(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) âSacramento Valley Air Basinâ means the area designated by the state board pursuant to Section 39606. (2) âAir pollution control councilâ means the Sacramento Valley Basinwide Air Pollution Control Council authorized pursuant to Section 40900. (3) âConditional rice straw burning permitâ means a permit to burn granted pursuant to subdivisions (f) and (h). (4) âAllowable acres to be burnedâ means the number of acres that may be burned pursuant to subdivision (c). (5) âDepartmentâ means the Department of Food and Agriculture. (6) âMaximum fall burn acresâ means the maximum amount of rice acreage that may be burned from September 1 to December 31, inclusive, of each year. (7) âMaximum spring burn acresâ 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 th
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