A California Senate Bill that bans most agricultural burning to improve air quality was enacted last week. The timing coincides with the Eaton and Palisades fires in Los Angeles which have destroyed more than 10,000 structures and resulted in a loss of life.

SB-705 was initially introduced over 20 years ago to curb the spread of air pollutants by prohibiting the open burning of agricultural waste. It was a lengthy process to gain approval, with a staggered rollout beginning in 2021. Farmers expressed concerns since the transition to alternatives places them at a competitive disadvantage due to the higher costs of alternative disposal methods.

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District has made subsidies available, but the funds are limited. The near-total ban on burning primarily affects the San Joaquin Valley, Butte County and Imperial Valley. Growers in the San Joaquin Valley burned over a million tons of agricultural waste each year.

Agricultural waste includes field crops, prunings, weed abatement, orchard debris and surface harvested prunings. Moving forward, burn permits can only be issued for certain crops to prevent the spread of disease.

Read more about the California agricultural waste-burning ban here.