04/20/06 Stubble burning rule proposal

04/20/06 Stubble burning rule proposal

Washington Ag April 20, 2006 The Washington state Department of Ecology is expected to soon issue a proposed rule on cereal field stubble burning that has the support of both farmers and clean air activists. A settlement in a 1999 lawsuit over field burning required the state to develop new regulations. Gretchen Borck of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers says the proposed rule will pretty much formalize the way stubble burning has been managed the last several years, which gives the state flexibility in deciding when farmers can burn. Borck: "We have come to an understanding with the Department of Ecology that we do need to have burning as a tool and that we hope to continue to utilize it when it is only needed." In the meantime, Borck says growers continue to work with Washington State University and Ecology looking for alternatives to burning. Converting straw into ethanol is one possibility. Since the late 1990's cereal growers have cut in half the acreage of stubble they do burn. After Ecology issues its proposed rule there will be hearings held for public input. U.S. Senator Patty Murray is holding an Agriculture Roundtable in northwest Washington tomorrow. The roundtable will be at the Mt. Vernon WSU Northwest Research and Extension Center beginning at 3 p.m. I'm Bob Hoff.
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