(1) Existing law, the Connelly-Areias-Chandler Rice Straw Burning Reduction Act, among other things, required the State Air Resources Board and the Department of Consumer Affairs, on or before September 1, 1992, to establish an advisory committee to develop a list of priority goals for the development of alternative uses of rice straw for the purpose of developing feasible and cost-effective alternatives to rice straw burning.
This bill would require the State Air Resources Board, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, on or before January 1, 2001, and in cooperation with specified others, to prepare and submit to the Legislature recommendations for ensuring consistency and predictability in the supply of rice straw for cost-effective uses, as provided.
(2) This bill would provide that specified funds appropriated pursuant to the Budget Act of 1998 to the state board for purposes of developing rice straw demonstration projects, which were not encumbered or otherwise expended during the 1998 fiscal year, shall be available for encumbrance by the state board during the 1999–2000 fiscal year for purposes of the rice straw demonstration project.