Amador County – Amador County Supervisors held a public hearing last week on a draft agriculture ordinance, then directed staff to look at threshold limits for exemptions to its draft new “Hazardous Materials Business Plan.” Dozens attended and some asked about raising the amount of propane or other fuel that could be stored and still qualify for exemption. Jeff Gibson, chairman of the advisory committee recommending the draft ordinance, said he can do research to find out if the limits are going to work, and possibly “reevaluate the limits at remote facilities,” logging operations and also above-ground fuel storage. Supervisor Chairman Ted Novelli said “when you do these limits, keep the fire people in mind. We want it user-friendly, but we need to keep firefighters safe.” Gibson said he has “too many relatives who are firefighters” to make that mistake. Deaver Vineyards owner Ken Deaver asked supervisors if an agricultural operation had 5 propane-fueled wind machines at 5 different locations, would he have to write 5 separate Business Plans for fuel storage tanks. Novelli said Friday that the board will await input from fire and first responders, especially regarding fuel storage exemptions and the amounts of fuels allowed. Novelli said supervisors “want first responders to give input before the board signs off on anything.” That includes paramedics, fire departments and battalions, among others. The exemption thresholds in the draft ordinance included requiring business plan reports for above-ground tanks that exceeded 1,100 gallons of gasoline, propane, or diesel fuel. Small agricultural handlers in the draft ordinance had specific determination, said Mike Israel, Amador County Environmental Health Director. He said it is any ag operation with 1-3 different chemicals that require reporting. He said the “business plan is predicated on the number of different materials that the business has that are over the threshold to require reporting.” Israel said the advisory committee will look at the issues brought up at the meeting, and bring back recommendations. Israel said: “One of the key items was increasing the threshold for propane.” Other requests mentioned specific numbers. He said the committee will review the questions and see if anything that they might “recommend to the board would be OK with those most at risk in the event of fire.” The advisory committee next meets January 21st, 2010. He said they would likely take possible recommendations to the fire chiefs’ association and maybe other groups, to see if they had concerns. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.