Scapca Cuts Acreage Restrictions Unpopular System Curbing Right To Burn Fields Axed In Exchange For Overall Reduction Of Burning

Offering an olive branch to area grass growers, Spokane’s air quality board agreed Thursday to drop an unpopular system restricting rights to burn grass fields.

Grass growers have fought the controversial program since the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority adopted it in 1990.

The system limited field burning to the maximum number of acres burned by individual growers in any one year from 1985 to 1989.

The “base acreage” system was supposed to be used for a gradual, across-the-board reduction in the 35,000 acres of bluegrass fields that can be burned annually in Spokane County.

But last year, grass growers threatened a legal challenge, complaining the system was inflexible. Half the county’s 106 growers appealed for permission to burn more acres.

Now, with increasing evidence that tiny smoke particles are a health hazard, the board wants to find another way to reduce field burning.

“We are going to rid you of (base acreage) in exchange for a reduction of grass burning. Our goal is to work with you,” Spokane County Commissioner Steve Hasson told local grass growers.

Details of the new proposal have not been worked out. But overall acreage burned would have to decline each year.

Under the state Clean Air Act, SCAPCA can limit field burning because the area periodically flunks clean air standards.

The 35,000-acre field burning cap for all farmers will remain in place until the new system is discussed in public hearings and put in place later this year, said SCAPCA Director Eric Skelton.

Growers had permits to burn 26,864 acres in 1995, but burned only 22,000 due to bad weather.

Four of the five board members agreed to drop the base acreage system after a closed-door session with SCAPCA attorney Tom Kingen.

In mid-December, following SCAPCA’s 3-2 vote to phase out grass burning, the Intermountain Grass Growers’ Association threatened a legal challenge.

On Thursday, they were more conciliatory. The industry group does not plan to sue SCAPCA, said grass growers association President John Cornwall.

The SCAPCA board and the farmers said they will cooperate to reduce smoke in the summer skies.

But clean-air activists remain guarded as the proposed new policy is developed.

In 1989, the SCAPCA board promised to ban grass burning within a year, but failed to follow through, said Patricia Hoffman, founder of Save Our Summers, a clean-air group seeking a field-burning ban.

Last spring, the grass growers convinced the state Legislature to weaken SCAPCA’s authority over their burning season, Hoffman said.

“For the last 26 years, grass growers have resisted any restrictions by using their political connections and their attorneys. It’s time to say, no more,” said Hoffman, a Spokane Valley veterinarian.

This time, SCAPCA may have a tougher federal law on their side. By January 1997, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is likely to enact a more restrictive health standard for particulates, including grass smoke.

Also, the Spokane County Medical Society is preparing a report on the health impacts of grass burning that will play a key role in the air board’s deliberations, said SCAPCA Chairman Jan Monaco, medical society director.

In other business at Thursday’s SCAPCA meeting, members decided Hasson will serve as the board’s new chairman. City Councilman Mike Brewer is the new vice chairman.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT The 35,000-acre fieldburning cap will remain in place until the new system is discussed in public hearings and put in place later this year