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Texas Prescribed Burn Board meeting, July 7, 2011
Members Present: Lynn Drawe (chair), Charles Taylor, Rob Brown, Richard Thompson, Ronnie Kramer, Ben Barnes, Linda Campbell and Mike McMurry. TFS representative was there although the TFS board member was not. Texas Tech and Texas AgriLife members were not present and rarely attend the meetings.
The meeting was called to order at 1:38 by the Chair since there was not a quorum at the scheduled meeting time. The minutes of the last meeting was approved (Thompson motion, Kramer 2nd). At the meeting date, there were three commercial and five private CPBMs pending insurance. (I will post the insurance review checklist that I asked for in 2007 in a pdf file at the bottom of this page).
Brian Hayes and Maria Gutierrez presented the results of a prescribed fire meeting in San Angelo to begin formation of the Texas Alliance of Prescribed Burn Associations. They are also working on web-based prescribed fire training modules and a website for prescribed burn associations to exchange information and post prescribed burns that are insured.
A TDA lawyer presented a working draft for a new category with the intent to certify trained and insured individuals as a member of a non-profit organization. This item was proposed to be discussed at the next Board meeting.
Of interest to CPBMs is the change in the license fee to go into effect September 1. When your certification comes due the next time, the fee will have increased from $50 to $500 for a two year period. This is significantly less that the earlier TDA suggested amount of $5,000 for two years. Evidently there was some lobbying by TWA individuals, possibly the Board Chair, and others that supposedly met with the TDA Commissioner to reduce the fee. We are certainly appreciative of that effort, even though it was not a Prescribed Burning Board success. The motion passed and is on the Texas Registry. If you want to contest the $500, please write a letter Jimmy Bush at TDA in Austin. If there are no public comments, the increase will become effective after 30 days.
Ronnie Kramer with TCEQ discussed the use of posting flaggers if smoke crosses a public roadway. TCEQ's stance is that if smoke crosses the road, then flaggers must be posted, I assume on both sides but they need not be actively directing traffic, just holding a red flag. This may be an area that could be modified by TCEQ to just posting signage rather than having a person on the roadway.
HB 1174 passed that gives the County Judge the authority to allow prescribed burning during a burn ban.
Butch Taylor brought up the issue of several counties issuing an emergency declaration for no fire which has essentially shut down prescribed burning whether you are certified or not. Colin Rosser contacted TDA lawyers and they said that the county had that power. However, at the meeting the same TDA lawyer said he "was not prepared to discuss the issue at the board meeting." Dr. Taylor suggest that he had had enough time to develop that information.
The next Board meeting will be held in Austin at a to be determined later date.
Several people commented on various issues during the public comment section and the meeting ended. It was noted that the Enforcement, investigation, penalties and
Procedures have passed the PBB and are in effect. I do not have the fine schedule for infractions, but they are significant. Usually at least $2,000 - $3,000 per infraction. Also noted, is that TDA can come onto your property to check your records and look at equipment whenever they want.
Insurance Review Checklist for CPBMs
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