AIR DISTRICT RULES
Rule 6.0 AGRICULTURAL BURNING PERMITS
In addition to complying with
the "Sacramento Valley Air Basin Smoke Management Plan" as submitted
to the Air Resources Board and other stated burning regulations, no person shall
knowingly set or permit agricultural burning for the disposal of agricultural
waste unless they have a valid permit.
Rule 6.2 BURN AUTHORIZATION
Before any person who
holds an agricultural burning permit sets or permits an agricultural burn, the
person must receive permission to burn that day for a specific site and a
specific number of acres from
the Colusa County Air Pollution Control District.
Rule 6.3 PROHIBITION OF AGRICULTURAL BURNING ON NO-BURN DAYS
No agricultural burning permit shall be valid on a no-burn day and no person
shall knowingly set or permit agricultural burning on a no-burn day.
Rule 6.6 RESTRICTION OF AGRICULTURAL
BURNING ON BURN DAYS
The Air Pollution Control
Officer may restrict agricultural waste burning on burn days or declare a
no-burn day if such burning could cause or contribute to extreme adverse air
quality conditions.
CALIFORNIA LAWS
H&S 41850 Legislative Intent
41850. It is the intent of the Legislature, by the
enactment of this article, that agricultural burning be reasonably regulated and
not be prohibited. The state board and the districts shall take into
consideration, in adopting rules and regulations for purposes of this article,
various factors, including, but not limited to, the population in an area, the
geographical characteristics, the meteorological conditions, the economic and
technical impact of such rules and regulations, and the importance of a viable
agricultural economy in the state.
H&S 41852 No Person
Shall Burn Without Valid Permit
41852. No person knowingly shall set or permit agricultural burning unless
he has a valid permit from the agency designated by the state board to issue
such permits in the area where the agricultural burning is to take place.
H&S 41854 No Permit
Valid on No-Burn Day
41854. (a) No permit issued pursuant to Section 41853 shall be valid for any
day during which agricultural burning is prohibited by the state board pursuant
to Section 41855 or by a district board pursuant to Section 41508.
(b) Each permit shall bear a statement of warning containing the following words
or words of like or similar import:
"This permit is valid only on those days during which agricultural burning
is not prohibited by the State Air Resources Board pursuant to Section 41855 of
the Health and Safety Code."
H&S 41855 ARB Shall
Designate No-Burn Days
41855. The state board shall determine and designate from meteorological
data the days when agricultural burning shall be prohibited within each air
basin.
H&S 41857
Guidelines Based on Certain Criteria
41857. The guidelines promulgated by
the state board shall be based on
meteorological data, the nature and volume of materials to be burned, and the
probable effect of such burning on the ambient air quality within the air basins
affected.
H&S 41863 Plans Shall Include
Agricultural Burning Component
41863. Each basin-wide coordinating
council and district shall, as part of the implementation plans and programs
...., include a component for the regulation and control of agricultural burning
pursuant to guidelines adopted by the state board.
Commencing September 1,
2001, the county air pollution control officers in the Sacramento Valley Air
Basin may grant conditional rice straw burning permits once the county
agricultural commissioner has determined that the applicant has met the
conditions specified in subdivision (h). The county agricultural commissioner
shall be responsible for all field inspections associated with the issuance of
conditional rice straw burning permits. A conditional rice straw burning permit
shall be valid for only one burn, per field, per year.
The county agricultural commissioner may charge the applicant a fee not to
exceed the costs incurred by the county agricultural commissioner in making the
determination specified in subdivision (f). This subdivision shall be operative
only until January 1, 2009.
If the terms and conditions for issuing conditional rice straw burning permits
specified in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, are met, a conditional rice straw
burning permit may be issued unless the state board and the department have
jointly determined, based upon an annual review process, that there are other
economically and technically feasible alternative means of eliminating the
disease that are not substantially more costly to the applicant. The terms and
conditions for issuing the conditional rice straw burning permits are:
(1) The fields to be burned are specifically described.
(2) The applicant has not violated any
provision of this section within the previous three years.
(3) During the growing season, the
county agricultural commissioner has independently determined the significant
presence of a pathogen in an amount sufficient to constitute a rice disease such
as stem rot.
(4) The county agricultural
commissioner makes a finding that the existence of the pathogen as identified in
paragraph (3) will likely cause a significant, quantifiable reduction in yield
in the field to be burned during the current or next growing season. The
findings of the county agricultural commissioner shall be based on
recommendations adopted by the advisory group.
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The maximum annual number of acres
burned in the Sacramento Valley Air Basin pursuant to shall be the lesser
of:
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The total of 25 percent of each
individual applicant's planted acres that year.
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total of 125,000 acres planted in
the Sacramento Valley Air Basin.
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Each grower shall be eligible to
burn up to 25 percent of the grower's planted acres, as determined by the
air pollution control officers in the Sacramento Valley Air Basin and
subject to the maximum annual number of acres burned set forth in paragraph
(1), if the grower has met the criteria for a conditional rice straw burning
permit.
