AGENDA DATE: 12/6/2017
TITLE:
Title
Open-air Burning and Air Quality Complaints
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Open-Air Burning
ITEM TYPE: Regular Information Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Walker, Eggleston, Oprandy, Lagomarsino
PRESENTER (S): Howard Lagomarsino
LEGAL REVIEW: Yes
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: The Board has addressed the issue of open air burning on a number of occasions previously. Specifically, the Board was briefed on open burning associated with land clearing on July 02, 2008 (Attachment D), barring open air burning of trash on January 09, 2013 (Attachment E) and increasing open air burning permit fees associated with land clearing on March 04, 2015 (Attachment F).
The purpose of regulating open-air burning is to provide for fire safety and healthy air quality. The County regulates open air burning in accordance with Federal Codes, Virginia Code, the Statewide Fire Prevention Code, the regulations promulgated by the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board (Attachment A) and Albemarle County Code Chapter 6, Article IV (Attachment B). The local code must conform to the provisions of federal and state codes, including the model open-air burning code adopted by the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board. Any change to local open-air burning code requires the approval of the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board prior to enactment. Local codes can be more stringent, but not less stringent.
Albemarle County Fire Rescue’s approach to the control of open-air burning includes emergency response, education, engineering and enforcement.
Emergency response accounts for the vast majority of the interactions regarding open-air burning and is usually handled by responders without referral to Fire Marshal staff. Consequently, no data is readily available as to the specific findings from these incidents. Fire Marshal staff investigated two open-air burning inquiries (complaints) from the public in FY 16 and six in FY 17. The majority of these burns were related to land clearing/development.
Education is an important aspect of Albemarle Fire Rescue’s efforts to deal with open-air burning issues. This includes the use of printed materials, including a burn law pamphlet (Attachment C), and providing educational programs, such as the Certified Open-Air Burn class, multiple times per year. Education also includes interactions on the scene with the open-air burner through the permitting process or in response to a complaint. If compliance and understanding can be reached, there is no need to graduate to punitive sanctions.
Engineering involves providing processes (such as the requirement of a permit) that identify the what, where, and when related to burning. Permit stipulations/requirements may include the use of special equipment to minimize impacts from the open-air burn, requiring that some debris is hauled away without burning, or limiting the times the permit holder is allowed to burn. An engineering type alternative to burning is grinding debris and using the chips as mulch to influence soil health.
Enforcement is typically the method of last resort when controlling open-air burning. Enforcement may include a warning, a notice of violation, a cease order, a summons, or arrest and prosecution for non-compliance. Violations of the open-air burn laws are a class 1 misdemeanor and carry a potential penalty of up to a $2500 fine and up to 12 months in jail for each offense. Rarely does an issue escalate as far as prosecution and jail time.
Open air burning is allowed in Albemarle County under the conditions set forth in the County Code. It often occurs as a part of the cleanup of yard waste, land maintenance, storm cleanup and the clearing of land for development. A permit is not required for burning associated with private residence yard maintenance or land maintenance on agricultural or larger properties where owners/staff have attended the Albemarle Fire Marshal Certified Open Burn class. Permits are required for land clearing operations associated with construction and land development.
The effects of open air burning are a concern for some citizens and generate complaints to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the Air Pollution Control Board, the Board of Supervisors and County staff. The complaints generally address odors, air quality and ash deposits. Lately the frequency of these complaints has raised concerns and questions about open-air burning processes in Albemarle County.
STRATEGIC PLAN: Natural Resources Stewardship: Thoughtfully protect and manage Albemarle County’s ecosystem and resources both in the rural and development areas to safeguard the quality of life for current and future generations. Quality Government Operations: Ensure the County’s capacity to achieve high quality service that achieves Community priorities
DISCUSSION: Staff has examined open-air burning processes among comparable Virginia jurisdictions (Attachment G). Most were in DEQ mandated ozone zones, so open-air burning is banned in many of these jurisdictions annually from May through September. Albemarle County is not in in a DEQ ozone control zone, so this state code restriction does not apply. However, restricting burning during the “ozone season” is an option the Board may wish to consider.
Controlling the timing of burning is utilized by a few jurisdictions analyzed. In Henrico County, burning cannot begin prior to 8 am (4 pm during the forestry restrictions Feb 15-April 30) and must be finished by 8 pm. Stafford prohibits open-air burning from noon on Friday through the weekend. Roanoke County requires burning to be completed by midnight. The Board may wish to consider similar limitations in Albemarle County.
Identifying specifically in code what materials are permissible to burn may also be a strategy the Board wishes to consider in addressing this issue. This may be particularly effective if the County Code becomes more restrictive than the Statewide Fire Code and DEQ regulations. Most jurisdictions ban the burning of household trash, but some even ban open-air burning of leaves and yard debris. A factor in these bans is the availability of roadside leaf clean up, leave pick-up and trash service. The availability of convenience sites for disposal are also factors. A concern for implementing similar bans may be the availability, or lack thereof, of services for disposal, which transfers the cost and burden to the citizen. This could negatively impact the maintenance of property, thus affecting overall health and safety within the County.
Another tactic is designating where open-air -burning may take place. None of the jurisdictions examined ban open-air burning jurisdiction-wide. Most ban burning based on zoning districts. Typically, burning is prohibited in developed, residential and urban areas. Although this does limit the negative effects of burning (such as smoke and odors) in congested/developed areas, often specific district enforcement is problematic. On one side of a “map line,” one can burn and the on the other, one cannot. Meanwhile, smoke and odors may travel for miles.
Separation distance from occupied structures and property lines is yet another tactic to better control open-air burning. If minimum distances that burns occur from occupied structures are increased, fewer complaints may occur. The obvious advantage is that the smoke is less intrusive over the longer distance. Currently, Albemarle County utilizes a 300-foot minimum distance for residential burns and 500 feet for land clearing burns. Increasing the land clearing distance requirement to 1000 feet (approx. 1/5th of a mile) for occupied structures is an option the Board may wish to consider. This change would limit burning to areas with more separation distance available (typically more rural areas) and may not negatively impact burning currently occurring related to farming and agricultural practices. It is important to note that, even with a minimum distance requirement, burns may still occur closer to occupied structures if permission is first obtained from the structure’s owner/occupants.
Albemarle County Code Section §6 -407 already requires adherence to conditions imposed by the Fire Official (Office of the Fire Marshal). As written, the code allows the Office of the Fire Marshal to require as a condition of the permit, the use of special processes such as “air curtain” machinery and trenches (Attachment H). This ensures more complete combustion and reduces the carbon footprint of the burn by minimizing smoke emissions. The Board may wish to consider codifying the use of such equipment as opposed to the current practice of allowing the Fire Marshal discretion within the permit process.
BUDGET IMPACT: The budget impact varies significantly based on the degree to which the Board wishes to regulate open-air burning. The County currently assesses a fee of $500 for a burn permit specific to land clearing. Should the Board desire to ban burning completely or limit it by district, the budget impact will be a reduction in permit revenue of up to approximately $21,000 annually. Should the Board endorse staff’s recommendations (see below), there will be no budget impact.
RECOMMENDATION:Recommendation
This matter is scheduled for discussion at the request of the Board. If, after discussion, the Board is interested in pursuing any amendments to the current regulations, staff would, at a minimum, recommend two specific changes: 1) increasing the required distances from the burn location to occupied structures and property lines, and 2) requiring the “air curtain/trench” process for land clearing open air burning. Since these changes are more restrictive than the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board model code, a request for approval of the code changes will need to go to them before the changes can be enacted locally.
Staff also requests that the Board identify which, if any, of the other options in the discussion section the Board wishes to pursue with additional discussion or regulations.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A - Virginia Air Pollution Board
Attachment B - Albemarle County Code: Ch 06 Fire Protection
Attachment C - Burn Law Pamphlet
Attachment D-July 2008 Board Executive Summary
Attachment E--Jan 2013 Board Executive Summary
Attachment F - March 2015 Board Executive Summary
Attachment G - Jurisdictional Comparisons
Attachment H - Blower system