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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 1994 0105 CC REG ITEM 11HITEM Ventura County 702 County Square Drive tel 805/645 -1400 Richard H. Baldwin Air Pollution Ventura, California 93001 fax 805/645 -1444 Air Pollution Control Officer Control District December 22, 1993 I - NOTICE OF RULE WORKSHOP RULE 56, OPEN FIRES &n4f,47, The Ventura County Air Pollution Control District will hold a workshop on Rule 56, Open Fires. The purpose of this meeting is to receive public input on the proposed amendments to Rule 56. Any person burning agricultural wastes or affected by open - burn regulations should be interested in this workshop. The meeting will be held at the following time and location. January 10, 1994 'Oei' Lower Plaza Assembly Room Ventura County Government Center 800 S. Victoria Avenue Ventura, CA The proposed rule revision will change the allowable hours for burning from morning (6 a.m. to noon) to afternoon (noon to 4 p.m.). This proposal should assist farmers by: 1. Making it easier for mobilization of equipment and workers to burn sites; and 2. Allowing more "burn" days to be declared by the APCD. Although this proposal may allow agricultural operators more opportunities for burning agricultural waste, the increased wind djWersion in the afternoon should help alleviate nuisances caused by smoke from these fires. Another goal of the workshop is to promote cost - effective and cleaner alternatives to burning agricultural wastes. Examples include using agricultural waste for soil amendment or for biomass fuel at power generating facilities in Kern County. District staff is soliciting cost and feasibility information concerning these alternative methods. You are invited to attend this meeting to participate in the revision to Rule 56. Contact Stan Cowen at (805) 645 -1408, if you would like a copy of the staff report or have any questions regarding this meeting. Written comments may be mailed or faxed. TO: The Honorable City Council FROM: Lillian E. Hare, City Clerkrry CC: Steven Rueny, City Manager DATE: January 4, 1994 SUBJECT: Item 11.H., City Council Agenda Packet for Meeting of January 5, 1994 Stan Cowen, of the Air Pollution Control District, provided us today the attached draft staff report which will be updated after the workshop to be held on January 10. 0 I 01/04/94 09.53 '2805 645 1444 VENTURA CO APCD VENTURA COUNTY APCD DRAFT STAFF REPORT AMIlVDMFNTS TO RULE 56, OPEN FIRES 16, 1993 LXECUTIW SUMMARY Open burning in California is regulated under the California Health and Safety Code. There are separate regulation for agricultural and nonagricultural burning. The agricultural burning regulations are more completely defined in Title 17 of the California Administrative Code. Ventura County Rule 56, Open Fires, is the District rule implementing these sectiams of the Health and Safety Cade and the agricultural burning guidelines. Staff is proposing amendments to Rule 56, Open Fires that would change the allowable time of day for igniting open fires. The current rule allows burning only from 6 a.m. to norm. The proposed amendment would allow igniting open fires from noon to 4 p.m.. This proposal is in response to concerns raised by the agricultural industry about the current scarcity of open burn days and the economic impact caused by delays. The intent of the proposed amendment will be to allow more days of agricultural burning and easier mobilization of equipment and workws to bum sites. Staff estimates that 100 burn days per year may be provided by tii;_Ipr�oNwd rule amendment. This should enable farmers to clear their fields of agricultural wastes in a timely manner. a 002/005 Although this proposal will increase the number of burn days, the impact on air quality should be positive. The potential for nuisances should decrease since the predominant afternoon sea breeze and more buoyant and unstable aRemoon air will help disperse the smoko more fully. The afternoon air instability results from solar heating of the ground, which peaks at about 2 p.m.. These are called superadiabatic conditions, where the air neat the pound is heated and rises becauses it is warmer than the more elevated air. An advantage of having more bum days is that the amount of material to be burned at one time should decrease, while the total amount of material to be burned will be unchanged. Also, this will help reduce the potential for nuisance complaints. An alternate proposal that would require special permits for farmers to bum on no -burn days was examined. This proposal is not recommended because of high administrative costs and the stiff requirements mandated by State Guidelines, which must be met to obtain these permits. BACKGROUND The Legislature adopted a statute in 1975 that intended to regulate agricultural burning reasonably but not prohibit it. The legislation directed the California Air Resources Board (ARID) to promulgate guidelines for the regulation and control of agricultural burning within each air basin. APCD Rule 56, Open Fires, is based on the Guidelines and bas been amended based on changes to the Guidelines. The state board is required to consider the economic and technical feasibility of the Guidelines, including their probable effect on JAN 4 194 09:50 agricultural production in the air basin affected. The hours allowed for agricultural burning are established by each Air District se part of their rule requirements. No set hours have been established in the state Guideline. Members of the agricultural industry in Ventura County bave requested that the District amend Rule 56 to allow more opportunity to burn agrlcult mal wastes. They claim that costs to farmers for delays in burning agricultural wastes are high. An example RncG Ac:� / n o n — --- 01/04/94 09 :54 $805 645 1444 VF.NTIIRA CO .APCD 10003/005 Proposed Amendment to Rule 56 December 16, 1993 cited is a farmer who needed to clear forty acres of trees to go into strawberry production. Unless this material is removed in a timely man er, the farm will be out of production for a full season. Rule grange Summary Page 2 Another concern of the agricultural industry is the coat of mobilizing equipment and workers after 4 p.m. for a 6 a.m, burn the following day. Changing the hours of the day when open fires are allowed, from morning to afternoon, will allow more time for mobilizing equipment and personnel. PROPOSED RULE REVISION Briefly, the most significant proposed role amendment would change a condition established on open burning. Cun tly, Subsecilon C.12 states: "Except for wildland vegetation management burning, the burning shall be confuted to daylight hours, sad additional material shall not be ignited or added to the open fire after noon.' The proposed rule revision would be: "Except for wildland vegetation managomeat burning, the burning shall begin no earlier thaw noon, and no additional material shall be ignited or added to the open fire after 4 p.m..' Analysis of the 1993 matoorological �taiadicatea that the impact of the proposed rule change will be to allow approximately 1D0 open bum days per year, i.e., instead of allowing only itt�- ' bum days this year, the District would have allowed ni:noty -four. This should enable farmers to clear their fields of agricultural waste in a more timely miumtr so that the next crop can be planted in time. The impact on air quality from agricultural burning should bo less because of the better dispersion in the afternoon and because of the aea breeze. The afternoon air is considered unstable resulting from superadiabatie conditions. Under these conditions, a rising air parcel will be warmer than its environment so it becomes more buoyant and continues rising. The sea breeze results from the air on shore being heated by the ground and subsequently rising. The cool air over the ocean displaces the air onshore. This phenomenon is known as thermal circulation. The condition on open burning in Subsection C.14, which regulates the amount of material to be burned, is proposed for deletion. The District would prefer to have the fire agencies regulate the amount of material to be burped, since this is within their expertise. The definition of a "Ban Day' was elsrified in SubttecEions >E.2 and G.3. This would not allow burns to occur when the ozone level is predicted to exceed the state standard in a specific area. Additional Proposal An additional amendment to Rule 56 was evaluated by staff. It had the following elements: Development of specific burn conditions for potentially problematic fires. These open burns could occur on declared District no -burn days. The site specific burn would include the weather, time of day, and consideration for adjacent and downwind property owners. Staff believes that the proposed rule change (i.e., change in burn hours) will be more offactivo than this alternative. Moreover, it will do so without incurring the large administrative costs necessary to review permits, investigate conditions, hold meetings and hearings to grant special bum permits. Although the state Guideline does allow a district, by special permit, to authorize agricultural burning on no-bum days, certain criteria would have to be met. Those include: A determination that the denial of a permit would threaten imminent and substantial economic loss. The District shall limit the amount of acreage that can be burned in any one day. 3. Ile public would not be harmed either with regards to health or property. JAN 4 '94 09:51 805 645 1444 PAGE.003 01/04/94 09.54 $805 645 1444 VENTURA CO APCD 16004/005 Proposed Amendment to Rule 56 December 16, 1993 4. Burning would only be authorized when downwind areas are forecasted to achieve the state ambient sir quality standard. Based on 1992 data, the number of days in Simi Valley where the state ambient air quality was exceeded is approximately 105. Thus, a special permit to burn on a no -bum day pay not have been Page 3 available for these days anywhere in the county. Quite often, a no-bum day is projected simultaneously as a projected exceedance of the ozone air quality standards. This happens because the stable air, which traps the pollutants, does not provide the dispersion needed to disperse the smoke. Thus, an alternative, which would involve special burn permits, would not be very effective in allowizil farmers to burn agricultural wastes. COST EFFECTIVENESS Since the proposed rule change should increase the (1) Thu type of industry or business, including number of allowable burn days, this will decrease small business, affected by the rate or costs for the agricultural community and provide regulation. easier mobilization of manpower and equipment. Decrease in costa will result from: The adoption of amended Rule 56 will 1. Fewer delays for farmers waiting to burn affect the agricultural industry, including agricultural waste. farmers and agricultural service companies. 21 Increased time for farmers to mobilizo equipment and manpower for burns. 3. Decrease in the uncertainty for the planning agricultural operations. An exact dollar savings from this rule proposal could not be determined. Based on comments received from industry, the dollar amount would be substantial. Socioeconomic Impact Assembly Bill 2061(Polanco), which went into effect on January 1, 1992, roquirm that the APCD Board consider the socioeconomic impact of any now rule or amendment to an existing rule if air quality is affected. Since the proposed amendment to Rule 56 may affect both air quality and emission limits, the requirements of the bill must be evaluated. The evaluation focuses on the actual cost of the amended rule on affected businesses. The Board must evaluate the following socioeconomic information on the proposed amendments to Rule 56: (2) The impact of the rule on employment and the economy of the region. Because this rule amendment has the potential for cost savings for farmers, the adoption of proposed amendments to Rule 56 is expected to have a positive impact on employment and the economy of Venptra County. (3) The range of probable costs, Including costs to industry or burinars, including small business. The exact coat saving could not be determined. (4) Th,e availability and cost effectiveness of alternatives to the rule or regulation being proposed or amended. An alternative to the proposed amendment involves establishing a spacial burn permit program for burning on no -bum days. The administrative costs of such a program were not determined. However, the costa of Processing special permits. investigating burn criteria and administering hearings JAN 4 '94 09:52 805 645 144A onr_C ran 01/04/94 09:55 $805 645 1444 VENTURA CO APCD Proposed Amendment to Rule 56 December 16, 1993 would be in the range of $1,000 to $3,000 per permit. The availability of these special permits would be low during the 'smog season," which is April through October. The special permits would be unavailable because state law prohibits their isauaaca if state air quality standards in downwind areas are projected to be exceeded. Another alternative would be the use of wood chippers to create mulch or fuel for biomass power generating stations. Based on preliminary analysis, this alternative may be viable. However, more information is needed to determine feasibility. (5) The emission reductlon potential of the rule or regulation. The emissions from agricultural waste burning operations will be unchanged. Fewer nuisances are projected because emissions will be better dispersed. (6) Tice necessity of adopting, amending, or repealing the rule or regulation In order to attain state and federal ambient air standards pursu4nt to Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 40910). The proposed rule amendment should have no impact on attaining the state and federal ambient air quality standards. The proposed rule amendment should have a positivo effect on air quality by allowing; emissions to occur only during the afternoon when meteorological dispersion is highest. JAN 4 '94 09:52 QMS CAC: +^^^ Page 4 Z 005/005