Field burning deal reached

COEUR d'ALENE — An agreement has been reached to allow field burning in Idaho, but the deal still must be approved at several other levels before it can take effect.

The proposal has the OK from Safe Air For Everyone, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and growers.

"This agreement means that from this point forward, no Idaho citizen should have to be hospitalized, sickened, or lose their life due to agricultural burning any more," said Patti Gora, executive director of SAFE.

Both the statute and rule must be passed by the Legislature and Board of Environmental Quality in order for the State Implementation Plan to be approved by EPA before burning can be restored.

Since Jan. 30, 2007, when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Idaho's agricultural burning has been illegal since 1993, the state of Idaho had to suspend its agricultural burn program. This created the need to re-write the state's SIP.

The agreement process between SAFE, DEQ and grower representatives began with mediation in July 2007.

The deal does not affect the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, which leases land to farmers in Benewah and Kootenai County.

Development has gobbled up much of the farmland on the Rathdrum Prairie. Today, there's roughly 7,000 acres of farmland left.

Gora said new agreement has several strong provisions to protect public health.

? It provides the strictest PM 2.5 limits in the Pacific Northwest, with no burns allowed when PM monitors reach or are expected to reach 75 percent of the federal standards.

? It provides special protection for the most vulnerable areas of schools, hospitals, and residential care facilities.

? It provides for complete public transparency and notification of burn calls, burn days, and the amount of acres to be burned in each location.

"Of special note is the protections afforded the most vulnerable citizens in schools, hospitals and residential care facilities," Gora said. "We are very proud of how all parties worked diligently to come to this agreement, and we look forward to seeing the agreement fully implemented."