RE: Proposed Modifications to the Open Burning Regulation 

Date of Release: March 1, 2004 

Schedule of Meetings 

• Date of Public Workshop: 3:00 p.m. on January 15, 2004, Sutter County Agricultural Commissioner's Office Conference Room, 142 Garden Highway, 

Yuba City, CA, 95991 

• Date of Public Workshop: 3:00 p.m. on October 17, 2003, Yuba County Agricultural Commissioner's Office Conference Room, 938 14th Street, 

Marysville, CA 95901 

• Scheduled Date of Public Hearing: 4:00 p.m. on March 1, 2004, Feather 

River Air Quality Management District, 938 14th Street, Marysville, CA, 

95901 
Contents Page Executive Summary ................................................................... .................................... 3 

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 4 

2. Background .............................................................................................................. 4 

3. Cost and Socioeconomic Impacts ............................................................................. 6 

4. Environmental Impacts ............................................................................................. 8 

5. Public Comment ....................................................................................................... 9 

6. Required Findings ..................................................................................................... 9 

7. References ............................................................................................................... 11 

Attachment A Workshop Minutes 

Attachment B Table of Effects on the District's Existing Rules & Regulations 

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g 

wide. Beginning January 1, 2004, no household trash or garbage including paper and cardboard can be burned outdoors at residences in burn barrels. Dry, natural vegetation, grown on the 

property, can still be burned outdoors in open piles in accordance with local fire and air quality controls. 

The Feather River Air Quality Management District (District) is required to adopt as strict or stricter regulations to enforce the CARE's ATCM As part of this obligation, the District was required to open the Open Burning Regulation for modification. 

The District was formed in 1991 as a hi-county jurisdictional special district, with jurisdiction 

over Yuba and Sutter counties. At that time, there existed two distinct open burning regulations. The District needs to combine the regulations into one equitably enforceable regulation. Some 

areas of the agricultural burn program were modified to accomplish this unification of the two regulations. In addition, mino1• modifications have been made to ensure the new regulation is readable, understandable, enforceable, and consistent with State and Federal laws and the 

Sacramento Valley Smoke Management Program. 

The following Staff Report was developed to provide information regarding the specific changes and additions to the Open Burning Regulation and to provide the justification for the necessary modifications. 

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The purpose of the regulation is to ensure open burning in the District is conducted in a manner 

that minimizes emissions and smoke and is managed consistent with state and federal law. 

This regulation is applicable to any person or land manager conducting or allowing any open 

burning within Yuba and Sutter counties including agricultural burning, non-agricultural burning, 

and residential burning. 

2.0 BACKGROUND: 

Regulation II, Open Burning sets conditions, requirements, and prohibitions for all open burning 

programs regulated by the District conducted within Yuba and Sutter Counties, including 

agricultural burning, non-agricultural burning, and residential burning. The modifications the 

District is proposing affect all or part of each open burning program. 

Residential Burning 

The most significant modifications are in the residential open burning category. Residential 

waste burning is the practice of outdoor burning of household wastes associated with one- and 

two-unit family homes. These household wastes include materials such as paper, cardboard, and 

vegetative material grown at the residence. Typically, 55-gallon metal drums known as burn 

barrels are used for this burning. According to a study conducted by the CARB, residential waste 

burning generates a number of toxic air contaminants, including polychlorinated dibenzo-pdioxins and dibenzofurans (collectively referred to as dioxins), benzene, 1,3-butadiene, 

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (P AHs ), and polychlorinated biphenyls. These toxic air 

contaminants may result in substantial health impacts including cancer and immune system 

damage. 

The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has identified dioxins and P AHs as two 

of the initial five toxic air contaminants that may cause infants and children to be especially 

susceptible to illness. Other air pollutants found in smoke produced from residential waste 

burning include particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen. Most of the particulate matter emitted 

from residential waste burning is small enough to be inhaled and can be especially harmful to 

people with existing respiratory illness, the aged, and the very young. Exposure to such particles 

may worsen existing disease conditions and can produce symptoms ranging from breathing 

difficulties to increased respiratory infection and even death. 

According to the California Health & Safety Code Section 39666 (d), the District has 120 days to 

implement and enforce the ATCM or propose regulations equally stringent to the ATCM. The 

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require only the low population census exemption, the District believes that because of the 

minimal distance to a transfer station and availability of waste service that the allowing of any . 

exemptions would create an inequitable and unfair situation. The California Air Resources 

Board adopted the ATCM despite the objections raised. 

In addition to the provisions of the ATCM, the District has provided additional restrictions to 

allow for better enforceability for the Regulation. These include minimum distance 

requirements, smoke minimization requirements, and burn day and hour requirements. 

Agricultural Burning Including Wildland, Forest Management, and Prescribed Burning 

Some modifications to Regulation II were deemed necessary by the District to develop one 

consistent regulation and to update that regulation to comply with provisions of the Sacramento 

Valley Smoke Management Program. These changes are listed below. 

1. Language change "set or authorize" to "conduct, allow, or use" in accordance with CA 

H&S Code section 41800. (Yuba & Sutter Counties Affected) 

2. Added "Land Manager" definition and responsibility in accordance with the Sacramento 

Valley Smoke Management Program. (Yuba & Sutter Counties Affected) 

3. Removed "No Burn" day exemptions other than "inm1inent and substantial economic loss 

or preventing the loss of lives or property." (Yuba & Sutter Counties Affected) 

4. Sets burn hours for orchard prunings at 9:00a.m. to 4:00p.m. (Yuba County Affected) 

5. Sets burn hours for field crops at 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 or 4:00 p.m., depending on the 

season. (Yuba County Affected) 

6. Removes the elevation exemption for agricultural permitting. (Yuba & Sutter Counties 

Affected) 

7. Clarifies the pesticide sack open burning. (Yuba & Sutter Counties Affected) 

8. Removes the list of designated agencies. (Sutter County Affected) 

9. Removes the language allowing the use of' burning a tire for producing smoke cohmm 

during pesticide applications. (Yuba & Sutter Counties Affected) 

10. Added definition of "Incinerator". (Yuba & Sutter Counties Affected) 

11 . Removes the language prohibiting burning within the city limits of Live Oak, Marysville, 

Wheatland, and Yuba City. (Yuba & Sutter Counties Affected) 

Non-Agricultural Burning Including Public Officer, Fire Training, and other Burning 

Some modifications to Regulation II were deemed necessary by the District to simplify requirements for public officer and other forms of non-agricultural burning, to allow for District 

involvement in the decision-making process for these types of burns, and to incorporate best 

management practices of the indirect source, plmming, and construction and development industries. These changes are listed below. 

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3.0 COST AND SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS: 

Section 40728.5(c) of the California Health and Safety Code exempts districts with a population 

of less than 500,000 persons from performing a socioeconomic impact analysis. However, the 

District chose to voluntarily provide the following information. 

The District does not expect cost impacts for the modifications to the agricultural and nonagricultural programs. Cost impacts are expected due to the modifications to the residential 

burning program. The State Board conducted an economic impact analysis as required by law 

and they fulfilled all legal requirements. They determined that the ATCM was not a major 

regulation, meaning the potential costs to California businesses did not exceed ten million dollars 

in any single year. Below is a summary of the study as it affects Yuba and Sutter counties and 

discusses the impacts that the A TCM may have on consumers as well as costs to businesses and 

local, state, and federal agencies. 

Consumer Costs 

The State determined that waste service providers in the 27 air districts that currently allow some 

form of residential waste other than natural vegetation to be burned could be affected by the 

ATCM. They estimated that there are more than 100 waste service providers statewide that serve 

these air districts. Private recycling centers and waste disposal facilities could also be affected. 

The District cunently prohibits the burning of garbage. The only aspects relative to the cost 

impacts are the additional paper and cardboard that can be recycled. In Yuba and Sutter 

Counties, there is not an area where waste disposal pick-up is not available. Consumers who are 

currently burning their paper and cardboard have the option of receiving a blue toter from YubaSutter Disposal to recycle these materials. They also have the option to self-haul their garbage 

and recyclable material to the landfill or transfer station. In some areas, new waste service routes 

may need to be developed. In other areas, new customers may be added to existing routes. The 

increased cost will vary depending upon the costs associated with increasing waste management 

service in their area. 

The District expects consumer costs for monthly curbside waste pickup generally range from $8 

to $25. This is typically 1 pickup per week for one gray household garbage container, one green 

waste container, and one blue recyclable container. It can be assumed that consumers are 

already using some form of alternative waste disposal, whether it is curbside pickup or selfhauling. These consumers may have some additional waste that was previously burned. 

It is also possible that the expansion of existing routes could result in enhanced economies of 

scale and some incremental reduction in costs to all consumers already receiving service. 

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materials, and only increase the frequency of trips as a result of the proposed regulation. 

Employment, Business Creation, Elimination or Expansion 

The regulation is not expected to have a noticeable impact on the status of California businesses. 

The primary businesses affected would be waste service providers as well as operators of private 

recycling centers and waste disposal facilities. The regulation may actually create some business 

opportunities and employment for California waste service providers in areas where either 

additional households opt into service where service had been voluntary, or where service areas 

are expanded. New or expanded opportunities could also be created for recycling facilities. 

Business Competitiveness 

The regulation would have no impact on the ability of California waste service providers to 

compete with similar businesses in other states. Waste service contracts are determined on a local 

jurisdictional basis. The requirements of the regulation would affect all waste service providers 

competing for a contract, regardless of where they originate from. 

Costs to the District 

Although there are no specific mandates in the A TCM, there are still some small, but 

unquantifiable, economic impacts on the District. Health and Safety Code section 39666 requires 

that after the adoption of the proposed ATCM by the Board, the District must enforce the ATCM 

or adopt and enforce an equal or more stringent regulation. During our normal course of 

business, we are responsible for enforcement activities and responding to complaints. The 

A TCM does not contain any specific requirements for enforcement or inspection. In addition, 

because the District already has rules and regulations in place that necessitate enforcement for 

currently prohibited materials, the enforcement efforts required for the proposed regulation 

would build upon these existing efforts. The District also needs to carry out a public education 

and outreach campaign to enhance compliance with the ATCM and to alert the public to 

available options for waste disposal. However, ARB has developed public education and 

outreach materials that have been provided to us. 

Local Waste Management Agencies 

The ATCM could result in non-mandatory costs to local agencies responsible for waste 

management services to the extent they choose to provide expanded waste disposal services and 

to address waste diversion impacts. In the Yuba-Sutter area, waste service is already available 

throughout the area, although in many cases it is not mandatory. Additional households who 

might opt into service due to the ATCM would not have an impact on the local agency. The 

expansion of waste service to areas which were previously unserved however could result in 

increased costs to local agencies to develop new waste hauling contracts and for continued 

management and oversight. However, the costs of additional waste service could be recovered 

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several waste management agencies indicate that many factors would influence the decision to 

establish additional transfer stations; therefore the potential for this impact cannot be quantified. 

Finally, local waste management agencies could develop new baseline waste disposal levels to 

better address the addition of materials that were previously burned to the waste stream and more 

accurately calculate diversion rates. Development of a new baseline could cost approximately $50,000 for surveys at selected waste disposal facilities. However, not all local waste 

management agencies may choose to develop new baseline years. 

State and Federal Land Management Agencies 

Although there are no specific mandates, the A TCM could have limited economic impacts on 

State and federal land management agencies. The main impact would be on public education, 

issuance or permits, and enforcement of complaints that could arise from burning that occurred 

on State and federal responsibility area lands. As discussed above, the CARB will provide the 

needed public education and outreach materials. The number of permits is not expected to 

increase as a result of the proposed regulation, and may decrease due to the decrease in the 

number of households allowed to burn residential waste materials. In terms of enforcement, 

while these fire agencies have primary responsibility for fire safety, they often are the first ones 

to respond to complaints about burning, which often are not about fire safety, but the burning of 

prohibited materials. Some jurisdictions have addressed this problem through a memorandum of 

understanding between the local fire protection agencies and the air district to allow the fire 

protection agency to recoup its costs for enforcement through a pass-through of fines assessed by 

the air district. This has worked especially well in Placer County. Similar efforts in other 

jurisdictions could minimize the economic impact of enforcement effmis for these State and 

federal land management agencies. 

4.0 ENVIRONMENTALIMPACTS: 

The intent of the ATCM is to improve air quality and protect the public health by reducing the 

public's exposure to potentially harmful emissions of dioxins, other T ACs, and particulate matter 

produced during the burning of residential waste materials. The CARB conducted an 

environmental impact analysis of additional areas of the environment. They evaluated the 

potential impacts that the ATCM may have on waste diversion rates, landfill capacities, illegal 

dumping, illegal waste storage, increased vehicle miles traveled due to expanded waste pickup 

service, and fire safety. Based on available information, the CARB determined that no 

significant adverse environmental impacts should occur. 

The District evaluated the rule adoption and determined that p"i.ll'suant to California 

Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines sections 15061(b)(2) and 15308 the rule 

adoption is categorically exempt from CEQA as a Class 8 action taken by a regulatory agency to 

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Appeal Democrat on December 15,2003. 

No significant changes to the rule were completed based on the comments and questions received 

during the workshop. The public hearing for adoption will be held on March 1, 2004 to consider 

adoption of Regulation II. 

6.0 REQUIRED FINDINGS 

Findings required by Division 26 of the California Health and Safety Code requires local districts 

to comply with a rule adoption protocol as set forth in Section 40727 of the Code. This section 

has been revised through legislative mandate to contain six findings that the District governing 

board must make before adopting, amending, or repealing a rule or regulation. These findings 

and their definitions are included in Table 1. 

In addition, Section 40727.2 of the Code requires preparation of a written analysis by the District 

to identify all existing federal air pollution control requirements, any of the District's existing or 

proposed rules and regulations that apply to the san1e equipment or source type, and all air 

pollution control requirements and guidelines informed to the District in response to the annual 

published list of proposed regulatory action by the District. 

There are no known existing federal control requirements for open burning. Control 

requirements typically are contained in the Code of Federal Regulations under various programs like National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs), New Source 

Performance Standards (NSPS), New Source Review standards (NSR), Prevention of Significant 

Deteriorization (PSD), and the State Implementation Program (SIP). 

District rules and regulations that apply to the same source type are Regulation !-General 

Provisions, Regulation II (Yuba & Sutter)-Open Burning, Regulation III-Stationary Sources, 

Regulation IV -Permitting, Regulation VII-Fees, Regulation X-New Source Review, and 

Regulation XI-Air Taxies. Attachment B provides a summary of the affected rules, the 

differences between these rules and the proposed amendments, and the District's recommended 

changes to the affected rules. The District recommends the changes be completed as soon as 

possible to assure the regulations of the District are consistent. 

The District received no notification informing us of additional air pollution requirements and 

guidelines as a response to our published list of proposed regulatory actions. 

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MANDATED 

FINDING 

Authority 

Necessity 

Clarity Consistency 

NonDuplication 

Reference 

A provision of law or of a state or 

federal regulation permits or requires 

the regional agency to adopt, amend, or 

repeal the regulation. 

The District has demonstrated that a 

need for the rule, or for rule amendment 

or repeal. 

The rule is written or displayed so that 

its meaning can be easily understood by 

the persons directly affected by it. 

This rule is in harmony with, and not in 

conflict with or contradictory to, 

existing statutes, court decisions, or 

State or federal regulations. 

The rule does not impose the same 

requirements as an existing State. or 

federal regulation, unless the District finds that the requirements are 

necessary and proper to execute the 

powers and duties granted to, and 

imposed upon, the District. 

Any statute, court decision, or other 

provlSlon of law that the District 

implements, interprets, or makes 

specific by adopting, amending, or 

repealing a regulation. 

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FINDING 

California Health and Safety Code, Sections 39666, 40000, 

40001, 40702, and 41865 are 

provisions of law that provide air 

districts with the authority to 

adopt these proposed rules and 

regulations. 

It is necessary for districts to 

adopt these amendments to comply with state law and to 

ensure consistency with 

neighboring air districts. 

There is no indication, at this 

time, that the proposed rules are 

written in such a manner that 

persons affected by the rule can 

not easily understand it. 

These rules are consistent with 

applicable statutory requirements. 

Any duplication with existing 

state or federal regulations IS 

necessary or proper to execute the 

powers and duties of the Feather 

River Air Quality Management District. 

The proposed rule has been 

developed to meet the 

requirements of Section 39666 of 

the California Health and Safety 

Code. 
cember 18, 2002) 

The Sacramento Valley Basinwide Air Pollution Control Council and Technical Advisory Committee, Sacramento Valley Air Basin Smoke Management Program (July 29, 2003) 

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