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cover each day's accumulation of refuse, an odor problem should not develop; whereas, negligent operation could allow an odor problem to develop. Con- scientious application of a daily soil cover would also prevent significant landfill fires which could release large quantities of pollutants into the atmosphere. Therefore, the potential for these air quality impacts is depen- dent largely upon how carefully the landfill would be operated. CULTURAL 'ENVIRONMENT Land Use The 1974 Conservation Element of the San Joaquin County General Plan, prepared by the San Joaquin Council of Governments, indicates that the pro- posed site is not considered prime agricultural land when rated.by either the Storie Index or the U.S. Soil Conservation Service classification. The site is identified as being within the area of land specifically classified as nonprime agricultural land. However, this site can be agriculturally pro- ductive with the proper application of deep ripping, fertilizing, irrigating and planting techniques, albeit at a higher cost than for soils more naturally suited for production. Introductory discussions in the 1976 Land Use/Circulation Element,(page 34), regarding agricultural areas indicate that marginal lands, defined as those lands suitable for neither urban -type development nor capable of supporting crops or livestock production, are to be maintained as agricultural designa- tions, or conserved for other uses (page 9). When defining objectives for agricultural land uses, the Element indicates that those soils capable of producing a wide variety of valuable crops should be preserved, while coin- cidentally minimizing the disruption to viable agricultural areas Based upon information contained in the Conservation Element, the use of the proposed site for a sanitary landfill will not constitute a loss of productive land from the County's total available agricultural land. The proposed site can be considered included in the marginal lands category as defined above, and not capable of sustaining a variety of crops without extensive alteration. Conversion of the site to a non-agricultural use will not violate the objectives or principles of the County General Plan. The Land Use/Circulation Element speaks of utilizing "[a]ll possible means. . . to ensure that all existing urban areas are provided with basic services, including solid waste disposal." Further, all future urban development is to ". coincide with planned extensions of these basic services." (page 12). The development of the proposed site as a sanitary landfill will fulfill the general principle of providing basic services to existing urban areas. In addition, the planning efforts necessary for approval and development of the landfill site is occurring far enough in advance of the expected termination of the existing site to be able to accommodate future needs of the County without interruption. 313