February 19, 2009 

Placer County APCD 516-1 Rules and Regulations 

RULE 516 RICE STRAW EMISSION REDUCTION CREDITS 

Adopted 02-19-09 

CONTENTS 

100 GENERAL 

101 PURPOSE

102 APPLICABILITY

200 DEFINITIONS 

201 AGRICULTURAL BURNING

202 AGRICULTURAL BURN PERMIT 

203 AGRICULTURAL OPERATION 

204 AIR POLLUTION CONTROL OFFICER (APCO) 

205 APPLICANT 

206 APPLICANT DESIGNEE 

207 BANKING 

208 BASELINE PERIOD 

209 CERTIFIED 

210 EMISSION REDUCTION CREDITS (ERCs) 

211 HISTORIC BURN FRACTION (HBF) 

212 NEW APPLICATION 

213 PARCEL 

214 RE-CERTIFICATION APPLICATION 

215 REGISTER 

216 RESTRICTED BURN LIST 

217 RICE STRAW BURNING 

218 RICE STRAW BURNING EMISSION REDUCTIONS 

219 RICE GROWING ACREAGE 

220 SURPLUS 

300 STANDARDS

301 DETERMINATION IF A PARCEL IS ELIGIBLE 

302 DETERMINATION OF AVAILABLE ACREAGE 

303 DETERMINATION OF ANNUAL EMISSION REDUCTIONS AVAILABLE 

304 DETERMINATION OF QUARTERLY EMISSION REDUCTIONS AVAILABLE 

305 PRIORITY RESERVE ADJUSTMENT 

306 DEED RESTRICTION 

307 RESTRICTED BURN LIST 

308 BURNING PROHIBITION 

400 ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS

401 APPLICATION FILING DEADLINE 

402 APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS – NEW APPLICATIONS 

403 APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS – RE-CERTIFICATION APPLICATIONS 

404 AVAILABLE ACREAGE ADJUSTMENT 

405 APPLICATION PROCESSING PROCEDURES 

406 VIOLATONS 

500 MONITORING AND RECORDS 

501 BURN RECORDS

600 PROGRAM EVALUATION 
February 19, 2009

Rules and Regulations 516-2 Placer County APCD 

100 GENERAL 

101 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 504, 

EMISSION REDUCTION CREDITS shall be used as the administrative mechanism for 

sources to transfer ERCs to other sources for use as offsets. 

102 APPLICABILITY: The provisions of this Rule shall apply to any agricultural operation that 

grew rice and burned rice straw in the District during the baseline period. 

200 DEFINITIONS: Unless otherwise defined below, the terms used in this Rule are the same as defined 

in District Rule 504, EMISSION REDUCTION CREDITS, Rule 502, NEW SOURCE REVIEW, or Rule 

501, GENERAL PERMIT REQUIREMENTS, in that order of priority. 

201 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.

202 AGRICULTURAL BURN PERMIT: A permit issued by the District, which is required in order 

to conduct an agricultural burn.

203 AGRICULTURAL OPERATION: Equipment used exclusively in the growing of agricultural 

crops or in the commercial raising of fowl or animals.

204 AIR POLLUTION CONTROL OFFICER (APCO): The Air Pollution Control Officer of the 

Placer County Air Pollution Control District (District), or his or her designee.

205 APPLICANT: For a new application, the owner (or his/her designee) of the parcel. For a recertification application, the current owner (or his/her designee) of an existing rice straw 

burning ERC.

206 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.

207 BANKING: The system of quantifying, certifying, recording, and storing ERCs for future use 

and transfer. This system shall be called the ERC Bank.

208 BASELINE PERIOD: Calendar years 1988 through 1992.

209 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.

210 EMISSION REDUCTION CREDITS (ERCs): Reductions of actual emissions that are 

registered with the District in accordance with the requirements of Rule 504, EMISSION 

REDUCTION CREDITS or Rule 506, BIOMASS EMISSION REDUCTION CREDITS AND 

BANKING.

211 HISTORIC BURN FRACTION (HBF): The amount of rice (as a percentage of the amount 

planted) which was burned during the baseline period, equal to 100%.
February 19, 2009 

Placer County APCD 516-3 Rules and Regulations 

212 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.

213 PARCEL: A legally identifiable piece of land as registered with the County Assessor’s office 

for property tax purposes and assigned an Assessors Parcel Number (APN).

214 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.

215 REGISTER: The document that records all ERC deposits, withdrawals, transfers, and 

transactions.

216 RESTRICTED BURN LIST: A list (maintained by the District) of parcels which have 

restrictions related to future agricultural burning.

217 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.

218 RICE STRAW BURNING EMISSION REDUCTIONS: Emission reductions that qualify for 

banking pursuant to Section 41865 of the California Health and Safety Code.

219 RICE GROWING ACREAGE: The amount of acreage contained in a parcel that was used for 

the growing of rice during the baseline period.

220 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 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 SIP-related requirements 

include, but are not limited to, the following:

220.1 The federally-approved California SIP;

220.2 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 legally-required 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;

220.3 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

220.4 Any regulation or supporting documentation that is required by the federal Clean Air 

Act but is not 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.
February 19, 2009

Rules and Regulations 516-4 Placer County APCD 

300 STANDARDS 

301 DETERMINATION IF A PARCEL IS ELIGIBLE: A particular parcel qualifies to generate 

ERCs under this rule if the following requirements are met:

301.1 The parcel is located in the Sacramento Federal Non-attainment Area (SFNA) 

portion of Placer County; and 

301.2 Rice straw burning occurred on the parcel during the baseline period.

302 DETERMINIATION OF AVAILABLE ACREAGE: The acreage available for generating 

ERCs shall be determined by adding all of the rice growing acreage of an applicant’s eligible 

parcels and multiplying by the HBF. In no case shall the total available acreage for the entire 

District exceed 10,303 acres. In the event that the District receives applications which total 

more than 10,303 acres, the District shall lower the amount of acreage available for each 

application in accordance with Section 404.

303 DETERMINATION OF ANNUAL EMISSION REDUCTIONS AVAILABLE: The amount of 

annual emission reductions available shall be determined by multiplying the available 

acreage times 75% times the applicable emission factor in the following table: 

POLLUTANT EMISSION FACTOR 

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) 14.1 lbs/acre 

Carbon Monoxide (CO) 172.2 lbs/acre 

Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) 15.6 lbs/acre 

Oxides of Sulfur (SOx) 3.3 lbs/acre 

Particulate Matter 10 (PM10) 18.9 lbs/acre 

304 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 (January – March) 24% 

Second Quarter (April – June) 21% 

Third Quarter (July – September) 12% 

Fourth Quarter (October – December) 43% 

305 PRIORITY RESERVE ADJUSTMENT: The APCO shall transfer 5% of the calculated 

quantity of emission reductions to the District’s Priority Reserve Bank.

306 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 which is 

not consistent with the ERC.
February 19, 2009 

Placer County APCD 516-5 Rules and Regulations 

307 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 acreage of any parcel 

listed on the restricted burn list.

308 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 (CH&SC) 41865.

400 ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS 

401 APPLICATION FILING DEADLINE: All applications to obtain rice straw ERC certificates in 

accordance with this rule shall be submitted by August 19, 2009. Applications submitted 

after this date shall not be eligible for ERCs under this rule.

402 APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS - NEW APPLICATIONS: The applicant shall submit one 

application, identifying each parcel and each set of contiguous parcels. The application shall 

contain the following information:

402.1 List of each parcel included in the application, including APN and any owner’s 

designation or identifier.

402.2 The acreage of each parcel that was used to grow rice during the baseline period, 

and documentation of such acreage.

402.3 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 agricultural burn 

permit, log books, pictures, or other District approved verifiable records. 

402.4 A statement of intent to file a deed restriction required by Section 306 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).

402.5 Filing fee in accordance with District Rule 601, PERMIT FEES.

403 APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS – RE-CERTIFICATION APPLICATIONS: The applicant 

shall submit one application for each existing ERC certificate. In addition to the information in 

section 402, 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.

404 AVAILABLE ACREAGE ADJUSTMENT: In the event that the District receives applications 

in which the requested available acreage totals more than 10,303 acres, the District shall 

lower the percentage available as follows:

404.1 The re-certification applications meeting the criteria of this rule shall get full credit on 

their acreage.

404.2 The applications with verifiable burn records will have second priority. If the total 

available acreage for all these applications along with the re-certification applications 

does not exceed 10,303 acres, these applications will get full credit. If the total of all 

these applications along with the re-certification applications exceeds 10,303 acres, 

these applications shall be adjusted proportionally so that the total acreage for which 

all rice straw burning ERCs are issued does not exceed 10,303 acres.

405 APPLICATION PROCESSING PROCEDURES: 
February 19, 2009

Rules and Regulations 516-6 Placer County APCD 

405.1 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.

405.2 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.

405.3 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.

405.4 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 

pertinent information can be obtained, and inviting written public comment for a 30 

day period following the date of publication.

405.5 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.

405.6 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 

405.4. Further, all such information shall be transmitted to the California Air 

Resources Board and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regional 

office, and to any party which requests such information no later than the date of 

publication.

405.7 Final Action: Within 180 days after the application filing deadline in Section 401 of 

this rule, the APCO shall take final action on the applications, after considering all 

written comments.

406 VIOLATIONS: Failure to comply with any provision or restriction of this rule shall be 

considered a violation of this rule.

500 MONITORING AND RECORDS 

501 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.

600 PROGRAM EVALUATION: Within two (2) years after adoption of this rule, the District shall evaluate 

the program and submit an evaluation report to 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.