RULE 10.9 RICE STRAW EMISSION REDUCTION CREDITS AND BANKING

(Adopted 4/6/2009; Amended 10/6/2014)

A. GENERAL

A.1 PURPOSE: The purpose of this rule is to provide a federally 

recognized procedure for quantifying and certifying rice 

straw burning emission reductions, and issuing the 

resulting Emission Reduction Credit (ERC) certificates. 

This rule provides the only process by which ERC 

certificates issued for reductions in rice straw burning 

may be stored for later use to meet federal new source 

review offset requirements. Once issued in accordance with 

this rule, the procedures in Rule 10.2 - EMISSION REDUCTION 

CREDIT AND BANKING shall be used as the administrative 

mechanism for sources to transfer ERCs to other sources for 

use as offsets.

A.2 APPLICABILITY: The provisions of this rule shall apply to 

any agricultural operation that grew rice and burned rice 

straw in the in the Sacramento Federal Nonattainment Area 

(SFNA) portion of the District during the baseline period.

B. DEFINITIONS

Unless otherwise defined below, the terms used in this rule are 

the same as defined in District Rule 10.1 - NEW SOURCE REVIEW.

B.1 Agricultural Burning: Open outdoor fires used in the 

growing of crops. For the purpose of this rule, 

agricultural burning is considered to be a source and such 

activity requires an agricultural burn permit.

B.2 Agricultural Burn Permit: A permit issued by the District, 

which is required in order to conduct an agricultural burn.

B.3 Agricultural Operation: Equipment used exclusively in the 

growing of agricultural crops or in the commercial raising 

of fowl or animals.

B.4 Air Pollution Control Officer (APCO): The Air Pollution 

Control Officer of the Feather River Air Quality Management 

District (District), or his or her designee.

B.5 Applicant: For a new application, the owner (or his/her 

designee) of the parcel. For a re-certification 

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application, the current owner (or his/her designee) of an 

existing rice straw burning ERC.

B.6 Applicant Designee: The person, company, or entity 

submitting an application on behalf of the applicant. Such 

designee shall provide written authorization signed by the 

applicant to serve as the designee.

B.7 Banking: The system of quantifying, certifying, recording, 

and storing ERCs for future use and transfer. This system 

shall be called the ERC Bank.

B.8 Baseline Period: Calendar years 1988 through 1992.

B.9 Certified: ERCs which have been evaluated under the 

requirements of this rule and other applicable District, 

State, and Federal Rules and Regulations and which have 

been granted by the APCO.

B.10 Emission Reduction Credits (ERCs): Reductions of actual 

emissions that are registered with the District in 

accordance with the requirements of Rule 10.2 - EMISSION 

REDUCTION CREDIT AND BANKING.

B.11 Historic Burn Fraction (HBF): The amount of rice (as a 

percentage of the amount planted) which was burned during 

the baseline period. The HBF equals 100%.

B.12 New Application: An application submitted in accordance 

with this rule for which the District has not already 

issued an ERC for reductions in rice straw burning for a 

parcel(s) prior to adoption of this rule.

B.13 Parcel: A legally identifiable piece of land as registered 

with a County Assessor’s office for property tax purposes 

and assigned an Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN).

B.14 Re-Certification Application: An application submitted in 

accordance with this rule for which the District has 

previously issued an ERC for reductions in rice straw 

burning for a parcel(s) prior to adoption of this rule.

B.15 Register: The document that records all ERC deposits, 

withdrawals, transfers, and transactions.

B.16 Restricted Burn List: A list (maintained by the District) 

of parcels which have restrictions related to future 

agricultural burning.

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B.17 Rice Straw Burning: The intentional open burning of rice 

straw material. For the purpose of this rule, rice straw 

burning is considered to be a source and such activity 

requires an agricultural burn permit.

B.18 Rice Straw Burning Emission Reductions: Emission reductions 

that qualify for banking pursuant to Section 41865 of the 

California Health and Safety Code.

B.19 Rice Growing Acreage: The amount of acreage contained in a 

parcel that was used for the growing of rice during the 

baseline period.

B.20 Surplus: The amount of emission reductions that are, at the 

time of generation of an ERC, not otherwise required by 

federal, state, or local law, not required by any legal 

settlement or consent decree, and not relied upon to meet 

any requirement FRAQMD related to the California State 

Implementation Plan (SIP). However, emission reductions 

required by a state statute that provides that the subject 

emission reductions shall be considered surplus may be 

considered surplus for purposes of this rule if those 

reductions meet all other requirements of this section. 

Examples of federal, state, and local laws, and of SIPrelated requirements, include, but are not limited to, the 

following:

a. The federally-approved California SIP;

b. Other adopted State air quality laws and regulations not 

in the SIP, including but not limited to, any 

requirement, regulation, or measure that:

1. the District or the State has included on a legallyrequired and publicly-available list of measures that 

are scheduled for adoption by the District or the 

State in the future; or

2. is the subject of a public notice distributed by the 

District or the State regarding an intent to adopt 

such revision;

c. Any other source or source-category specific regulatory 

or permitting requirement, including, but not limited 

to, Reasonable Available Control Technology (RACT), New 

Source Performance Standards (NSPS), National Emission 

Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), Best 

Available Control Measures (BACM), Best Available 

Control Technology (BACT), and the Lowest Achievable 

Emission Rate (LAER); and

d. Any regulation or supporting documentation that is 

required by the federal Clean Air Act but is not 

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contained or referenced in 40 Code of Federal 

Regulations(CFR) Part 52, including but not limited to: 

assumptions used in attainment and maintenance 

demonstrations (including Reasonable Further Progress 

demonstrations and milestone demonstrations), including 

any proposed control measure identified as potentially 

contributing to an enforceable near-term emissions 

reduction commitment; assumptions used in conformity 

demonstrations; and assumptions used in emissions 

inventories.

C. STANDARDS

C.1 DETERMINATION IF A PARCEL IS ELIGIBLE: A particular parcel 

qualifies to generate ERCs under this rule if the following 

requirements are met:

a. The parcel is located in the Sacramento Federal 

Nonattainment Area (SFNA); and

b. Rice straw burning occurred on the parcel during the 

baseline period.

C.2 DETERMINATION OF AVAILABLE ACREAGE: The available acreage 

for generating ERCs shall be determined by adding all of 

the rice growing acreage of a FRAQMD applicant’s eligible 

parcels and multiplying by 75% x HBF. In no case shall the 

total available acreage for the entire District exceed 

36,228 acres. In the event that the District receives 

applications for which the total available acreage exceeds 

36,228 acres, the District shall lower the amount of 

available acreage for each application in accordance with 

Section D.4.

C.3 DETERMINATION OF ANNUAL EMISSION REDUCTIONS AVAILABLE:

The amount of annual emission reductions available shall be 

determined by multiplying the available acreage times the 

applicable emission factor in the following table:

Pollutant Emission Factor

(lbs/acre)

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) 14.1

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) 15.6

Carbon Monoxide (CO) 172.2

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Particulate Matter less than 10 

microns (PM10) 18.9

Sulfur Oxides (SOx) 3.3

C.4 DETERMINATION OF QUARTERLY EMISSION REDUCTIONS AVAILABLE:

The emission reductions shall be quantified on a calendar 

quarter basis. The following percentages shall be used to 

determine the amount of emission reductions in each 

calendar quarter: 

Calendar Quarter Percentage

First Quarter 34%

Second Quarter 22%

Third Quarter 6%

Fourth Quarter 38%

C.5 PRIORITY RESERVE ADJUSTMENT: Before the APCO may issue an 

ERC, the calculated emission reductions shall be reduced by 

5%. Emission reductions captured by this adjustment shall 

pass to the District’s Priority Reserve Bank.

C.6 DEED RESTRICTION: Prior to the issuance of an ERC, a deed 

restriction shall be placed on the parcel or group of 

contiguous parcels for which ERCs will be granted and a 

copy provided to the District. The deed restriction shall 

prohibit agricultural burning on the parcel consistent with 

the ERC.

C.7 RESTRICTED BURN LIST: Prior to the issuance of an ERC, the 

District shall place the parcel or group of contiguous 

parcels on the restricted burn list. In each calendar year, 

no agricultural burn permit may be issued for greater than 

25% of the rice growing acreage of any parcel listed on the 

restricted burn list.

C.8 BURNING PROHIBITION: No person shall conduct agricultural 

burning on more than 25% of the rice growing acreage of a 

parcel which has received an ERC certificate pursuant to 

the provisions of this rule. In addition, applicants must 

comply with California Health & Safety Code, Section 41865.

D. ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS

D.1 APPLICATION FILING DEADLINE: All applications to obtain 

rice straw ERC certificates in accordance with this rule 

shall be submitted no later than October 6, 2009 or upon 

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approval of this rule by the United States Environmental 

Protection Agency (US EPA) into the California SIP, 

whichever is later. Applications submitted after October 6, 

2009 or after approval of this rule by the US EPA into the 

SIP, whichever is later, shall not be eligible for ERCs 

under this rule.

D.2 APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS - NEW APPLICATIONS: The applicant 

shall submit one application for each parcel or for each 

set of contiguous parcels. The application shall contain 

the following information:

a. List of each parcel included in the application, 

including APN and any owner’s designation or identifier.

b. The acreage of each parcel that was used to grow rice 

during the baseline period, and documentation of such 

acreage.

c. Documentation that rice straw burning occurred on the 

acreage of each parcel (identified above) during the 

baseline period. Examples of acceptable documentation 

include, but are not limited to, copies of a District 

burn permit, log books, pictures, or other District 

approved verifiable records. In the event that a burn 

permit or other records are not available, the District 

may accept a signed affidavit (under penalty of perjury) 

from the applicant certifying that rice straw on the 

parcel was burned during the baseline period.

d. A statement of intent to file a deed restriction, as

required by Section C.6, for each parcel or for each set 

of contiguous parcels for which an application is being 

submitted (A copy of the deed restriction must be 

provided prior to final issuance of the rice straw ERC 

certificate).

e. Filing fees for the evaluation and issuance of ERCs in 

accordance with District Rule 7.11 - ERC BANKING FEE.

D.3 APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS - RE-CERTIFICATION APPLICATIONS: 

The applicant shall submit one application for each 

existing ERC certificate. In addition to the information in 

Section D.2, prior to re-issuance of the ERC, the applicant 

must surrender all previous certificates issued for rice 

straw burning on the parcel or group of contiguous parcels.

D.4 AVAILABLE ACREAGE ADJUSTMENT: In the event that the 

District receives applications in which the requested 

available acreage totals to more than 36,228 acres, the 

District shall lower the percentage available as follows:

a. The re-certification applications meeting the criteria 

of this rule shall get full credit on their acreage.

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b. The applications with verifiable burn records will have 

second priority. If the total available acreage for all 

these applications along with the recertification 

applications does not exceed 36,228 acres, these 

applications will get full credit. If the total of all 

these applications along with the recertification 

applications exceeds 36,228 acres, these applications 

shall be adjusted proportionally so that the total 

acreage for which all rice straw burning ERCs are issued 

does not exceed 36,228 acres.

c. For all remaining applications with affidavits for burn 

documentation, the amount of rice straw acreage 

determined to be available shall be adjusted 

proportionally so that the total acreage for which all 

rice straw burning ERCs are issued does not exceed 

36,228 acres.

D.5 APPLICATION PROCESSING PROCEDURES:

a. COMPLETE APPLICATION: The APCO shall determine whether 

the application is complete not later than 30 days after 

receipt of the application for ERC certificates. If the 

APCO determines that the application is not complete, 

the applicant shall be notified in writing of the 

decision specifying the information required. If the 

specified information is not submitted within 30 days 

the application shall be canceled by the APCO.

b. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Upon receipt of additional 

information for an incomplete application, a new 30 day 

period to determine completeness shall begin. During the 

processing of the application, the APCO may request an 

applicant to clarify, amplify, correct, or otherwise 

supplement the information submitted in the application.

c. PRELIMINARY DECISION: Following acceptance of an 

application as complete, the APCO shall perform the 

evaluations required to determine compliance with all 

applicable District Rules and Regulations and make a 

preliminary written decision as to whether the emission 

reduction should be certified as ERCs. The decision 

should be supported by a succinct written analysis.

d. PUBLICATION AND PUBLIC COMMENT: Within 10 calendar days 

following a preliminary decision, the APCO shall 

publish, in at least one newspaper of general 

circulation in the District, a notice stating the 

preliminary decision of the APCO, noting how the 

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pertinent information can be obtained, and inviting 

written public comment for a 30 day period following the 

date of publication.

e. DEED RESTRICTION: Within 90 calendar days of the public 

notice being published, the applicant shall submit a 

final copy of the legal deed restriction for all parcels 

upon which the ERC is based. The ERC shall not be 

issued prior to this submittal.

f. PUBLIC INSPECTION: The APCO shall make available for 

public inspection at the District office the information 

submitted by the applicant and the APCO’s analysis no 

later than the date the notice of the preliminary 

decision is published, pursuant to Section D.5.d. All 

such information shall be transmitted to the California 

Air Resources Board and the US EPA regional office, and 

to any party which requests such information no later 

than the date of publication.

g. FINAL ACTION: After considering all written comments, 

the APCO shall take final action on the applications 

within 180 days after the application filing deadline, 

as listed in Section D.1.

D.6 VIOLATIONS: Failure to comply with any provision or 

restriction of this rule shall be considered a violation of 

this rule.

E. MONITORING AND RECORDS

E.1 BURN RECORDS: For any parcel or group of contiguous parcels 

for which a rice straw ERC certificate has been issued, the 

initial ERC holder or current land owner shall keep records 

of the amount of acres, crop type, and burning that has 

occurred during the previous 5 years.

F. PROGRAM EVALUATION

Within two (2) years after adoption of this rule, the District 

shall evaluate the program and submit an evaluation report to 

the US EPA. The report shall include a discussion of the total 

number of applications approved, total acreage subject to this 

rule, and total amount of ERCs issued.

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