Loading (50 kb)...'
(continued)
(ii) are dominated by overwhelming pollutant transport from the San Joaquin Valley Air Basin; and
(iii) are not measurably affected by emissions of ozone precursors from sources located within the Mojave Desert Air Basin or the Great Basin Valleys Air Basin, or that portion of the Mountain Counties Air Basin south of the Amador-El Dorado County border.
(4) South Central Coast Air Basin south of the Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo County border shall, for sources located in that portion of the Basin:
(A) require the adoption and implementation of all feasible measures as expeditiously as practicable.
(B) require the adoption and implementation of best available retrofit control technology, as defined in Health and Safety Code section 40406, on all existing stationary sources of ozone precursor emissions as expeditiously as practicable.
(5) South Coast Air Basin shall:
(A) require the adoption and implementation of all feasible measures as expeditiously as practicable.
(B) require the adoption and implementation of best available retrofit control technology, as defined in Health and Safety Code section 40406, on all existing stationary sources of ozone precursor emissions as expeditiously as practicable.
(C) include measures sufficient to attain the state ambient air quality standard for ozone by the earliest practicable date within the South Central Coast Air Basin south of the Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo County border, the San Diego Air Basin, the Mojave Desert Air Basin, and the Salton Sea Air Basin, except as provided in Health and Safety Code section 41503(d), during air pollution episodes which the state board has determined meet the following conditions:
(i) are likely to produce a violation of the state ozone standard in the South Central Coast Air Basin south of the Santa Barbara-San Luis Obispo County border, or in the San Diego Air Basin, or in the Mojave Desert Air Basin, or in the Salton Sea Air Basin;
(ii) are dominated by overwhelming pollutant transport from the South Coast Air Basin; and
(iii) are not measurably affected by emissions of ozone precursors from sources located within the South Central Coast Air Basin south of the Santa Barbara - San Luis Obispo County border, or the San Diego Air Basin, or the Mojave Desert Air Basin, or the Salton Sea Air Basin.
(c) Implementation
(1) Prior to revising its attainment/transport mitigation plan pursuant to section 40925 of the Health and Safety Code, each district subject to the requirements set forth in section 70600(b) shall, in consultation with the downwind districts, review the list of control measures in its most recently approved attainment plan and make a finding as to whether the list of control measures meets the requirements of section 70600(b). The district shall include the finding in its proposed triennial plan revision.
(2) If the ARB determines that a district's plan does not satisfy the requirements of section 40912 of the Health and Safety Code and this regulation, the Board and the district shall follow the procedures specified in section 41503.2 of the Health and Safety Code for addressing plan deficiencies.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601 and 39610(b), Health and Safety Code. References: Sections 39610, 40912, 40913, 40921, 40924, 40925 and 41503, Health and Safety Code.
s 70601. Procedure for Limiting the Application of All Feasible Measures and Best Available Retrofit Control Technology.
A district may exclude one or more sources from the requirement to apply all feasible measures, best available retrofit control technology, or both, as transport mitigation pursuant to section 70600 provided that the district plan prepared pursuant to part 3, chapter 10 (commencing with section 40910) of division 26 of the Health and Safety Code and approved by the Board pursuant to part 4, chapter 1 (commencing with section 41500) of division 26 of the Health and Safety Code demonstrates that:
(a) emissions from the source, because of its location, do not contribute to ozone violations in any downwind area; or
(b) emissions reductions from the source are not needed to attain the ozone standard in any downwind area; or
(c) the district is implementing an alternative emissions reduction strategy pursuant to section 40914 of the Health and Safety Code and demonstrates, based on the best available scientific evidence, including but not limited to air quality modeling analyses, that the strategy will be at least as effective and as expeditious as the transport mitigation requirements specified in section 70600; or
(d) the most recent transport assessment demonstrates that the district's transport impact is inconsequential.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601 and 39610(b), Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 39610, 40912, 40913, 40921, 40924, 40925 and 41503, Health and Safety Code.
s 70700. Applicability.
This subchapter shall apply to districts which have been designated nonattainment for the state ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide or sulfur dioxide standard under title 17, subchapter 1.5, article 3 of the California Code of Regulations, and which are subject to the attainment planning requirements set forth in sections 40910 et seq. of the California Health and Safety Code, and which must therefore account for emission reductions in their plans pursuant to section 40914. For the purposes of this subchapter, the following precursor relationships will be recognized: ozone (reactive organic gases and oxides of nitrogen); sulfur dioxide (oxides of sulfur); nitrogen dioxide (oxides of nitrogen).
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 39605 and 39611, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 40913, 40914, 40916 and 40925, Health and Safety Code.
s 70701. Definitions.
(a) Actual Emissions: The estimated discharge of pollutants or pollutant precursors into the air, expressed in tons per day.
(b) Anthropogenic Emissions: Emissions originating from human activity or contrivances.
(c) Backcasting: The use of current emissions data and estimation methods to produce emission inventories for previous years.
(d) Baseline Emission Inventory Forecast: The estimated actual, anthropogenic emission inventory for every third year after 1991 (1994, 1997, 2000, et cetera) for each nonattainment pollutant or precursor, as determined by the state board in consultation with the district. Such forecasts shall be based upon the baseline emission inventory and shall take into consideration growth projections and control factors for all adopted emission control measures.
(e) Baseline Emission Inventory: The estimated actual, anthropogenic emissions of each nonattainment pollutant or its precursors, which occurred during calendar year 1987, adjusted for temporal variations in emission rates that result from differences in emission producing activities or climatic factors, as determined by the state board in consultation with the district.
(f) Calculated Emission Inventory Target: The baseline emissioninventory for each nonattainment pollutant or precursor, minus the product of the baseline emission inventory times five percent (0.05) times the number of years since 1987, expressed in tons per day; i.e. Baseline - [Baseline x 0.05 (year - 1987)].
(g) Carrying Capacity: The estimated quantity of nonattainment pollutant emissions or nonattainment precursor emissions that may be emitted daily without causing an exceedence of a state ambient air quality standard in the district, and without causing or contributing to a violation of the state ozone standard in a downwind area.
(h) Credited Emission Reductions: The projected reductions in actual, anthropogenic emissions attributable to the district plan, as compared to the baseline emission inventory forecast for each reporting interval.
(i) Emission Changes: Any increase or decrease in actual emissions from the baseline emission inventory, expressed in tons per day.
(j) Reporting Intervals: The seven year period from 1988 through 1994 and each consecutive three year period thereafter (1995-1997; 1998-2000, 2001-2003; et cetera).
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 39605 and 39611, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 40913, 40914, 40916 and 40925, Health and Safety Code.
s 70702. Required Information.
Each district plan prepared pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 40910 et seq. shall include an analysis of emission changes from 1987 through at least the year 2000. The analysis shall include all of the following:
(a) Consistent with Health and Safety Code section 40914(c), each district plan shall include the baseline emission inventory for each nonattainment pollutant or precursor.
(b) Consistent with Health and Safety Code subsections 40913(a)(4), (6) and (7), each district plan shall include the baseline emission inventory forecast for the last year of each reporting interval, for each nonattainment pollutant or precursor, through at least the year 2000.
(c) Consistent with Health and Safety Code section 40914, each district plan shall identify calculated emission inventory targets unless the Board has approved an alternative emission reduction strategy pursuant to section 40914, or the Board has approved an air-quality related indicator for use by the district pursuant to section 39607. Calculated emission inventory targets shall be provided for the last year of each reporting interval, through at least the year 2000, unless the district will reach its carrying capacity before that date, in which case the calculated emission inventory targets shall be provided up until the date carrying capacity will be reached.
(d) Consistent with Health and Safety Code subsections 40913(a)(6) and (7), each district plan shall identify the credited emission reductions for each reporting interval.
(e) Pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 40913(a)(6) and (7), for each control measure in the plan anticipated to be implemented within ten years of district plan adoption, the district shall specify the date of measure adoption, total emissions reduced by the measure, and to the extent available information permits, the date of implementation and the reporting interval(s) within which the emission reductions will occur. This subdivision shall not apply to any control measure included in the baseline emission inventory forecast.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 39605 and 39611, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 40913, 40914, 40916 and 40925, Health and Safety Code.
s 70703. Emission Inventory Changes.
Districts may estimate emission changes on the basis of new emissions data or new estimation methods, provided that:
(1) the baseline emission inventory has first been backcast with those data and estimation methods, and
(2) the baseline emission inventory forecast has been revised to reflect the new, backcasted baseline emission inventory.
All changes to baseline emission inventories and baseline emission inventory forecasts are subject to approval by the board's Executive Officer.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 39605 and 39611, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 40913, 40914, 40916 and 40925, Health and Safety Code.
s 70704. Consistency in Assumptions.
Where two or more local plans are incorporated, cited, or appended to a district plan, the district shall ensure that assumptions for population, employment, industrial growth, transportation activities, energy use and other critical factors are consistent throughout the plans. Local plans include, but are not limited to regional mobility plans, congestion management plans, transportation improvement plans, and general plans.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 39605 and 39611, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 40913, 40914, 40916 and 40925, Health and Safety Code.
Note: Authority cited: Section 39601, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Section 11385, Government Code, Sections 40001, 41500-41507, Health and Safety Code.
s 80100. Purpose.
The Smoke Management Guidelines for Agricultural and Prescribed Burning, henceforward referred to as Guidelines, are to provide direction to air pollution control and air quality management districts (air districts) in the regulation and control of agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, in California. The Guidelines are intended to provide for the continuation of agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, as a resource management tool, and provide increased opportunities for prescribed burning and agricultural burning, while minimizing smoke impacts on the public. The regulatory actions called for are intended to assure that each air district has a program that meets air district and regional needs.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 41856 and 41859, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 39011, 39053, 41850, 41856, 41857, 41859 and 41863, Health and Safety Code.
s 80101. Definitions.
(a) "Agricultural burning" is defined in Health and Safety Code section 39011 as follows:
(1) "Agricultural burning" means open outdoor fires used in agricultural operations in the growing of crops or raising of fowl or animals, or open outdoor fires used in forest management, range improvement, or the improvement of land for wildlife and game habitat, or disease or pest prevention.
(2) "Agricultural burning" also means open outdoor fires used in the operation or maintenance of a system for the delivery of water for the purposes specified in paragraph (1).
(3) "Agricultural burning" also means open outdoor fires used in wildland vegetation management burning. Wildland vegetation management burning is the use of prescribed burning conducted by a public agency, or through a cooperative agreement or contract involving a public agency, to burn land predominantly covered with chaparral, trees, grass, or standing brush. Prescribed burning is the planned application of fire to vegetation to achieve any specific objective on lands selected in advance of that application. The planned application of fire may also include natural or accidental ignition.
(b) "Air Pollution Control District" (APCD), "Air Quality Management District" (AQMD), "air district," or "district" means an air pollution control district or an air quality management district created or continued in existence pursuant to provisions of Health and Safety Code section 40000 et seq.
(c) "Air quality" means the characteristics of the ambient air as indicated by state ambient air quality standards which have been adopted by the state board pursuant to section 39606 of the Health and Safety Code and by National Ambient Air Quality Standards which have been established pursuant to sections 108 and 109 of the federal Clean Air Act pertaining to criteria pollutants and section 169A of the federal Clean Air Act pertaining to visibility.
(d) "Ambient air" means that portion of the atmosphere, external to buildings, to which the general public has access.
(e) "ARB" or "state board" means the Air Resources Board.
(f) "Basinwide air quality factor" means an air quality factor which equals the 4:00 am to 6:00 am two hour average soiling index (COH*10) ending at 6:00 am PST. The basinwide council may use other particulate matter measurements as an indicator of air quality if appropriate for its program.
(g) "Biased Inspection Site" means an inspection site chosen, at the discretion of a field inspector, based upon the presence or anticipated presence of disease symptoms. [FN1]
(h) "Burn plan" means an operational plan for managing a specific fire to achieve resource benefits and specific management objectives. The plan includes, at a minimum, the project objectives, contingency responses for when the fire is out of prescription with the smoke management plan, the fire prescription (including smoke management components), and a description of the personnel, organization, and equipment.
(i) "Burn project" means an active or planned prescribed burn or a naturally ignited wildland fire managed for resource benefits.
(j) "Class I Area" means a mandatory visibility protection area designated pursuant to section 169A of the federal Clean Air Act.
(k) "Conditional Rice Straw Burn Permit" means a permit issued pursuant to sections 41865(f) and (h) of the Health and Safety Code by an Air Pollution Control Officer (APCO) to conduct one burn, on one field, within one year or shorter time period, as specified.
( l) "Conditional Rice Straw Burn Permit Applicant" means the individual (or his/her agent) with control over the property containing the rice fields proposed for burning.
(m) "Designated agency" means any agency designated by the Air Resources Board as having authority to issue agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, permits. An air district may request such a designation for an agency. The U.S. Department of Agricultural (USDA) Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) are so designated within their respective areas of jurisdiction.
(n) "Disease Significance Threshold" means an estimated amount (expressed as a percentage of diseased stems) of a qualifying disease expected to result in significant decreased grain production (during the current or next growing season).
(o) "Fire protection agency" means any agency with the responsibility and authority to protect people, property, and the environment from fire, and having jurisdiction within a district or region.
(p) "Forty-eight hour forecast" means a prediction of the meteorological and air quality conditions that are expected to exist for a specific prescribed burn in a specific area 48 hours from the day of the prediction. The prediction shall indicate a degree of confidence.
(q) "Growing Season" means the period of time from seedbed preparation through crop harvest.
(r) "Land manager" means any federal, state, local, or private entity that administers, directs, oversees, or controls the use of public or private land, including the application of fire to the land.
(s) "Marginal burn day" means a day when limited amounts of agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, for individual projects in specific areas for limited times is not prohibited by the state board and burning is authorized by the district consistent with these Guidelines.
(t) "National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)" mean standards promulgated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency that specify the maximum acceptable concentrations of pollutants in the ambient air to protect public health with an adequate margin of safety, and to protect public welfare from any known or anticipated adverse effects of such pollutants (e.g., visibility impairment, soiling, harm to wildlife or vegetation, materials damage, etc.) in the ambient air.
(u) "Ninety-six hour trend" means a prediction of the meteorological and air quality conditions that are expected to exist for a specific prescribed burn in a specific area 96 hours from the day of the prediction.
(v) "No-burn day" means any day on which agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, is prohibited by the state board or the air district in which the burning will occur.
(w) "Open burning in agricultural operations in the growing of crops or raising of fowl or animals" means:
(1) The burning in the open of materials produced wholly from operations in the growing and harvesting of crops or raising of fowl or animals for the primary purpose of making a profit, of providing a livelihood, or of conducting agricultural research or instruction by an educational institution.
(2) In connection with operations qualifying under paragraph (1):
(A) The burning of grass and weeds in or adjacent to fields in cultivation or being prepared for cultivation.
(B) The burning of materials not produced wholly from such operations, but which are intimately related to the growing or harvesting of crops and which are used in the field, except as prohibited by district regulations. Examples are trays for drying raisins, date palm protection paper, and fertilizer and pesticide sacks or containers, where the sacks or containers are emptied in the field.
(x) "Particulate matter (PM)" means any airborne finely divided material, except uncombined water, which exists as a solid or liquid at standard conditions (e.g., dust, smoke, mist, fumes or smog).
"PM2.5" means particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 2.5 micrometers.
"PM10" means particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to a nominal 10 micrometers (including PM2.5).
(y) "Permissive-burn day," or "burn day" means any day on which agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, is not prohibited by the state board and burning is authorized by the district consistent with these Guidelines.
(z) "Pre-fire fuel treatment" means techniques which can reasonably be employed prior to prescribed burning in order to reduce the emissions that would otherwise be produced in a prescribed fire.
(aa) "Prescribed burning" - see (a) (3). Tule burning in wildlands or wildland/urban interface is considered to be prescribed burning.
(bb) "Prescribed fire" means any fire ignited by management actions to meet specific objectives, and includes naturally-ignited wildland fires managed for resource benefits.
(cc) "Qualified Rice Disease Inspector" means any person certified in accordance with the provisions of section 81057 of this regulation, other than agricultural commissioner staff, who conducts rice disease inspections on behalf of rice growers.
(dd) "Qualifying Disease" means a rice disease that may cause significant yield loss and which the Secretary for the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) finds is controlled or effectively managed by the burning of straw, provided the ARB and CDFA have not determined, in accordance with section 41865(h) of the Health and Safety Code, that there are other economically and technically feasible alternative means of elimination that are not substantially more costly to the conditional rice straw burn permit applicant.
(ee) "Range improvement burning" means the use of open fires to remove vegetation for a wildlife, game, or livestock habitat or for the initial establishment of an agricultural practice on previously uncultivated land.
(ff) "Region" means two or more air districts within an air basin or adjoining air basins that sign a memorandum of understanding to implement a coordinated regional smoke management program pursuant to the requirements of Article 2 of this regulation.
(gg) "Residential burning" means an open outdoor fire for the disposal of the combustible or flammable solid waste of a single-or two-family dwelling on its premises. Residential burning is not considered to be prescribed burning.
(hh) "Seventy-two hour outlook" means a prediction of the meteorological and air quality conditions that are expected to exist for a specific prescribed burn in a specific area 72 hours from the day of the prediction.
(ii) "Smoke Management Plan" means a document prepared for each fire by land managers or fire managers that provides the information and procedures required in section 80160.
(jj) "Smoke management prescription" means measurable criteria that define conditions under which a prescribed fire may be ignited, guide selection of appropriate management responses, and indicate other required actions. Prescription criteria may include, but are not limited to, minimizing smoke impacts, and safety, economic, public health, environmental, geographic, administrative, social, or legal considerations such as complying with Health and Safety Code section 41700, public nuisance statute.
(kk) "Smoke Management Program" means the program defined in these Guidelines.
( ll) "Smoke sensitive areas" are populated areas and other areas where a district determines that smoke and air pollutants can adversely affect public health or welfare. Such areas can include, but are not limited to, towns and villages, campgrounds, trails, populated recreational areas, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, roads, airports, public events, shopping centers, and mandatory Class I areas.
(mm) "State ambient air quality standards" means specified concentrations and durations of air pollutants which reflect the relationship between the intensity and composition of air pollution to undesirable effects, as established by the state board pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 39606.
(nn) "Unbiased Inspection Site" means an inspection site at a specific location prescribed by a method that does not consider the location or anticipated location of disease symptoms.
(oo) "Wildfire" means an unwanted wildland fire.
(pp) "Wildland" means an area where development is generally limited to roads, railroads, power lines, and widely scattered structures. Such land is not cultivated (i.e., the soil is disturbed less frequently than once in 10 years), is not fallow, and is not in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program. The land may be neglected altogether or managed for such purposes as wood or forage production, wildlife, recreation, wetlands, or protective plant cover.
For CDF only, "Wildland" as specified in California Public Resources Code (PRC) section 4464(a) means any land that is classified as a state responsibility area pursuant to article 3 (commencing with section 4125) of chapter 1, part 2 of division 4 and includes any such land having a plant cover consisting principally of grasses, forbs, or shrubs that are valuable for forage. "Wildland" also means any lands that are contiguous to lands classified as a state responsibility area if wildland fuel accumulation is such that a wildland fire occurring on these lands would pose a threat to the adjacent state responsibility area.
(qq) "Wildland fire" means any non-structural fire, other than prescribed fire, that occurs in the wildland.
For CDF only, "wildland fire" as specified in PRC section 4464(c) means any uncontrolled fire burning on wildland.
(rr) "Wildland/urban interface" means the line, area, or zone where structures and other human development meet or intermingle with the wildland.
____________
[FN1] The terms "biased inspection site" and "unbiased inspection site" refer to inspection sites selected solely upon their biological characteristics. They could also be called "biologically biased inspection site" and "biologically unbiased inspection site" for this reason.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 41856, 41859 and 41865, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 39011, 39025, 39053, 41850, 41852, 41853, 41854, 41855, 41856, 41857, 41858, 41859, 41861, 41862, 41863 and 41865, Health and Safety Code.
s 80102. Scope and Applicability.
(a) These Guidelines apply to the Air Resources Board and all air districts in California, and regulate agricultural burning, including prescribed burning. These Guidelines are intended to provide flexibility to districts in the development and implementation of their smoke management programs. Such programs shall be developed in consultation with the ARB and focus on minimizing any significant impacts that agricultural or prescribed burning may have on air quality or public health. These Guidelines are also intended to assure adequate state oversight, including initial program approval and periodic program assessment.
(b) Although any local or regional authority may establish stricter standards for the control and the regulation of agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, than those set forth in these Guidelines, no local or regional authority may ban agricultural or prescribed burning.
(c) These Guidelines are not intended to permit open burning on days when such burning is prohibited by public fire protection agencies for purposes of fire control or prevention.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 41856 and 41859, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 41854, 41856, 41857, 41858 and 41859, Health and Safety Code.
s 80110. Permissive-Burn, Marginal Burn, or No-Burn Days.
(a) The ARB shall specify each day of the year as a permissive burn day, or a no-burn day for each air basin or other specified area.
(b) The ARB shall announce by 3:00 p.m. every day for each of the state's air basins or other specified areas whether the following day is a permissive burn day or a no-burn day, or whether the decision will be announced the following day. If conditions preclude a forecast until the next day, the decision shall be announced by 7:45 a.m. Such notices shall be based on the Meteorological Criteria for Regulating Agricultural Burning and Prescribed Burning, set forth in sections 80179 through 80330 of these Guidelines.
(c) The ARB may declare a marginal burn day if meteorological conditions approach the criteria contained in sections 80179 through 80311 for permissive burn days, and smoke impacts are not expected. A marginal burn day allows a district to authorize limited amounts of burning for individual projects in an air basin or other specified area if the air district demonstrates that smoke impacts to smoke sensitive areas are not expected as a result of that burning. The ARB shall announce by 3:00 p.m. every day for each of the state's air basins or other specified areas whether the following day is a marginal burn day, or whether the decision will be announced the following day. If conditions preclude a forecast until the next day, the decision shall be announced by 7:45 a.m.
(d) Agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, is prohibited on no-burn days, except as specified in section 80120(e), section 80145(n), and section 80160(h).
(e) A district and the ARB may develop mutually agreeable procedures to allow a district to demonstrate that a given day is a marginal burn day or a burn day through its own analysis of the expected meteorological conditions in the air basin and a comparison to the meteorological criteria in Article 3.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 41856 and 41859, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 41855, 41856, 41857, 41858, 41861 and 41862, Health and Safety Code.
s 80120. Burning Permits.
(a) No person shall knowingly set or allow agricultural or prescribed burning unless he or she has a valid permit from a district or designated agency. No burning shall be conducted pursuant to such permit without specific district approval consistent with these Guidelines. Burning conducted pursuant to each permit must comply with all conditions specified on the permit. A violation of this subsection is a violation of section 41852 of the California Health and Safety Code.
(b) The form of burning permits shall be prepared by the air districts in consultation with the designated agencies.
(c) The form of the permit shall contain the following words or words of similar import: "This permit is valid only on those days during which agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, is not prohibited by the State Air Resources Board or by an air district pursuant to section 41855 of the Health and Safety Code, and when burning on the lands identified herein has been approved by the air district."
(d) Each air district shall provide the designated agencies within the district with a copy of these Guidelines, related information on state laws, air district rules and regulations, and other information as appropriate.
(e) An air district may, by special permit, authorize agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, on days designated by the ARB as no-burn days if the denial of such permit would threaten imminent and substantial economic loss. In authorizing such burning, a district shall limit the amount of material which can be burned in any one day and only authorize burning which is not likely to cause or contribute to exceedences of air quality standards or result in smoke impacts to smoke sensitive areas.
(f) Permits issued by designated agencies shall be subject to these Guidelines and to the rules and regulations of the district. Designated agencies shall submit to the air districts information as specified by the air district.
(g) Each applicant for a permit shall provide information required by the designated agency for fire protection purposes.
(h) Each applicant for a permit shall provide information requested by the district.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 41856 and 41859, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 41852, 41853, 41854, 41855, 41856, 41857, 41858, 41859, 41861, 41862 and 41863, Health and Safety Code.
s 80130. Burning Report.
(a) A report of agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, conducted pursuant to these Guidelines during each calendar year shall be submitted to the ARB by each air district within 45 days of the end of each calendar year. The report shall include the estimated tonnage or acreage of each waste type burned from open burning in agricultural operations and the estimated tonnage of waste from prescribed burning, and the county where the burning was performed.
(b) A report of special permits issued pursuant to subsection (e) of section 80120 during each calendar year shall be submitted to the ARB by each air district within 45 days of the end of the calendar year. The report shall include the number of such permits issued, the date of issuance of each permit, the person or persons to whom the permit was issued, an estimate of the amount of wastes burned pursuant to the permit, and a summary of the reasons why denial of each permit would have threatened imminent and substantial economic loss, including the nature and dollar amounts of such loss.
(c) The ARB Executive Officer may, on a district-by-district basis, alter the frequency or contents of the reports required pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section, based on information needed to conduct or evaluate smoke management programs. The Executive Officer shall provide a justification and reasonable schedule for implementing any revisions.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39515, 39516, 39600, 39601, 41856 and 41859, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 39515, 39516, 41852, 41853, 41854, 41856, 41857, 41858, 41859 and 41862, Health and Safety Code.
s 80140. General.
(a) Each air district shall adopt, implement and enforce a smoke management program consistent with these Guidelines. Each air district or region shall develop its smoke management program in coordination with the ARB, the appropriate fire protection agencies, the land managers having jurisdiction within the district, any other affected parties, and the public.
(b) Two or more districts choosing to implement a regional smoke management program shall meet the following additional requirements:
(1) Execute a signed memorandum of understanding with participating districts that sets forth procedures for the coordination, implementation, and enforcement of shared responsibilities to comply with state smoke management program requirements.
(2) Describe the regional smoke management program requirements, including the following elements, in the memorandum of understanding: a list of district and region boundaries; participating federal and/or state land managers, and other local entities within the region; the decision-making structure of the regional smoke management program; and the joint workplan for implementing the regional smoke management program.
(3) The regional smoke management program will include compliance provisions for each participating air district.
(4) Each participating air district shall implement its responsibilities under the smoke management program in coordination with other regional air districts/burn entities.
(c) The smoke management program of the Sacramento Valley is designated as a regional smoke management program.
(d) Districts shall adopt the elements of their smoke management program according to the following schedule:
(1) Upon the effective date of this regulation, all air districts shall implement the prescribed burning elements of their programs, including the provisions of section 80160, unless exempted pursuant to section 80170.
(2) By July 1, 2001, all air districts shall adopt smoke management programs that meet all applicable requirements of this regulation.
(3) The ARB may extend the scheduled dates by up to six months if an air district demonstrates that, for good cause, additional time is needed.
(e) The ARB shall either approve or indicate its intent to disapprove any program, portion of a program, or amendment of a program within 120 days after submittal.
(f) Prior to disapproval, the ARB Executive Officer shall confer with the air district regarding the reasons for the proposed disapproval. Following such conference, a decision to approve or disapprove the program, portion of a program, or amendment of a program shall be made by the ARB Executive Officer.
(g) The air district may appeal the decision to the ARB. At the request of an air district or, in the case of a regional program, the districts in that region, the Air Resources Board itself, and not the ARB executive officer, shall hold a public hearing on the matter in the district or region affected.
(h) If a program is disapproved, the ARB shall return the program to the air district(s) for amendment. The air district(s) shall amend the program to address ARB concerns within 180 days.
(i) If the program or amendment of such program is disapproved, or if a program or amendment is not submitted by the specified date, the ARB, after a public hearing in the basin affected, shall adopt an alternative program.
(j) The program approved pursuant to subsection (e) or adopted pursuant to subsection (i) shall be enforced by the air district(s).
(k) After an air district smoke management program is approved by the ARB, amendments to the program shall be submitted to the ARB for approval, and shall not be effective until approved. Each program or amendment shall be submitted to the ARB for approval within 30 days after adoption by the district.
( l ) After an air district smoke management program is approved by the ARB and the ARB finds that changes are necessary, the ARB shall discuss the findings with the air district and, in consultation with the district, establish an appropriate schedule for revising the smoke management program.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39515, 39516, 39600, 39601, 41856 and 41859, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 39515, 39516, 41856, 41859 and 41863, Health and Safety Code.
s 80145. Program Elements and Requirements.
The district smoke management programs shall include all of the elements in section 80145. Procedures and other requirements contained in subsections 80145(a) through (n) of this section shall be approved by district board resolutions or adopted as rules and regulations:
(a) A daily burn authorization system that regulates agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, in order to minimize smoke impacts on smoke sensitive areas, avoid cumulative smoke impacts, and prevent public nuisance. The burn authorization system shall not allow more burning on a daily basis than is appropriate for the meteorological or air quality conditions. The daily burn authorization system shall specify the amount, timing and location of each burn event. The burn authorization system shall be developed by the air district in consultation with the ARB, shall be commensurate with the air quality impacts from burning, and shall consider the following factors as necessary:
(1) air quality;
(2) meteorological conditions expected during burning, including wind speeds and directions at the surface and aloft, and atmospheric stability;
(3) types and amounts of materials to be burned;
(4) location and timing of materials to be burned;
(5) locations of smoke sensitive areas; and
(6) smoke from all burning activities, including burning in neighboring air districts or regions which may affect the district or region.
(b) If requested in writing by a district, the Executive Officer may approve an alternative burn authorization system for agricultural burning (excluding prescribed burning), provided the Executive Officer determines that the alternative system is likely to achieve the objectives of the daily burn authorization system. In making such determination, the Executive Officer shall consider the rules and regulations of the district relating to agricultural burning, historical data on the amount, types, location, and impacts of agricultural burning in the district (excluding prescribed burning), and the effectiveness of the smoke management program in place in the district, and other documentation provided by the district. The decision, along with the reasons for the decision, shall be in writing.
(c) A description of the meteorological and air quality monitoring data to be used to provide data for determining the basinwide meteorological and air quality conditions.
(d) A description of the personnel resources for meteorological support and burn coordination that will be used to operate the burn program.
(e) Procedures for issuing notice of permissive-burn, marginal burn or no-burn days. Air districts shall coordinate these procedures with fire protection agencies. A no-burn day notice shall be issued for agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, by the air district when open burning is prohibited by fire protection agencies for fire control or prevention.
(f) Procedures for issuing 48-hour forecasts, 72-hour outlooks, and 96-hour trends for specific prescribed burns. The air district may request that the ARB provide these forecasts for specific prescribed burns.
(g) Procedures for authorizing burning, including a procedure for authorizing individual prescribed burns 24 hours prior to ignition of the fire, recognizing that any burn decision made 24 hours in advance is always subject to change if meteorological conditions or conditions affecting smoke dispersion are different from those anticipated.
(h) Procedures for acquiring information on amounts of material burned on each day, on planned and unplanned wildland fires, and other information needed to establish the burn authorization for the following day, as specified in subsection (a).
(i) Procedures for addressing cross-jurisdictional smoke impacts by coordinating with neighboring air districts, regions, or states.
(j) The form of permit(s) required by subsection (c) of section 80120 and the form of the information required by subsection (f) of section 80120.
(k) Procedures for enforcement.
( l ) Plans to provide for an analysis and periodic assessment of actions that are undertaken to minimize smoke through the use of pre-fire fuel treatment practices and non-burn alternatives.
(m) If necessary, procedures for prioritizing agricultural burning, including prescribed burning, that districts can use to minimize smoke impacts. In considering priorities, districts shall consider the public benefits of burn projects, including safety, public health, forest health and wildfire prevention, ecological needs, economic concerns, and disease and pest prevention. Efforts to reduce smoke emissions, such as removal of excess material, shall also be considered.
(n) As applicable, each district shall consider additional provisions with respect to permitting, on no-burn days, the burning of empty sacks or containers which contained pesticides or other toxic substances, providing the sacks or containers are within the definition of "open burning in agricultural operations in the growing of crops or raising of fowl or animals," as specified in section 80101(r);
(o) Rules and regulations or, until April 1, 2003, other enforceable mechanisms that:
(1) Require the material to be burned to be free of material that is not produced on the property or in an agricultural or prescribed burning operation. Material not to be burned includes, but is not limited to, tires, rubbish, plastic, treated wood, construction/demolition debris, or material containing asbestos.
(2) Require the material to be arranged so that it will burn with a minimum of smoke, when feasible.
(3) Require material to be reasonably free of dirt, soil and visible surface moisture.
(4) Require the material to be dried for minimum periods with separate specifications for the following: (A) trees and large branches, (B) prunings and small branches, (C) wastes from field crops that are cut in a green condition, and (D) other materials.
(5) Regulate hours of ignition and burning.
(6) Limit the ignition of fires to approved ignition devices.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 41856 and 41859, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 40702, 41850, 41854, 41856, 41857, 41858, 41859, 41862 and 41863, Health and Safety Code.
s 80150. Special Requirements for Open Burning in Agricultural Operations in the Growing of Crops or Raising of Fowl or Animals.
(a) The district smoke management program shall include rules and regulations or, until April 1, 2003, other enforceable mechanisms that:
(1) Require rice, barley, oat, and wheat straw to be ignited only by stripfiring into the wind or by backfiring, except under a special permit of the district issued when and where extreme fire hazards are declared by a public fire protection agency to exist, or where crops are determined by the district not to lend themselves to these techniques.
(2) Require burning hours to be set so that no field crop burning shall commence before 10:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m. of any day, unless local conditions indicate that other hours are appropriate.
(b) A district with no agricultural operations in the growing of crops or raising of fowl or animals within its jurisdiction may request to be exempted from the requirements of this section.
(c) Rice Straw Burning Requirements. Districts within the boundaries of the Sacramento Valley Air Basin and the San Joaquin Valley Air Basin shall also include in the program rules and regulations that:
(1) Require all rice harvesting to employ a mechanical straw spreader to ensure even distribution of the straw, except that rice straw may be left in rows, provided it meets drying time criterion prior to a burn as described in paragraph (2) below. Rice straw may also be left standing provided it is dried and meets the crackle test criteria described below prior to burning.
(2) Require that after harvest no spread rice straw shall be burned prior to a three-day drying period, and no rowed rice straw shall be burned prior to a ten-day drying period, unless the rice straw makes an audible crackle when tested just prior to burning with the following testing method: When checking the field for moisture, a composite sample of straw from under the mat, in the center of the mat, and from different areas of the field shall be taken to ensure a representative sample. A handful of straw from each area will give a good indication. Rice straw is dry enough to burn if a handful of straw selected as described above crackles when it is bent sharply.
(3) Require that after a rain exceeding 0.15 inch (fifteen hundredths of an inch), rice straw shall not be burned unless the straw makes an audible crackle when tested just prior to burning with the testing method described in paragraph (2), above.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 41856 and 41859, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 40702, 41850, 41856, 41857, 41858, 41859, 41863 and 41865, Health and Safety Code.
s 80155. Sacramento Valley Basinwide Program.
The Sacramento Valley Basinwide Air Pollution Control Council (Basinwide Council) shall submit a smoke management program to the ARB for review and approval. The smoke management program shall apply to all areas of the Sacramento Valley Air Basin. In addition to all other applicable requirements, it shall contain:
(a) A daily basinwide acreage equation establishing a theoretical maximum daily allocation which includes a basinwide meteorological factor (B.M.F. -determined from Tables 4 and 5 of section 80320) and a basinwide air quality factor.
(b) Procedures for refining the theoretical maximum allocation in order to establish an initial actual allocation, including consultation between the ARB duty meteorologist and the basin coordinator and considering additional real-time air quality and meteorological information.
(c) Procedures for distributing acreage allocations to each air district. The total acreage distributed shall not exceed the initial actual allocation determined by the ARB in consultation with the basin coordinator. The program may specify procedures to update the initial actual allocation, based on real-time meteorological information and the progress of burning the initial actual allocation.
(d) The hours to be permitted for burning.
(e) A description of the meteorological and air quality monitoring networks to be used to provide data for determining the basinwide meteorological and air quality factors.
(f) Other clarifying details mutually agreed upon by the Basinwide Council and the ARB.
Note: Authority cited: Sections 39600, 39601, 41856 and 41859, Health and Safety Code. Reference: Sections 41856, 41857, 41858, 41859 and 41863, Health and Safety Code.
s 80156. Conditional Rice Straw Burning Permit Program for the Sacramento Valley Air Basin.
(a) The Sacramento Valley Basinwide Air Pollution Control Council (Basinwide Council) shall, by February 15, 2001, develop and submit to the state board a proposed rice straw burning permit program (program) for the issuance of conditional rice straw burning permits (permit) by the APCOs in the Sacramento Valley Air Basin. The program shall be adopted at a noticed public hearing of the Basinwide Council and shall implement and ensure compliance with the following requirements established by subdivisions (b) through (h). (continued)