BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to expanding governmental authority to regulate grass seed burning; amending RCW 70.94.656; and reenacting and amending RCW 70.94.650.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 70.94.650 and 1995 c 362 s 1 and 1995 c 58 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(1) Any person who proposes to set fires in the course of:

(a) Weed abatement;

(b) Instruction in methods of fire fighting, except training to fight structural fires as provided in RCW 52.12.150 or training to fight aircraft crash rescue fires as provided in subsection (5) of this section, and except forest fire training; or

shall obtain a permit from an air pollution control authority, the department of ecology, or a local entity delegated permitting authority under RCW 70.94.654. General permit criteria of state-wide applicability shall be established by the department, by rule, after consultation with the various air pollution control authorities. Permits shall be issued under this section based on seasonal operations or by individual operations, or both. All permits shall be conditioned to insure that the public interest in air, water, and land pollution and safety to life and property is fully considered. In addition to any other requirements established by the department to protect air quality pursuant to other laws, applicants for permits must show that the setting of fires as requested is the most reasonable procedure to follow in safeguarding life or property under all circumstances or is otherwise reasonably necessary to successfully carry out the enterprise in which the applicant is engaged, or both. All burning permits will be designed to minimize air pollution insofar as practical. Nothing in this section shall relieve the applicant from obtaining permits, licenses, or other approvals required by any other law. An application for a permit to set fires in the course of agricultural burning for controlling diseases, insects, weed abatement or development of physiological conditions conducive to increased crop yield, shall be acted upon within seven days from the date such application is filed. The department of ecology and local air authorities shall provide convenient methods for issuance and oversight of agricultural burning permits. The department and local air authorities shall, through agreement, work with counties and cities to provide convenient methods for granting permission for agricultural burning, including telephone, facsimile transmission, issuance from local city or county offices, or other methods. ((A local air authority administering the permit program under this subsection (1)(c) shall not limit the number of days of allowable agricultural burning, but may consider the time of year, meteorological conditions, and other criteria specified in rules adopted by the department to implement this subsection (1)(c).))

(2) Permit fees shall be assessed for burning under this section and shall be collected by the department of ecology, the appropriate local air authority, or a local entity delegated permitting authority pursuant to RCW 70.94.654 at the time the permit is issued. All fees collected shall be deposited in the air pollution control account created in RCW 70.94.015, except for that portion of the fee necessary to cover local costs of administering a permit issued under this section. Fees shall be set by rule by the permitting agency at the level determined by the task force created by subsection (4) of this section, but shall not exceed two dollars and fifty cents per acre to be burned. After fees are established by rule, any increases in such fees shall be limited to annual inflation adjustments as determined by the state office of the economic and revenue forecast council.

(3) Conservation districts and the Washington State University agricultural extension program in conjunction with the department shall develop public education material for the agricultural community identifying the health and environmental effects of agricultural outdoor burning and providing technical assistance in alternatives to agricultural outdoor burning.

(4) An agricultural burning practices and research task force shall be established under the direction of the department. The task force shall be composed of a representative from the department who shall serve as chair; one representative of eastern Washington local air authorities; three representatives of the agricultural community from different agricultural pursuits; one representative of the department of agriculture; two representatives from universities or colleges knowledgeable in agricultural issues; one representative of the public health or medical community; and one representative of the conservation districts. The task force shall identify best management practices for reducing air contaminant emissions from agricultural activities and provide such information to the department and local air authorities. The task force shall determine the level of fees to be assessed by the permitting agency pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, based upon the level necessary to cover the costs of administering and enforcing the permit programs, to provide funds for research into alternative methods to reduce emissions from such burning, and to the extent possible be consistent with fees charged for such burning permits in neighboring states. The fee level shall provide, to the extent possible, for lesser fees for permittees who use best management practices to minimize air contaminant emissions. The task force shall identify research needs related to minimizing emissions from agricultural burning and alternatives to such burning. Further, the task force shall make recommendations to the department on priorities for spending funds provided through this chapter for research into alternative methods to reduce emissions from agricultural burning.

(5) A permit is not required under this section, or under RCW 70.94.743 through 70.94.780, from an air pollution control authority, the department, or any local entity with delegated permit authority, for aircraft crash rescue fire training activities meeting the following conditions:

(a) Fire fighters participating in the training fires must be limited to those who provide fire fighting support to an airport that is either certified by the federal aviation administration or operated in support of military or governmental activities;

(b) The fire training may not be conducted during an air pollution episode or any stage of impaired air quality declared under RCW 70.94.715 for the area where training is to be conducted;

(c) The number of training fires allowed per year without a permit shall be the minimum number necessary to meet federal aviation administration or other federal safety requirements; and

(d) Prior to the commencement of the aircraft fire training, the organization conducting training shall notify both the: (i) Local fire district or fire department; and (ii) air pollution control authority, department of ecology, or local entity delegated permitting authority under RCW 70.94.654, having jurisdiction within the area where training is to be conducted.

Aircraft crash rescue fire training activities conducted in compliance with this subsection are not subject to the prohibition, in RCW 70.94.775(1), of outdoor fires containing petroleum products.

(6) Subsection (5) of this section shall expire on the earlier of the following dates: (a) July 1, 1998; or (b) the date upon which the North Bend fire training center is fully operational for aircraft crash rescue fire training activities.

Sec. 2. RCW 70.94.656 and 1995 c 261 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

It is hereby declared to be the policy of this state that strong efforts ((~~should~~)) shall be made to minimize adverse health effects ((~~on air quality~~)) resulting from the open burning of field and turf grasses grown for seed. To such end this section is intended to promote the development of economical and practical alternate agricultural practices to such burning, and to ((~~provide for~~)) protect human health through interim regulation ((~~of such burning~~)) until practical alternates are found.

(1) The department shall approve of a study or studies for the exploration and identification of economical and practical alternate agricultural practices to the open burning of field and turf grasses grown for seed. ((~~Any study conducted pursuant to this section shall be conducted by Washington State University. The university may not charge more than eight percent for administrative overhead.~~)) Prior to the issuance of any permit for such burning under RCW 70.94.650, there shall be collected a fee not to exceed one dollar per acre of crop to be burned. Any such fees received by any authority shall be transferred to the department of ecology. The department of ecology shall deposit all such acreage fees in a special grass seed burning research account, hereby created, in the state treasury.

(2) The department shall allocate moneys annually from this account for the support of any approved study or studies as provided for in subsection (1) of this section. Whenever the department of ecology ((~~shall conclude that sufficient reasonably available alternates to open burning have been developed~~)) prohibits the open burning of field or turf grasses grown for seed, and at such time as all costs of any studies have been paid, the grass seed burning research account shall be dissolved, and any money remaining therein shall revert to the general fund. The fee collected under subsection (1) of this section shall constitute the research portion of fees required under RCW 70.94.650 for open burning of grass grown for seed.

(3) Whenever on the basis of information available to it, the department after public hearings have been conducted wherein testimony will be received and considered from interested parties wishing to testify shall conclude that any procedure, program, technique, or device constitutes ((a)) an economical and practical alternate agricultural practice to the open burning of field or turf grasses grown for seed, the department shall, by order, certify approval of such alternate. Thereafter, in any case which any such approved alternate is reasonably available, the open burning of field and turf grasses grown for seed shall be disallowed and no permit shall issue therefor.

(4) Until approved alternates become available, the department or the authority ((~~may~~)) shall limit the number of acres to be burned on a pro rata basis ((~~among those affected for which permits to burn will be issued in order to effectively control~~)) whenever the department or the authority finds that a limitation is necessary to protect human health from emissions from this source.

(5) Permits issued for burning of field and turf grasses may be conditioned to ((~~minimize emissions insofar as practical~~)) protect human health, including denial of permission to burn during periods of adverse meteorological conditions.

(6) ((By November 1, 1996, and every two years thereafter until grass seed burning is prohibited, Washington State University shall submit to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature a brief report assessing the potential of the university's research to result in economical and practical alternatives to grass seed burning)) As used in this section, "economical and practical alternative agricultural practice" means an agricultural practice that achieves the best net result after comparing the benefits of growing grass seed to the costs associated with burning grass, including but not limited to health and recreational costs.