Who Supports Air Quality?

by John Scott, BEC Board member with Robin Huffman contributing

As the Butte County Air Quality Management District continues its mission to curtail air pollution, they are engaging local residents in discussions with members of the BCAQMD board. The board consists of all of the members of the Board of Supervisors plus one representative from each of the municipalities of Biggs, Chico, Gridley, Oroville, and Paradise, for a 10 member board. Currently, a “supermajority” of six votes is required to pass proposed air quality rules. With no provision for substitutes, and attendance not required, obtaining the supermajority to improve air quality has been a recent downfall of this board.

In the past few years, several air quality rules have been formulated in public workshops and brought before the board for consideration, but not yet passed.

Most recently, in March, the District held a series of Public Workshops in Paradise, Chico, Oroville, and Paradise Pines on the Proposed Amendments to Rule 300, Open Public Burning Requirements, Prohibitions and Exemptions. The rule was devised to help meet the requirements of California law to reduce air pollution from smoke from burning yard clippings, burning to clear land, and burning to reduce fire hazards. Smoke contains “particulate matter”, known as PM10 for the larger 10 micron particles. Particles 2.5 microns and smaller in the smoke can become permanently embedded in our lungs as we breathe.

Dr. Mark Lundberg, Health Officer for Butte County Public Health Department, has stated to the board that significant respiratory related deaths are attributed to poor local air quality. According to Lundberg, poor air quality can contribute to coronary heart disease (400 deaths per year in Butte County, which is ranked 40th out of 58 health jurisdictions, 1 being the best). And poor air quality contributes to vascular disease, of which there are 150 deaths from stroke every year in Butte County, which ranks 49th out of 58 health jurisdictions for vascular disease. The rate for chronic lower respiratory disease in Butte County is 150 deaths every year, where the county ranks 46th out of 58 on that count.

Data from air quality monitors indicate that smoke from burning vegetation and from woodburning stoves are major contributors to air pollution during certain months of the year. The Chico air quality monitors for PM10 and PM2.5 show that Chico’s air quality, in particular, is polluted beyond the level the State standard for safe air on more than a few days every year. The BCAQMD’s focus has, therefore, been to implement a rule in the Chico urban area towards Butte County’s compliance with State law. (To view yearly air quality reports and graphics see http://www.bcaqmd.org/page/monitoring-air-quality.php)

Over several years and many board discussions, there has been much input from the public on proposed Rule 208, Mandatory Wood Burning Curtailment Periods. Ongoing supporters include Luke Anderson of the Chico Healthy Air Alliance. In December 2008, the board declined to adopt the rule. The board instead handed the issue to the City of Chico. The vote to decline to adopt Rule 208 was unanimous, with Chico Councilmember Gruendl absent and not voting.

September 24, 2009, the board was again unable to support the proposed Rule 208, which would only have applied to the Chico urban area during a few days of the year, with many exceptions so that no home would be left without heat. Supervisors Yamaguchi, Lambert, and Connelly were absent (Connelly left just before the vote) and did not vote. After much citizen input and discussion, Councilmember Gruendl made a motion to adopt the rule, adding provisions to exempt manufactured logs and also Thanksgiving and Christmas day from the rule. This motion was supported by Supervisor Kirk, Supervisor Dolan and Councilmember White of Paradise (who proposed the exemptions). Vice Mayor Johansson of Oroville, Mayor Fichter of Gridley, and Councilmember Thompson of Biggs voted no. As six votes were needed for the motion to pass, the district was 2 votes short of adopting the rule. The matter was again sent to Chico.

January 28, 2010 the issue came back to the board, this time to approve the BCAQMD staff working with the City of Chico staff to work out the details of Chico implementing the rule itself. Several board members from outside of Chico voted against this proposal: Biggs Councilmember Thompson, Gridley Mayor Fichter, and Supervisor Connelly. However, they did not prevail. This complicated course of action is thus being pursued, an unnecessary route since the BCAQMD has authority in this matter.

In March’s board meeting Councilmember Thompson requested that BCAQMD discuss the county recommending suspending State law AB 32 at the next public meeting in Chico on April 22 (Earth Day) at 10:15 a.m. in the Chico Council Chambers. AB 32 is a first-in-the-world, comprehensive program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve quantifiable, cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gasses.

The BCAQMD board cannot be counted on to support cleaner air. The board members need to know you support reasonable clean air rules.

Your involvement can help prevent Butte County from taking a giant step backwards on clean air policy. Encourage your elected representatives to support measures that foster clean, healthy air.

Contact the Butte County Air Quality Management District at 891-2882 for additional information and to stay current with their efforts to make local air healthier to breathe.

From the Spring 2010 issue of the Environmental News.