Bay Area Air Quality Management District

Agricultural and Open Burning is now over seen by the Ba Area Air Quality Management District.  They set burn days and handle burn permits.  Below are the steps required to burn agricultural waste on your property.

IT IS ILLEGAL TO BURN MATERIALS OTHER AGRICULTURAL ITEMS.

OPEN BURNING

http://www.baaqmd.gov/Divisions/Compliance-and-Enforcement/Open-Burning.aspx

Open burning is the burning of waste materials most commonly from agricultural crops or prescribed burns and can be a large source of air pollution and smoke. Smoke from open burning contains very fine particles, gases and other toxic products of burning can be inhaled deeply into the lungs. Scientific studies have linked exposure to fine particles to difficulty in breathing, aggravated asthma, increased emergency room visits and hospital admissions, and, in some cases, premature deaths. Those most at risk are children, the elderly and people with chronic respiratory problems.

To minimize impacts on public health, open burning is generally prohibited in the Bay Area Air Quality Management District with the exception of seventeen (17) types of fires which are regulated under the Open Burning regulation.

Each regulated fire type may only be conducted during its permissive burn period. A permissive burn period is the time of year when a particular burn type is allowed. The Air District may extend the burn periods in some cases. In addition, most allowable fires are limited to only Burn Days, as declared by the Air District, when conditions allow for dispersion of smoke to minimize the impact on public health.

Any proposed burn may also be restricted by local fire or other officials.

In addition, the fire types that require notification to the District prior to ignition (and the public official who has the authority to approve a proposed burn) are also listed.

Prior notification to the District must be made by faxing a completed Open Burning Prior Notification Form to the Air District's office in San Francisco at (415) 928-0338 or by mailing the completed form to*:

Compliance and Enforcement Division

Bay Area Air Quality Management District
939 Ellis Street
San Francisco, CA 94109

*Note: Notification must be made at least five days prior to burning. Mailed notifications must be postmarked at least five days prior to burning. For structural fire training notification must be made ten days prior to the burn.

1. 1)Fill out the correct form (see link above)
   

2. 2)Fax or Mail form to BAAQMD
   

3. 3)Check Burn Status and determine if it is a permissive burn day. (May call (800) 792-0787 for a 24hr recording)
   

4. 4)Email - burn@angwinfire.com or Call - (707) 965-2468 Angwin Fire and leave a message with the following:
   - Name
   - Address of Burn
   - Phone Number
   - Date/Time of Burn
   

5. 5)Make sure you comply with the following when you burn:
   - Adequate overhead and surrounding clearances
   - A water source on site (i.e. - hose)
   - DO NOT BURN BEFORE 10am
   - NO IGNITION AFER 12pm & materials may not be added after 2 hours BEFORE sunset.
   - Pile may not create smoke production after sunset.
   - Piles must be dried for at least 60 days and be reasonably free of dirt and soil.
   - The base area of the pile must not exceed 25 square yards and the pile height must be at least two thirds the average width of the pile.

WOOD BURNING

The nine counties that surround San Francisco Bay are home to almost seven million residents and an estimated 1.7 million fireplaces and wood stoves. The particulate matter (PM) in the wood smoke from these fireplaces and wood stoves has been a health concern in the Bay Area for many years.

 

For that reason, the Air District has adopted a wood-burning regulation that makes it illegal to use any wood-burning devices such as fireplaces, wood stoves, or pellet stoves, when air quality is forecast to be unhealthy and a Winter Spare the Air Alert is in effect.  This regulation also places restrictions on visible emissions (190 k PDF, 1 pg), prohibits the burning of garbage, plastics, and other unsuitable materials, and stipulates that only cleaner-burning technology can be sold or installed in new construction or remodels in the Bay Area.

 

Exemption Guidance Document for the Wood Burning Rule  (30 k PDF, 2 pgs)

Particulate matter is a mixture of solid and liquid particles in the air. The smaller-sized particles – those 10 micrometers or less in diameter (PM10)— are of greatest health concern because they can pass through the nose and throat and lodge deep in the lungs. Included in PM10 is a subset of very tiny particles 2.5 micrometers or smaller (PM 2.5), sometimes called “fine” particles. For comparison, a particle 10 micrometers in diameter is about one-seventh the diameter of a human hair.

Since the 1980’s, many scientific studies have been published that correlate rising PM levels with serious health effects, such as asthma symptoms, decreased lung function, increased hospital admissions and even premature death.

In response to these concerns and the proliferation of wood heaters in the 1970’s and 80’s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set a national PM emission standard for wood stoves at 7.5 grams per hour. Since July 1, 1990, all wood stoves manufactured in the United States have been required to meet this EPA standard. Previously, unregulated wood stoves averaged 60 grams of PM in an hour.

Under certain meteorological conditions – cold, stagnant winter evenings – surface based radiation inversions form quickly in the Bay Area and PM levels rise rapidly. By the 1980’s, wood smoke became the largest area-wide stationary source of particulate matter in the Bay Area. Studies by the Air District indicated that wood smoke was responsible for an average of one-third of the PM10 in the air basin during the winter months and almost 70 percent of the PM10 in Santa Rosa. In addition, wood burning generates carbon monoxide and toxic air pollutants such as benzene and dioxin.