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 EVALUATIONFebruary 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 em ission 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, EMISSI ON 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 Distric t, 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 Distri ct (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 desi gnee) 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 st oring 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 Ru les and Regulations and which have been granted by the APCO.

210 EMISSION REDUCTIO N CREDITS (ERCs): Reductions of actual emissions that are registered with the District in accordance wi th the requirements of Rule 504, EMISSION REDUCTION CREDITS or Rule 506, BIOM ASS 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 iss ued 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 r egistered 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 prev iously 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 Dist rict) of parcels which have restrictions related to future agricultural burning.

217 RICE STRAW BURNING: The intentional open burning of ri ce 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 EM ISSION 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 la w, 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 t he 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 regul ations not in the SIP, including but not limited to, any requirement, regulation, or m easure that: (1) the Di strict or the State has included on a legally-required and publicly-a vailable 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 s pecific regulatory or permitting requirement, including, but not limited to, Reasonable Av ailable Control Technology (RACT), New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), Na tional Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), Best Available C ontrol Measures (BACM), Best Available Control Technology (BACT), and the Lowes t 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 demonstrat ions; 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 Sacram ento Federal Non-attainment Area (SFNA) portion of Placer County; and

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

302 DETERMINIATION OF AVAILABLE ACREAGE: The acreage available for generating ERCs shall be determined by adding all of the ri ce 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 Di strict receives applications which total more than 10,303 acres, the District shall lo wer the amount of acreage available for each application in accordance with Section 404.

303 DETERMINATION OF ANNUAL EMISSI ON REDUCTIONS AVAILABLE: The amount of

annual emission reductions available shall be determined by multiplying the available acreage times 75% times the applicable emi ssion 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 EM ISSION REDUCTIONS AVAILABLE: The emission reductions shall be quantified on a calendar quar ter basis. The following percentages shall

be used to determine the amount of emissi on 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 pr ohibit 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 re stricted burn list. In each calendar year, no agricultural burn permit may be issued for great er than 25% of the acreage of any parcel

listed on the restricted burn list.

308 BURNING PROHIBITION : No person shall conduct agricultu ral burning on more than 25% of the rice growing acreage of a parcel which has received an ERC certif icate 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 ri ce 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 Di strict approved verifiable records.

402.4 A statement of intent to file a deed rest riction 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 ce rtificate. 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 Dist rict 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 proportiona lly 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 s hall 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 day s 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 determi ne completeness shall begin. During the processing of the application, the APCO may request an applicant to clarify, amplify, correct, or otherwise supplement the in formation 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 pr eliminary written decision as to whether

the emission reduction should be certifi ed 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 l east 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 t he 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 t he 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 s hall be transmitted to the California Air

Resources Board and the US Environment al Protection Agency (EPA) regional office, and to any party which requests su ch 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 acti on 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 in itial 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 th is 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.