41855.5
. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no permit
may be issued to a person to burn any of the following categories of
agricultural waste within the jurisdiction of the San Joaquin Valley
Unified Air Pollution Control District, commencing on the following
dates:
(1) Commencing June 1, 2005, for field crops, prunings, and weed
abatement.
(2) Commencing June 1, 2007, for orchard removals.
(3) Commencing June 1, 2010, for other materials, vineyard
removals, and surface harvested prunings.
(b) The San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District,
in consultation with the University of California Cooperative
Extension, shall develop and adopt, not later than June 1, 2005,
rules establishing best management practices for the control of other
weeds and maintenance. The rules adopted pursuant to this
subdivision shall be operative not later than June 1, 2006.
(c) For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(1) "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.
(2) "Orchard removals" includes, but is not limited to, any of the
following:
(A) Orchard removal matter.
(B) Stumps.
(C) Untreated sticks.
(3) "Other materials" includes, but is not limited to, any of the
following:
(A) Brooder paper.
(B) Deceased goats.
(C) Diseased bee hives.
(4) "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.
(5) "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.
(6) "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.
(7) "Vineyard materials" includes, but is not limited to, any of
the following:
(A) Grape canes.
(B) Raisin trays.
(8) "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.
(d) (1) The San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control
District shall develop and adopt, by January 1, 2005, rules to
regulate the burning of diseased crops. The rules shall become
operative no later than June 1, 2005. The rules shall provide for the
issuance of a conditional crop burning permit if all of the
following criteria are met:
(A) The fields to be burned are specifically described.
(B) The applicant has not been cited for a violation of burning
rules or regulations in the past 3 years, unless the violation was of
a de minimis nature, as determined by the district and the county
agricultural commissioner.
(C) The county agricultural commissioner has determined all of the
following:
(i) During the growing season for that crop, there is the presence
of a disease that will cause a substantial, quantifiable reduction
in yield or poses a threat to the health of adjacent vines, trees, or
plants in the field proposed to be burned, during the current or
next growing season.
(ii) There is no economically feasible alternative means of
eliminating the disease other than burning.
(2) A conditional crop burning permit shall authorize the burning
of only the identified diseased crop.
(3) The holder of a permit may not transfer, sell, or trade the
permit to any other individual.
(4) A citation for a violation of burning rules or regulations may
be appealed to the San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District
Hearing Board.