(a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Connelly-Areias-Chandler Rice Straw Burning Reduction Act of 1991.

(b) As used in this section:

(1) “Sacramento Valley Air Basin” means the area designated by the state board pursuant to Section 39606.

(2) “Air pollution control council” means the Sacramento Valley Basinwide Air Pollution Control Council authorized pursuant to Section 40900.

(3) “Conditional rice straw burning permit” means a permit to burn granted pursuant to subdivisions (f) and (h).

(4) “Allowable acres to be burned” means the number of acres that may be burned pursuant to subdivision (c).

(5) “Department” means the Department of Food and Agriculture.

(6) “Maximum fall burn acres” means the maximum amount of rice acreage that may be burned from September 1 to December 31, inclusive, of each year.

(7) “Maximum spring burn acres” means the maximum amount of rice acreage that may be burned from January 1 to May 31 of the following year, inclusive.

(c) Notwithstanding Section 41850, rice straw burning in counties in the Sacramento Valley Air Basin shall be phased down, as follows:

(1) From 1998 to 2000, the maximum spring and fall burn acres shall be the following number of acres planted prior to September 1 of each year:

Year

Maximum Fall Burn Acres

Maximum Spring Burn Acres

1998

90,000

110,000

1999

90,000

110,000

2000

90,000

110,000

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), any of the 90,000 acres allocated in the fall that are not burned may be added to the maximum spring burn acres, provided that the maximum spring burn acres does not exceed 160,000 acres.

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the maximum acres burned between January 1, 1998, and August 31, 1998, shall be limited so that the total acres burned between September 1, 1997, and August 31, 1998, do not exceed 38 percent of the total acres planted prior to September 1, 1997.

(4) In 2001 and thereafter, the maximum annual burn acres shall be the number of acres prescribed in subdivision (i), subject to subdivisions (f) and (h).

(d) The number of allowable acres to be burned each day shall be determined by the state board and the air pollution control officers in the Sacramento Valley Air Basin and equitably allocated among rice growers in accordance with the annual agricultural burning plan adopted by the air pollution control council and approved by the state board.

(e) On or before September 1, 2000, the state board, in consultation with the department and the air pollution control council, shall adopt regulations consistent with the criteria provided in subdivisions (f) and (h). On or before September 1, 1996, an advisory group shall be established by the state board and the department to assist in the adoption of those regulations.

(f) 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.

(g) 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.

(h) 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 established pursuant to subdivision (e).

(i) (1) The maximum annual number of acres burned in the Sacramento Valley Air Basin pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (c) shall be the lesser of:

(A) The total of 25 percent of each individual applicant’s planted acres that year.

(B) A total of 125,000 acres planted in the Sacramento Valley Air Basin.

(2) 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.

(3) The air pollution control council shall annually determine which is the lesser of subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1), and shall determine the maximum percentage applicable to all growers subject to the conditions set forth in subdivisions (f) and (h).

(4) A grower who owns or operates 400 acres or less who has met the criteria for the issuance of a conditional rice straw burning permit may burn his or her entire acreage once every four years, provided that the limit prescribed in paragraph (1) is not exceeded.

(5) Nothing in this subdivision shall permit an applicant to transfer, sell, or trade any permission to burn granted pursuant to this subdivision to another applicant or individual.

(j) The state board and the department shall jointly determine if the allowable acres to be burned, as provided in subdivisions (c), (f), and (h), may be exceeded due to extraordinary circumstances, such as an act of God, that have an impact over a continuing duration and make alternatives other than burning unusable.

(k) “Administrative burning” means burning of vegetative materials along roads, in ditches, and on levees adjacent to or within a rice field, or the burning of vegetative materials on rice research facilities authorized by the county agricultural commissioner, not to exceed 2,000 acres. Administrative burning conducted in accordance with Section 41852 is not subject to this section.

(l) (1) On or before September 1, 1992, the state board and the department shall jointly establish an advisory committee composed of 10 members to assist with the identification and implementation of alternatives to rice straw burning. Members of the committee shall be from the Sacramento Valley Air Basin, and the committee shall consist of two rice growers, two representatives from the environmental community, two health officials, two county supervisors or their designees, one member from the air pollution control council, and one member from the business community with expertise in market or product development. The committee shall meet at least annually. General Fund moneys shall not be used to support the committee.

(2) The committee shall develop a list of priority goals for the development of alternative uses of rice straw for the purpose of developing feasible and cost-effective alternatives to rice straw burning. These goals shall include, but not be limited to, research on alternatives, economic incentives to encourage alternative uses, and new product development.

(m) On or before September 1, 1998, the state board, in consultation with the department, and the advisory committee, shall develop an implementation plan and a schedule to achieve diversion of not less than 50 percent of rice straw produced toward off-field uses by 2000. Off-field uses may include, but are not limited to, the production of energy and fuels, construction materials, pulp and paper, and livestock feed.

(n) The Legislature hereby finds and declares as follows:

(1) Because of the requirements imposed by this section, rice straw that was previously burned may present, as solid waste, a new disposal problem.

(2) The state should assist local governments and growers in diverting rice straw from landfills by researching and developing diversion options.

(o) It is the intent of the Legislature that all feasible alternatives to rice straw burning and options for diverting rice straw from landfills be encouraged.

(p) This subdivision confirms that reductions in emissions from rice straw burning qualify for air quality offsets, in accordance with paragraphs (1) and (2).

(1) These credits shall meet the requirements specified in state law and district rules and regulations, and shall comply with applicable district banking rules established pursuant to Sections 40709 to 40713, inclusive. Districts are urged to establish banking systems in accordance with Sections 40709 to 40713, inclusive. The state board may adopt regulations to implement this subdivision, including, but not limited to, consideration of the seasonal and intermittent nature of rice straw burning emissions. In developing the regulations, the state board shall consult with all concerned parties. However, emission reduction credits that would otherwise accrue from reductions in emissions from rice straw burning shall not be affected or negated by the phasedown of burning, as specified in subdivision (c).

(2) Reductions in emissions achieved in compliance with subdivision (c) that are banked or used as credits shall not be credited for purposes of attainment planning and progress towards the attainment of any state or national ambient air quality standard as required by state and federal law.

(q) (1) Any person who negligently or intentionally violates any provision of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and is subject to a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), imprisonment in the county jail for not more than nine months, or by both that fine and imprisonment. This subdivision applies only to agricultural burning in the Sacramento Valley Air Basin.

(2) Any person who negligently or intentionally violates any provision in this article is liable for a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000). This subdivision applies only to agricultural burning in the Sacramento Valley Air Basin.

(r) Districts in the Sacramento Valley Air Basin shall impose fees on growers to cover the cost of implementing this section pursuant to Section 42311.

(s) To the extent that resources are available, the state board and the agencies with jurisdiction over air quality within the Sacramento Valley Air Basin shall do both of the following:

(1) Improve responses to citizen complaints, and, to the extent feasible, immediately investigate and analyze smoke complaints from the public to identify factors that contribute to complaints and to develop better smoke control measures to be included in the agricultural burning plan, keep a record of all complaints, coordinate among other agencies on citizens’ complaints, and investigate the source of the pollution causing the complaint.

(2) Respond more quickly to requests for update from county air pollution control officers to help maximize burning days when meteorological conditions are best suited for smoke dispersion.

(Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 644, Sec. 18. Effective January 1, 2005.)