This report is a product of the Cornell “open burning group,” which formed in Winter 2002 to assess the extent and environmental health significance of open burning of household wastes and agricultural plastics in New York State, and to begin work towards reducing these practices in order to protect public health and the environment. The report focuses on agricultural plastics rather than the household waste stream for reasons that include the importance of agriculture in NYS and the role of Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) in working with NYS agriculture and the environment.