County considers tightening environmental rules for farmers
New plan advocates imposing environmental reviews

June 17, 2002

By TOM CHORNEAU
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

For the first time in Sonoma County, growers would be required to evaluate the environmental impacts of performing basic farm operations such as clearing land and grading soil under a proposal to be considered Monday by the Board of Supervisors.

The plan to include farmers in California's sweeping environmental impact laws is just one of several options the board will examine today in response to growing worry about agricultural development in remote and environmentally sensitive areas.

While supervisors said they may not be ready yet to impose environmental reviews on farmers, some also believe it might be time to put more teeth into the county's rules for agricultural grading.

"The handwriting is on the wall -- not just here but everywhere in the state," said Sonoma County Supervisor Tim Smith.

"There are huge ramifications for regulatory enhancements if you can't show you're doing your very best to manage runoff and erosion," he said. "We've been trying hard to convince the National Marine Fisheries Service and others that we're doing everything we can. It may be that we have to put our money where our mouth is."

Farmers are anxiously awaiting the supervisors' action but are being careful not to express too much opposition to the proposals before the board meets. Many say they are willing to consider some new regulation but probably would strongly resist any attempt to force growers to conduct environmental reviews.

Agricultural grading has been a major point of contention between environmentalists and growers since E&J Gallo undertook a massive vineyard development with little public review on a 500-acre north county ranch in 1997.

The outrage over the Gallo project, as well as questions about the overall boom in vineyard development during the late 1990s, led to the passage of the hillside planting ordinance in 1999.

The hillside ordinance placed limits on planting vines on steep slopes and also imposed rules for controlling erosion. While most believe the measure has worked reasonably well, environmentalists and some wildlife regulators have urged the supervisors to consider even more restrictions.

County attorneys also have been concerned for some time that regulations governing agricultural grading projects don't provide adequate protection for endangered salmon.

At the 9 a.m. workshop today, supervisors will debate options for dealing with the grading issue, although officials say many of those options have yet to be spelled out. A final decision probably will not be made for several months.

Pete Parkinson, director of the county's Permit and Resource Management Department, said although the board may find cause for revising rules on agricultural grading, the current regulations are legally adequate.

"There's nothing legally wrong with what we have today," Parkinson said. "The county does not have a grading ordinance per se, which has given rise to the assumption by some that the county does not regulate grading, which is not true. We do."

Like many counties where agriculture is a major feature of the local economy, Sonoma County allows farmers to conduct most routine operations without permits. Such activities as plowing, harrowing and disking can be done without county oversight as long as they do not conflict with other environmental regulations that protect wildlife and public safety.

A permit is required only if a farmer's grading project calls for moving more than 50 cubic yards of dirt -- enough dirt to fill five commercial dump trucks. When a project exceeds the 50-cubic-yard threshold, county planners take a closer look at what the farmer wants to do, evaluating the engineering of the plan as well as how runoff and erosion are handled. A grading permit is also needed when some irrigation projects are undertaken.

Although the existing rules meet all current legal requirements, the permit process is a simple one that does not include an environmental impact analysis.

Most other building projects -- from roads to subdivisions -- require an environmental impact report as a condition of getting permits. Some believe it is time to impose that standard on farmers, too.

"We are very concerned about some of these big vineyard operations that get approved without any public review," said Keith Kaulum, spokesman for the Sierra Club's Sonoma Group.

"An EIR is an informational document that helps decision-makers and the public consider a plan. Putting big vineyard projects through the EIR system is a good idea, and other counties are far ahead of us on this."

Kaulum noted that Napa County has an ordinance requiring an environmental assessment of new vineyards that he believes works well.

Most growers, however, are skeptical about the idea.

"Someone has got to show me that things are not working as they are," said Charles Cooke, a Sonoma Valley grape grower as well as a longtime member of the Sonoma County Planning Commission.

"It seems to me that we got a pretty good handle on things when we passed the hillside ordinance. I'm not sure I see the need for something more."

Nick Frey, executive director of the Sonoma Grape Growers Association, said he is not quite ready to close the door on any proposal, but that any new regulation will add costs for local farmers engaged in a very competitive business.

"I think a lot depends of how a new ordinance might be constructed," Frey said. "It might be done in such a way that could fit with the existing hillside ordinance and actually serve the growers better.

"But if the objective is just to get more regulations out there to stop vineyard development, then we would have a problem with that," he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Tom Chorneau at 521-5214 or tchorneau@pressdemocrat.com.

 

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