California Public Resources Code 6224.2 – (a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), any person …
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), any person who appropriates or converts any mineral deposits reserved to, or owned by, the state and under the jurisdiction of the commission, including, but not limited to, oil and gas, other gases (including, but not limited to, nonhydrocarbon and geothermal gases), oil shale, coal, phosphate, sodium, gold, silver, alumina, silica, uranium, trona, fossils of all geological ages, metals and their compounds, alkali, alkali earth, sand, clay, gravel, salts, mineral waters, or any geothermal resources, without lawful authority, is liable to the state for treble the amount of damages which may be assessed therefor, in any civil action, in any court having jurisdiction.
(b) If the appropriation or conversion of any such mineral deposit was involuntary, or if the defendant in any action brought under this section had probable cause to believe that the land on which the appropriation or conversion was committed was his own or the land of the person in whose service or by whose direction such act was done, the measure of damages shall be the sum as would compensate for the actual damages.
Terms Used In California Public Resources Code 6224.2
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
(c) Damages awarded pursuant to this section shall be limited to those determined to have occurred within the five-year period immediately preceding the date of commencement of the action.
(Amended by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1280.)