Final Staff Report and Appendices 

for Revised Proposed Amendments to 

Rule 4103

1

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY UNIFIED AIR POLLUTION CONTROL DISTRICT 

FINAL STAFF REPORT 

Revised Proposed Amendments to 

Rule 4103 (Open Burning) 

April 15, 2010 

Prepared by: Koshoua Thao, Senior Air Quality Specialist 

Reviewed by: George Heinen, Supervising Air Quality Engineer 

Joven Nazareno, Senior Air Quality Engineer 

 Anna Myers, Air Quality Specialist 

 Daniel Martinez, Supervising Air Quality Inspector

 Dennis Roberts, Senior Air Quality Engineer 

 Colette Kincaid, Senior Air Quality Specialist 

 Morgan Lambert, Director of Compliance 

Errol Villegas, Planning Manager 

Samir Sheikh, Planning Director 

Scott Nester, Senior Projects Manager 

Rick McVaigh, Deputy APCO 

I. SUMMARY 

The historical cultural practice for disposing of agricultural materials, such as prunings 

and orchard removals, is to burn the materials. Burning agricultural materials in the field 

has helped prevent the spread of diseases, as well as control weeds and pests. 

However, recognizing the impacts that open burning has in the San Joaquin Valley Air 

Basin, concerned Valley growers have reduced open burning through the use of 

sustainable agricultural practices. Those practices have contributed to a significant 

reduction in particulate matter (PM) emissions over the last several years: since 2002, 

PM2.5 emissions from open burning have been reduced by 64%, or eight tons of PM2.5 

per day. 

A. Reasons for Rule Development and Implementation 

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (District) has continued to work 

closely with the stakeholders to identify economically feasible alternatives to open 

burning of various agricultural materials and to meet its legal obligation under the 

California Health and Safety Code (CH&SC). The state law requires that specified crop 

categories be prohibited from open burning according to a phased-in schedule of 

deadlines, but also authorizes the District to postpone the deadlines if economically 
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feasible alternatives are not available. State law also requires the Air Resources 

Board’s (ARB) concurrence on any burn prohibition deadlines that are postponed. 

To fulfill the state law requirements, the District has amended Rule 4103 several times 

to implement the requirements for most crop categories identified in the California 

Health and Safety Code (CH&SC). In September 2004, Rule 4103 was amended to 

include specific requirements that must be met for the burning of diseased crops. As 

part of the May 19, 2005 Phase II amendments to the rule, the District established best 

management practices for the control of other weeds and maintenance, and 

implemented the burn prohibition for 90% of the crops identified in the categories for 

that phase. In 2007, the District implemented Phase III of the CH&SC that prohibits 

open burning of all orchard removal material, except for citrus crops, apple crops, pear 

crops, quince crops, fig crops, and any orchard removal that is less than 20 acres. 

The final phase of the CH&SC burn prohibitions is set for June 1, 2010, and District staff 

would address the final deadline in a two-step process. First, on April 15, 2010, the 

District’s Governing Board adopted the revised proposed amendments to incorporate 

the provisions from the CH&SC into the rule. These provisions would allow the District 

to periodically review changes in agricultural practices and consider non-burning 

alternatives and economic conditions as they develop. Second, on May 20, 2010, 

District staff plan to present a comprehensive “Staff Report and Recommendations on 

Agricultural Burning” document on the economic feasibility of non-burning alternatives 

for the agricultural materials subject to the June 1, 2010 deadline at the May 2010 

Governing Board hearing. 

B. California Health and Safety Code 

Section 41855.5 of the CH&SC prohibits the issuance of a burn permit for specific 

categories of agricultural material. This section also requires that the District regulates 

the burning of diseased crops and establish best management practices for the control 

of other weeds and maintenance. The schedule below shows the requirements for 

specific categories of agricultural waste and their corresponding prohibition dates. 

June 1, 2005 

• Prohibit burning for Field Crops, Prunings, and Weed 

Abatement 

• Establish best management practices for Other Weeds and 

 Maintenance 

• Regulate burning of diseased crops 

June 1, 2007 Prohibit burning for Orchard Removals

June 1, 2010 Prohibit burning for Vineyard Removal Materials, Prunings from 

Surface Harvested Crops and Other Materials 
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The agricultural materials subject to the first two deadlines were previously addressed in 

separate rulemaking projects. The District has incorporated the diseased crops and the 

materials from Other Weeds and Maintenance into Section 5.5.5 and Section 5.9 of the 

rule in previous rulemaking. Further details on the CH&SC definitions are provided in 

Appendix A of this staff report. 

Section 41855.6 of the CH&SC allows the District to postpone the burn prohibition 

implementation dates of Section 41855.5 for any category of agricultural waste or crop. 

Postponement of those deadlines requires the District to meet additional criteria; 

however, the CH&SC does not permit the District to provide a “permanent” 

postponement of the burning prohibition. All of the following criteria must be met for the 

District to postpone a burn prohibition commencement date for a specific category or 

crop: 

1. The District determines that there is no economically feasible alternative means of 

eliminating the waste. 

2. The District determines that there is no long-term federal or state commitment for the 

continued operation of biomass facilities in the San Joaquin Valley or the 

development of alternatives to burning. 

3. 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. 

4. The State Air Resources Board concurs with the District’s determinations. 

C. Description of the Project 

According to the two-step process, District staff has incorporated the provisions of 

CH&SC Section 41855.5 and Section 41855.6 directly into the rule, to more efficiently 

allow the District to consider the feasibility of non-burning alternatives for specific crops 

and materials. The amendments to the rule would not become effective until June 1, 

2010. The technological research and economic analysis associated with the June 

2010 deadline will be addressed separately, in the “Staff Report and Recommendations 

on Agricultural Burning” document. The document was made available for public review 

and comment on April 5, 2010. 

While the CH&SC is designed to achieve emissions reduction by implementing wide 

scale prohibitions on agricultural burning, it recognizes that technological and economic 

factors may limit the non-burning alternatives to agricultural material disposal, and it 

allows the District to determine the details and timing of the prohibitions. The rule 

amendments would require District staff to revisit the crops and materials with non-burn 

alternatives at least once every five years to determine if there are any economically 
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feasible alternatives to open burning. The amendments will protect public health 

without adverse impacts to the economic viability of these crops in the Valley. 

D. Rulemaking Process 

The revised proposed amendments to Rule 4103 were published and made available to 

affected sources and interested parties for review and comments on March 11, 2010. 

The commenting period for the revised proposed amendments ended on March 25, 

2010. The District received several comments from stakeholders regarding concerns 

over the burn prohibition on June 1, 2010 for various crop categories, specifically 

vineyard removal materials, small orchard removals, and surface harvested prunings. 

District staff will address these comments in the “Staff Report and Recommendations on 

Agricultural Burning” document. 

District’s responses to comments pertaining to the revised proposed amendments to 

Rule 4103 are available as part of Appendix B of this report for the public hearing on 

April 15, 2010. The notice of the public hearing for the proposed rule amendments was 

published in a general circulation newspaper in each of the eight San Joaquin Valley 

counties and was mailed to affected sources and interested parties. The public notice 

solicited written comments to be submitted by mail, and it also identified the name, email address, and telephone numbers of the District staff who can answer questions 

and respond to comments. 

District staff will conduct a public workshop for the “Staff Report and Recommendations 

on Agricultural Burning” document in April 2010 and solicit comments from 

stakeholders. The document will be presented to the District’s Governing Board on May 

20, 2010. 

II. IMPACTS ON THE 2007 OZONE PLAN AND 2008 PM2.5 PLAN 

District staff does not expect that the revised proposed amendments to Rule 4103 to 

incorporate the state law provisions would have any adverse impact on the Reasonable 

Further Progress and attainment goals of the District’s 2007 Ozone Plan and 2008 

PM2.5 Plan (Plans). District staff plans to present the analyses and recommendations 

for specific crop categories in the “Staff Report and Recommendations on Agricultural 

Burning” document (Report) and will analyze the potential impacts of those 

recommendations to the Plans at a later process. Per new Section 6.3, the Report 

would be conducted through a public process prior to consideration of approval from the 

District’s Governing Board, ARB, and EPA for inclusion into the State Implementation 

Plan. The Report, which will be provided to ARB and EPA for review in April, would be 

required by new Section 6.3 and therefore, independent of the revised proposed 

amendments to the rule. The District will minimize any potential impact to the Plans and 

will continue to work with the industry and stakeholders to reduce emissions from open 

burning as expeditiously as practicable. 
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III. BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION 

A. Open Burning 

Open burning of agricultural crops and materials is managed by the District’s Smoke 

Management System (SMS). The SMS uses a combination of real-time meteorological 

information and computer modeling to determine the allowable amount and location of 

agricultural burning. The District’s use of the SMS is intended to limit emissions to 

levels below the federal ambient air quality standards. 

As mentioned, the amount of PM2.5 emissions from open burning in the SJVAB has 

been reduced by 64% since 2002. According to the District’s data, the total amount of 

PM2.5 emissions reduced from 2002 to 2009 was 2,918 tons, which is equivalent to 

eight tons of PM2.5 emissions reduced per day. 

B. Categories of Agricultural Materials 

Rule 4103 has been amended several times in the past few years to incorporate the 

crop categories from the CH&SC. District staff has evaluated several alternatives to 

open burn for those crop categories. While most crop categories in the CH&SC are 

already subject to the requirements of Rule 4103 and are prohibited from being burned, 

there were no technologically or economically feasible alternatives for some crop 

categories at the time. The following crops relative to the phases identified in Section 

I.B above are currently allowed to be burned: 

June 1, 2005: 

• Rice Stubble, residual rice stubble, spot burning of rice stubble, burning of 

weeds and vegetative materials on rice field levees and banks 

• Weed abatement activities affecting surface waterways, including ponding and 

levee banks 

• Prunings from apple crops, pear crops, fig crops, and quince crops 

June 1, 2007: 

• Orchard removal matter from citrus crops, apple crops, pear crops, quince 

crops, and fig crops 

• 20 acres or less of orchard removal at a single location, per calendar year 

June 1, 2010: 

• Surface harvested prunings, vineyard removal materials, and other materials 

The District minimizes the impacts from the burning of these crops through the burn 

permitting process and the Smoke Management System. In previous amendments to 

the rule, the District has determined that the continued issuance of burn permits for the 

postponed crop categories would not cause or substantially contribute to a violation of 

an applicable federal ambient air quality standard. 
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IV. CURRENT AND PROPOSED REGULATIONS 

A. Current Regulations 

Rule 4103 was adopted on June 18, 1992 and it has been amended seven times. The 

provisions of Rule 4103 apply to open burning conducted in the San Joaquin Valley Air 

Basin, with the exception of prescribed burning and hazard reduction burning as defined 

in Rule 4106 (Prescribed Burning and Hazard Reduction Burning). The rule has 

limitations on the amount and the type of materials that can be burned and restricts 

when such burning can occur. 

B. Amendments to Rule 4103 

Section 1.0 Purpose 

No change is proposed for this section. 

Section 2.0 Applicability 

No change is proposed for this section. 

Section 3.0 Definitions 

The following definitions would be added to this section for clarity and to improve rule 

effectiveness: Air Pollution Control Officer, Board, Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA), and Vineyard Removal Materials. The definitions for Air Pollution Control 

Officer, Board, and EPA are from the District’s Rule 1020 (Definitions) and Rule 4651 

(Soil Decontamination Operations). The term, vineyard removal materials, is intended 

to be used in similar context to orchard removal matter from Rule 4103, where 

agricultural materials are cleared in order to replant new crops or to conduct other 

agricultural operations. Therefore, the definition for vineyard removal materials would 

be similar to orchard removal matter, as defined and used in the rule. The terms, 

vineyard removal materials and vineyard removals, as used in the CH&SC, are 

considered to have the same meaning. As a result, vineyard removal materials would 

be used as a category in this rule. 

For clarification purposes, District staff has revised the definition for “vineyard removal 

materials” in the revised proposed amendments to the rule to include kiwi crops. 

Although pruning from kiwi crops has been prohibited from open burning since 2005, 

kiwifruits are grown from vines and require a trellis or support system. The removal of a 

kiwi vineyard is considered to be similar to a grape vineyard. District staff believes that 

the intent of the category for vineyard removal materials in the CH&SC was to include 

both grape vineyards and kiwi vineyards. 
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The following definitions would be added to this section to incorporate the meaning of 

each of the agricultural waste categories from CH&SC Section 41855.5: Field Crops, 

Orchard Removals, Other Materials, Other Weeds and Maintenance, Surface Harvested 

Prunings, and Vineyard Removal Materials. The definition for Surface Harvested 

Prunings would include similar language from the rule’s definition for Prunings to ensure 

enforceability of rule requirements for this crop category. The term, Vineyard materials, 

was defined separately in the CH&SC and includes grape canes and raisin trays. 

Vineyard materials would replace Vineyard Removal Materials from the definition for the 

Surface Harvested Prunings category since grapes canes are also pruned and would be 

more representative of that category. District staff expects that this clarification would 

improve rule enforceability. 

The definitions for Prunings and Weed Abatement are currently in the rule and would be 

amended to include the specific agricultural crops and materials in the CH&SC for those 

categories. 

Section 4.0 Exemptions 

No change is proposed for this section. 

Section 5.0 Requirements 

Section 5.5.1 

This section would be amended to include CH&SC Section 41855.5 by incorporating all 

of the categories for the agricultural crops and materials. 

The CH&SC does not clearly define the categories for vineyard removals and surface 

harvested prunings. Based on research and discussion with growers, grape vines and 

grapes canes are both pruned but they would be defined separately in the rule to be 

consistent with the CH&SC. Vineyard materials, which include grape canes, would be 

considered under the category for surface harvested prunings. Vineyard removal 

materials, which are considered to be from the removal of vineyards for the purposes of 

replanting or for other agricultural operations, would be a separate category. The 

District’s burn permits are based on the specific crop or material being burned and the 

grouping of crops or materials under these categories would not have an impact on rule 

requirements. 

Proposed Section 5.5.2 

This section would add CH&SC Section 41855.6 language to the rule by incorporating 

all of the criteria that the District’s Governing Board would need to satisfy in order to 

make determinations on burn prohibition for any agricultural waste or crop. While the 

District cannot provide a “permanent” postponement of the burning prohibition, this 

section would allow the District to address certain crops or materials that do not have 

technologically and economically feasible alternatives to open burning at the time. This 
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section would allow the District to continue to conduct research and analyze feasible 

alternatives that would allow burn prohibitions to take effect for those crops. 

The CH&SC referenced the District as the agency responsible for making the 

determinations. The term “District” would be changed to the “Board” to ensure that any 

determinations made under this section would undergo a public process and provide an 

opportunity for stakeholders to participate. 

Other Sections 

The following subsections would be removed from the Requirements section: Section 

5.5.2, Section 5.5.3, and Section 5.5.4. The agricultural waste and crop from these 

sections would be addressed in the “Staff Report and Recommendations on Agricultural 

Burning” report and would be prohibited from open burn, unless the agricultural waste or 

crop is covered under the proposed section 5.5.2. 

Section 6.0 Administrative Requirements 

Section 6.3 would be added to this rule as administrative requirements for the Air 

Pollution Control Officer (APCO). This section would require the District to review the 

feasibility of non-burning alternatives, as well as the associated economic and air quality 

factors, at least once every five years and prepare a “Staff Report and 

Recommendations on Agricultural Burning” report. Included in that report would be an 

updated assessment on technologically feasible alternatives and whether those 

alternatives are economically feasible. The alternative technologies are not expected to 

change significantly over the course of five years; however, the District would revisit the 

determinations sooner should there be any potential feasible alternatives to open 

burning. The five-year period would also allow adequate time for District staff to work 

with the affected industry and complete the review process. Any recommendations for 

certain agricultural crops or materials would be presented to the Board for consideration 

of approval through a public process. 

V. EMISSIONS AND EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS 

The purpose of the revised proposed amendments to Rule 4103 is to incorporate the 

CH&SC Section 41855.5 and Section 41855.6 requirements through administrative 

changes. The effect on air quality and the requirements of the CH&SC are in place; 

therefore, the revised proposed amendments to Rule 4103 do not strengthen those 

emissions limitations which are already established by state law. As a result, the 

emissions and emissions reduction analyses do not apply to this project. 
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VI. COST EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS 

California Health and Safety Code (CH&SC) Section 40920.6 requires the District to 

analyze the cost effectiveness of any proposed rule amendment that implements Best 

Available Retrofit Control Technology (BARCT). The purpose of the revised proposed 

amendments to Rule 4103 is to incorporate the requirements of CH&SC Section 

41855.5 and Section 41855.6 and not to establish BARCT requirements, therefore; this 

project is not subject to the cost effectiveness analysis mandate. 

VII. SOCIOECONOMICAL ANALYSIS 

Pursuant to CH&SC Section 40728.5, District staff is required to analyze the 

socioeconomic impacts of any proposed rule amendments that significantly affects air 

quality or strengthens an emission limitation. Although the burning prohibitions have 

already been established by state law and the socioeconomic analysis is not required 

by state law, District staff is preparing an economic analysis of the impacts of the 

burning prohibitions. The analysis will be presented as part of the “Staff Report and 

Recommendations on Agricultural Burning.” 

VIII. RULE CONSISTENCY ANALYSIS 

The purpose of the revised proposed amendments to Rule 4103 is to incorporate the 

requirements of the CH&SC Section 41855.5 and Section 41855.6. The effect on air 

quality and the requirements of the CH&SC are in place; therefore the revised proposed 

amendments to Rule 4103 do not strengthen those emissions limitations which are 

already established by state law and thereby a rule consistency analysis is not required. 

IX. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS 

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) applies in situations where a 

governmental agency uses its discretion in deciding whether and how to carry out or 

approve a project. A project subject to such discretionary determinations is called a 

“discretionary project.” Where the law requires a governmental agency to act on a 

project in a set way without allowing the agency to use its own judgment, the project is 

called “ministerial,” and CEQA does not apply. 

The proposed amendments to District Rule 4103 are to fulfill a State mandate to 

incorporate California Health and Safety Code (CH&SC) sections 41855.5 and 41855.6 

into the rule. The District has no discretion in deciding whether to incorporate said 

Health and Safety Code sections into its rule and, thus, approval by the District’s 

Governing Board is a ministerial action. Section 21080 of the Public Resources Code 

exempts from the application of CEQA those projects over which public agencies 
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exercise only ministerial authority. Consistent with CEQA provisions, upon approval by 

the District’s Governing Board, a Notice of Exemption will be filed with each County 

Clerk’s Office within the District. 

X. REASONABLY AVAILABLE CONTROL TECHNIQUES (RACT) ANALYSIS 

The Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 182(b)(2) states that ozone attainment plans shall 

assure that RACT for volatile organic compounds (VOC) is applied at certain sources. 

Section 182(f) extends federal RACT requirements to NOx rules and major NOx 

sources. VOC and NOx emissions are included in the District’s 2007 Ozone Plan for 

Rule 4103; however, the revised proposed amendments to this rule do not strengthen 

the requirements, which are already established by state law. Therefore, this analysis 

does not apply. 

XI. REFERENCES 

1. California Health and Safety Code, Section 41855.5 and Section 41855.6 

2. California State Senate Bill 705 (Florez, 2003).
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APPENDIX A 

Summarized Information from 

CH&SC Section 41855.5 

April 15, 2010 
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A - 2 

Category Definitions List 

CHSC Section 41855.5 defines Agricultural Waste Categories as follows: 

"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 

"Orchard removals" includes, but is not limited to, any of the following: 

(A) Orchard removal matter (B) Stumps (C) Untreated sticks 

"Other materials" includes, but is not limited to, any of the following: 

(A) Brooder paper (B) Deceased goats (C) Diseased bee hives 

"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 

"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 

"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 

"Vineyard materials" includes, but is not limited to, any of the following: 

(A) Grape canes (B) Raisin trays 

"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