to be used by the County for road maintenance and improvements.

Maximum annual production rates of quarries and other aggregate operators are specified by Use Permit conditions of approval or vested rights and are often specified in terms of volume (cubic yards). In order to verify compliance and assess road mitigation fees, aggregate operators are required to provide annual production reports.

Road mitigation fees are based off the total tons exported from the site. In 2010 the mitigation fee was set at $0.10 per ton, and increases each year based off the Consumer Price Index.

Aggregate production reports include annual production (mined material), exports (material sold or otherwise exported from the site), and imports. Reports also include quantities of individual types of products exported, and quantities of imported recycled material. Production data is reported in units of tons.

Requests for data are sent in January, and production reports are required to be submitted by March 1^st. Production data is entered, and road mitigation fees are invoiced within the fiscal year.

Staff review production data against permit terms and conditions. Most often production limits in permits and vested rights are specified in units of cubic yards, while production is reported in tons. Thus, tons must be converted to cubic yards. Absent a site specific unit conversion, a default unit conversion of 1.5 tons per cubic yard is used to convert reported production in tons to cubic yards.

As an alternative, an operator may submit a site-specific unit conversion value based on a sampling and analysis of actual product densities from the particular quarry operation that is prepared and certified by a Professional Geologist or Civil Engineer acting within the scope of their license. The site specific analysis must provide the bulk density of each product produced at that quarry in its exported form such that weight (tons) can be converted to volume (cubic yards).

1994 Aggregate Resources Management Plan, and Sonoma County Code Section 26A, Resolution Number 09-1077a

Approved By:  Tennis Wick, Director

Reviewed By Department Manager: John Mack, Natural Resources Division Manager

Reviewed By County Counsel: Sita Kuteira, Deputy County Counsel

Lead Author: Robert Pennington, Professional Geologist

Version: 4/3/2024