BILL NUMBER: SB 705 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 481
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 22, 2003
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 22, 2003
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 11, 2003
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 10, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 9, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 21, 2003
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 19, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 20, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 7, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 24, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Senator Florez
FEBRUARY 21, 2003
An act to add Sections 41855.5 and 41855.6 to the Health and
Safety Code, relating to air quality.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 705, Florez. Air quality: agricultural burning: San Joaquin
Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District.
(1) Existing law prohibits any person from knowingly setting or
permitting agricultural burning unless he or she has a valid permit
designated by the State Air Resources Board to issue a permit in the
area where the burning is to take place. Existing law requires the
state board to designate public fire protection agencies or other
equivalent agencies to issue permits, and to adopt rules and
regulations to provide a procedure for the issuance of those permits.
This bill would prohibit the issuance of any permit to a person to
burn certain categories of agricultural waste, as defined, within
the jurisdiction of the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution
Control District, commencing on the date specified for each category,
except that the bill would authorize the district to postpone those
dates under certain circumstances. The bill also would require the
district to develop and adopt, by June 1, 2005, rules establishing
the best management practices for certain other weeds and
maintenance, as defined, and would require those rules to become
operative by June 1, 2006. The bill would require the district to
develop and adopt rules to regulate the burning of diseased crops.
The bill would prescribe the circumstances under which a conditional
crop burning permit would be authorized to be issued.
The additional duties of the bill for the district would impose a
state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law makes a violation of any rule, regulation, or
order of the state board or a district a misdemeanor.
By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
(3) This bill would make findings and declarations regarding the
inapplicability of a general statute within the meaning of Section 16
of the California Constitution.
(4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for specified reasons.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 41855.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code,
to read:
41855.5. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no
permit may be issued to a person to burn any of the following
categories of agricultural waste within the jurisdiction of the San
Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District, commencing on
the following dates:
(1) Commencing June 1, 2005, for field crops, prunings, and weed
abatement.
(2) Commencing June 1, 2007, for orchard removals.
(3) Commencing June 1, 2010, for other materials, vineyard
removals, and surface harvested prunings.
(b) The San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District,
in consultation with the University of California Cooperative
Extension, shall develop and adopt, not later than June 1, 2005,
rules establishing best management practices for the control of other
weeds and maintenance. The rules adopted pursuant to this
subdivision shall be operative not later than June 1, 2006.
(c) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "Field crops" means any of the following crops:
(A) Alfalfa.
(B) Asparagus.
(C) Barley stubble.
(D) Beans.
(E) Corn.
(F) Cotton.
(G) Flower straw.
(H) Hay.
(I) Lemon grass.
(J) Oat stubble.
(K) Other field crops, as determined by the state board.
(L) Pea vines.
(M) Peanuts.
(N) Rice stubble.
(O) Safflower.
(P) Sugar cane.
(Q) Vegetable crops.
(R) Wheat stubble.
(2) "Orchard removals" includes, but is not limited to, any of the
following:
(A) Orchard removal matter.
(B) Stumps.
(C) Untreated sticks.
(3) "Other materials" includes, but is not limited to, any of the
following:
(A) Brooder paper.
(B) Deceased goats.
(C) Diseased bee hives.
(4) "Other weeds and maintenance" includes, but is not limited to,
any of the following:
(A) Ditch bank work.
(B) Canal bank work.
(C) Dodder weed.
(D) Star thistle.
(E) Tumbleweed.
(F) Noxious weeds.
(G) Pesticide sacks.
(H) Fertilizer sacks.
(5) "Prunings" means prunings from any of the following:
(A) Apple crops.
(B) Apricot crops.
(C) Avocado crops.
(D) Bushberry crops.
(E) Cherry crops.
(F) Christmas trees.
(G) Citrus crops.
(H) Date crops.
(I) Eucalyptus crops.
(J) Fig crops.
(K) Kiwi crops.
(L) Nectarine crops.
(M) Nursery prunings.
(N) Olive crops.
(O) Other prunings, as determined by the state board.
(P) Pasture or corral trees.
(Q) Peach crops.
(R) Pear crops.
(S) Persimmon crops.
(T) Pistachio crops.
(U) Plum crops.
(V) Pluot crops.
(W) Pomegranate crops.
(X) Prune crops.
(Y) Quince crops.
(Z) Rose prunings.
(6) "Surface harvested prunings" includes, but is not limited to,
any of the following:
(A) Almond prunings.
(B) Walnut prunings.
(C) Pecan prunings.
(D) Grape vines.
(E) Vineyard removal materials.
(7) "Vineyard materials" includes, but is not limited to, any of
the following:
(A) Grape canes.
(B) Raisin trays.
(8) "Weed abatement" includes, but is not limited to, any of the
following:
(A) Berms.
(B) Bermuda grass.
(C) Fence rows.
(D) Grass.
(E) Pasture.
(F) Ponding or levee banks.
(d) (1) The San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control
District shall develop and adopt, by January 1, 2005, rules to
regulate the burning of diseased crops. The rules shall become
operative no later than June 1, 2005. The rules shall provide for
the issuance of a conditional crop burning permit if all of the
following criteria are met:
(A) The fields to be burned are specifically described.
(B) The applicant has not been cited for a violation of burning
rules or regulations in the past 3 years, unless the violation was of
a de minimis nature, as determined by the district and the county
agricultural commissioner.
(C) The county agricultural commissioner has determined all of the
following:
(i) During the growing season for that crop, there is the presence
of a disease that will cause a substantial, quantifiable reduction
in yield or poses a threat to the health of adjacent vines, trees, or
plants in the field proposed to be burned, during the current or
next growing season.
(ii) There is no economically feasible alternative means of
eliminating the disease other than burning.
(2) A conditional crop burning permit shall authorize the burning
of only the identified diseased crop.
(3) The holder of a permit may not transfer, sell, or trade the
permit to any other individual.
(4) A citation for a violation of burning rules or regulations may
be appealed to the San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District
Hearing Board.
SEC. 2. Section 41855.6 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
41855.6. The district may postpone the commencement dates set
forth in subdivision (a) of Section 41855.5 for any category of
agricultural waste or crop described if all of the following applies:
(a) The district determines that there is no economically feasible
alternative means of eliminating the waste.
(b) The district determines that there is no long-term federal or
state funding commitment for the continued operation of biomass
facilities in the San Joaquin Valley or development of alternatives
to burning.
(c) The district determines that the continued issuance of permits
for that specific category or crop will not cause, or substantially
contribute to, a violation of an applicable federal ambient air
quality standard.
(d) The State Air Resources Board concurs with the district's
determinations pursuant to this section.
SEC. 3. The Legislature finds and declares that, due to the unique
circumstances applicable to agricultural waste and its impacts on
air quality in the San Joaquin Valley, a statute of general
applicability cannot be enacted within the meaning of subdivision (b)
of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for
certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district because in that regard this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
In addition, no reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for
certain other costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district because a local agency or school district has the authority
to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for
the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the
meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.