There will no longer BE Special Rules or Regulations for farmers... that's
the point... they have been exempted from clean air regulatons since the get
go. Only now are they falling under the regs that the rest of industry and
the public must follow. And...the biggest problem in the valley is
particulate matter. Been determined to be the cause of much of the
widespread respiratory problems reported there. Dust control or lack thereof
in field preparation and maintenance, and burning are the main contributors.
That along with totally (until now) unregulated diesel engines used for
farming, tractros, reapers, pumps etc etc has long made the valley the
worst air pollution basins in the state in terms of air quality.
OUr LBC's represent an insignificant fraction of a fraction of the air
quality problems in the ag areas. You can lay air quality issues in these
areas directly at the feet of agriculture! Farmers have recieved special
treatment in the past in this regard. Whats happening is not new regulations
it's just regulations being applied uniformly throughout the public and
business sectors.
Dean
Environmental Compliance Officer
City of Santa Rosa
-----Original Message-----
From: David Gunn [mailto:ccgunn1010@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 9:22 AM
To: mandrews53@earthlink.net; vafred@erols.com; ryoung@navcomtech.com;
triumphs@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Dean Florez (was Question About Smog Control in England)
As one who lives in "Upstate California", there are rice fields and other ag
surrounding me. The only burning of fields is the rice stubble after the
harvest. There is quite a controversy going on, as it is evidently
necessary to get rid of the stubble before planting the next season, and
there is no economical way to do it, except burning. There is even some
kind of fungus that grows in it, if it is not removed. The farmers have
tried plowing it under, but it doesn't break down over the winter. They
have even tried making rice straw insulation, rice straw energy production,
rice straw "anything", but I guess the economics just doesn't work. Everyone
is very aware of the smoke problem, and the rice fields are burned only on
certain days - usually when a good North wind is blowing - so we have nice
clear air, and the smoke all goes south to Sacramento. ;-) Not to worry,
though - the politicians have set a date by which all burning will have
stopped - it's currently being phased out.
I think this smog problem is a lot bigger than just one or two industries or
geographical locations. The ag people are really hurting, and have been for
awhile, and I wouldn't be in favor of saddling them with too many more
special rules and regulations.
I personally don't have a problem with smog emission controls, or with
gettng smoking vehicles (whether they are new or old) off of the road. I
also don't like the idea of forcing the junking of "classic" vehicles (I
only own 1 car that is newer than 1979, and 9 that are older!) It seems
that, as reasonable people, somethng could be worked out - but probably not
when political egos are involved, or party politics.
David Gunn, TR2 in Chico, CA
>From: "Michael Andrews" <mandrews53@earthlink.net>
>Reply-To: "Michael Andrews" <mandrews53@earthlink.net>
>To: Fred Thomas <vafred@erols.com>, Randall Young <ryoung@navcomtech.com>,
> Triumphs <triumphs@autox.team.net>
>Subject: Re: Dean Florez (was Question About Smog Control in England)
>Date: Tue, 04 Mar 2003 20:41:49 -0800
>
>I have driven up state --lots of agriculture ---rice and things --they have
>a quaint custom of burning off the fields --an amazing thing to see and
>impossible to see through( or breathe) when you drive into one of these
>smoky clouds that blanket the road and area--Maybe they need to change
>their
>harvesting techniques-
>Mike TR2inLA
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