How is the SMGB Organized?
Today’s board is composed of nine members appointed by the governor, and confirmed by the Senate, for four-year terms. By statute, board members must possess specified professional backgrounds in either geology, mining engineering, environmental protection, groundwater hydrology and rock chemistry, urban planning, landscape architecture, mineral resource conservation, seismology, and one public member. To enable the board to meet its responsibilities most effectively, it has established five standing committees to gather information and formulate recommendations on a variety of topics. These committees are the Geohazards Committee, the Minerals and Geologic Resources Committee, the Surface Mining Standards Committee, and the Policy and Legislation Committee. The full board, and these committees, meet in regularly scheduled sessions each month. The SMGB has three active advisory groups: the Seismic Hazards Mapping Act Advisory Committee (SHMAAC), the Forest Geology Technical Advisory Co
