What's at stake:
The state legislature stopped a bill that had the support of Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.
A state Assembly committee this week blocked legislation that would have shielded the San Joaquin River from a massive mining operation, prioritizing union jobs over federal warnings of lead and arsenic contamination.
The Natural Resources Committee rejected Fresno Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula’s AB 1425 on a 2-1 vote, with most members abstaining from voting. The bill, supported by Fresno mayor Jerry Dyer, aimed to stop CEMEX from blast-mining a 600-foot crater near the river – a practice Mexico banned last year but remains legal in California.
Committee members on Monday sidestepped the environmental substance raised by Arambula, focusing instead on bureaucratic processes. “I’m very concerned about the precedent. If you don’t like how the CEQA process is playing out, you circumvent it,” Bay Area Assemblymember Damon Connolly said.
The vote spotlights Sacramento’s reluctance to override the local development decisions, even as the Newsom administration faces a $250 billion tab for homes county supervisors approved in Southern California fire zones — some through the same CEQA process the committee defended on Monday.
Arambula argued Fresno County’s review of a floodplain mining proposal isn’t able to protect public interests. “The lead agency would be unable to make a decision that truly protects the San Joaquin River,” he told the committee.
The county has pushed back against Arambula’s bill previously.
“What the hell is going on there?” said County Supervisor Buddy Mendes said previously about Arambula’s bill. “Why is he trying to do a one off-deal like that?… There’s nothing wrong with what they’re [CEMEX] doing on the river.”
Competing Fresno delegations packed the hearing. Dozens of orange-vested CEMEX workers from the 60-job union plant filled seats alongside river advocates who made the three-hour drive to Sacramento.
“Most of us are second and third generation employees who have spent their whole careers at Rockfield,” said one worker. “Working at Cemex isn’t just a job, it is a career.”
Roman Rain Tree, a local Yokut tribal member, challenged the committee: “You’re about to approve something that’s not even accepted in Mexico, but we in America, in California, are going to live with it. It’s just appalling.”
While CEMEX argues the project is critical for construction materials, state geological surveys contradict this, showing Fresno already has a 200% gravel surplus.
CEMEX celebrated the outcome: “Cemex is pleased that there is bipartisan concern for legislation that would jeopardize over 90 quality jobs, circumvent local control of land use projects, and eliminate a reliable source of construction aggregate essential to economic growth.”
Committee Chair Isaac Bryan, from South Central LA, offered Arambula a procedural lifeline, suggesting the legislation could return to the committee in January 2026.
In a statement afterwards, Arambula vowed to continue the fight: “We should all commit to continuing to fight to preserve the waterway for generations to come and to find a viable option that protects the river and the people who depend upon it.”
The project now heads to the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, which will decide whether to green-light a crater deep enough to swallow three Security Bank skyscrapers stacked atop each other on what was slated as a recreational parkway.
CEMEX needs to respond to roughly 600 public comments, per CEQA requirements, before the Board of Supervisors can vote on the proposal. The company has until July 2026 until their current mining permit expires.
