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News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 22, 2000

00-049

Contact: Larry Altose, public information officer, 425-649-7192
Bruce Smith, air-quality planner, 360-407-6889

Ecology revises open-burning rule

OLYMPIA -- Outdoor air will be even safer to breathe now that the state Department of Ecology has finished a two-year effort to revise its open-burning regulation.

The revised rule - scheduled to take effect on April 13 - addresses all types of outdoor burning except agricultural and silvicultural (forest management) burning.

The updated rule incorporates recent changes to the state Clean Air Act. Among other things, the new rule prohibits residential and land-clearing burning in the urban growth areas of large cities by the end of this year, as required by the act. The rule also sets forth a community-based process for identifying areas with a reasonable alternative to burning where state law requires that burning also be prohibited.

Outdoor burning emits fine particles, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons into the air, all of which are harmful to health.

The pollutants are especially harmful to pregnant women, young children, the elderly, people with heart and respiratory illnesses and people who exert themselves outdoors where emissions are present. Microscopic particles, present even when the air may not appear smoky, lodge deep in the lungs and damage the delicate air sacs.

"The thrust of state law is that burning is out of place in our growing communities," said Mary Burg, who manages Ecology's air quality program. "As our urban areas expand and population densities increase, new opportunities become available to dispose of yard clippings and other vegetative debris. Even a handful of outdoor fires pollutes whole neighborhoods."

State and local agencies receive more than 27,000 citizen complaints about outdoor burning each year regarding health effects, poor air quality, odor and visibility. Each year, about 4,700 outdoor fires get out of control statewide, causing an estimated $10.9 million in property damage. Fire districts and departments spend about $1.9 million responding to the fires.

Washington's Clean Air Act began phasing out residential and land-clearing burning in 1991, beginning in areas with air-quality problems. By Dec. 31, 2000, the phase-out extends to all cities with a population over 10,000 and to the urban-growth areas for cities with populations over 5,000.

Under the new rule, land-clearing burning will also be prohibited by the same deadline in any adjacent areas with a population density of 1,000 or more per square mile.

Also by Dec. 31, local air-quality agencies and Ecology -- in cooperation with county governments -- must identify areas where a reasonable alternative to outdoor burning exists. If an area has a reasonable alternative to a particular type of outdoor burning, that type of burning will no longer be allowed.

By Dec. 31, 2006, the ban on residential and land-clearing burning will extend to all remaining urban growth areas. Land-clearing burning will be prohibited in all remaining areas with a population density of 1,000 or more per square mile.

Natural vegetation remains the legal fuel for outdoor burning. The revised rule does not change the existing ban on burning garbage or other materials that produce excessive smoke, obnoxious odors or toxic emissions. The regulation clarifies that construction and demolition debris, including lumber scraps, may not be burned.

Containers used for outdoor burning must be brick or concrete; steel burn barrels may no longer be used.

Tumbleweed burning in most counties and residential burning in the rural parts of less-populated counties will not require a permit. Permits may be issued for storm or flood-debris burningi n cases of declared emergencies, even in areas where residential and land-clearing burning are banned. The changes also clarify that the rule does not apply on Indian reservations, except by intergovernmental agreements.

Local clean-air agencies may adopt additional or more-stringent requirements to meet air quality needs in their communities.

The revised rule, 173-425 WAC, titled "Outdoor Burning," and other information can be viewed on the Internet at http://www.wa.gov/ecology/leg/activity/wac173425.html.

Additional details: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/air/outdoor_woodsmoke/outdoor_burning.htm (Link updated 05/01/03)

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