January 13, 2013
For more info visit: http://bit.ly/banstat
We make every effort to ensure that all burn ban announcements and restrictions are posted. Always call or visit your county and local clean air agency and check the DNR fire danger for the most current information.
Find out more information about RCW 70.94.473, WAC 173-425 and important key terms.
I get there is no wind, it is 18 degrees and i cant have a fire? This is a joke, if this isn’t figured out quick it wont just be a few people who are very irritated with this [...].
We understand it’s cold, Matt. We want people to be able to stay warm. At the same time it is our job to ensure the air is as clean and breathable as possible for everyone. You can have a fire, IF it is genuinely your only adequate source of heat. And if you do burn, it must be cleanly, which (among other things) means you shouldn’t see any visible smoke coming out of your chimney. We have more info on that (and many other burn ban questions) online on our Burn Ban FAQ page on our website: http://www.pscleanair.org/airq/burnban/faqs.aspx#Adequate .
Thank you for contacting us, I hope this helps.
Richard Wisti
Design & Communication Specialist
Puget Sound Clean Air Agency
Desk: 206.689.4044 | Toll free: 800.552.3565 | Fax: 206.343.7522
1904 Third Avenue, Suite 105 | Seattle, WA 98101
“Everyone has the right to breathe clean air”
thanks for letting me know I will always do my part not to burn…
My fan recently went out on my duct heating its ancient. And don’t have the money to have it repaired I do have a wood stove does this problem give me the right to use it temporarily until I’m able to get it fixed and what are my limitations
Yes Matt, many more people will be irritated. That is not the interest of those that feel their interests are more important than the interests of those they serve. “Everyone has a right to breath clean air” is a mantra intended to stir your feelings; much like “think of the children”. It IS important to keep air free of dangerous particulates, particularily those of carcinogenic form; however, wood based particulates are not carcinogenic and short term. Thence the desires of the many are being dissuaded by the desires of the few. That is the way of life now, the few direct the way of the many due to vociferous “do gooders” making themselves feel better. This is just another local government agency imposing their mind set through executive order and not the will of the people.
Don’t worry about us heating our homes, worry about all the diesel engines stuck in traffic just sitting there idling. I couldn’t have my car heat on this am r/t thr stink, and I couldn’t roll down my window for fresh air. Ticketing folks who are trying to heat their residence is a CROCK. WTH is anyone in Oly. doing about MR. & Mrs. diesel? They run those engines yr round.
I am sick, on meds, disability and can’t afford to run what elctric heat we have our wood stove provides heat so that pnuemonia does not occur in this post cancer body that has an incredibly weak immune system. Will we know when this ban is lifted or do we just wait until we get sicker.
I think it would be more reasonable to encourage people to cut down on fireplace use. There’s no need to be fascists about burning firewood in the winter!!
I agree with Bryan!!!
I’m lighting a fire tonight with a starter log, if there’s visible smoke too bad.
on the right hand side, Stage 1 as of 1pm today, Tue, January 15, 2013. Burn baby burn! I am.
You people are funny use your heaters for a day or two it will be lifted shortly.
I think it is a crying shame on the State of Washington to increase the times when we have burn bans so they could get the Federal funding so they could increase the amount of enforcement officers, fines, and to get the infra red spotters to nail people that are good and wholesome to be able to pull more money into the coffers. When we were on the old limits for the burn ban it was all good and happened about 10 times a year but that was not quite enough for this state that wants to control nearly every damn thing we do to infinitude.
I’ve looked online to find the amount of officers increased, the plane, the infra red sensors, the fines, and it has seemed to disappeared but I believe it was at least a three fold if not more increase in people and way more in equipment and fines but it seems to have disappeared.
Would you please state what the changes were in manpower, fines and equipment after then newest burn ban changes came into effect this last time. The public does deserve to know what this Federal carrot of money held in front of the nose of bureaucrats was for this state that fell for it like rats to cheese in a trap, these bureaucrats that don’t burn wood for heat or don’t have a problem evidently with paying more for heat.
Where we can find the wesbite to let us know if theres burn ban update or allow burn in King Country. We just moved here from las Vegas. We did use wood fireplace last sunday and did not know its ban burn. Pray we dont get any fine!!!!
Hello,
You can find updates and email alert information at the Puget Sound Clean Air website:
http://www.pscleanair.org/airq/burnban/
SO GET OUT OF YOUR CARS & WALK TO WORK !!
I WILL BURN WHEN I WANT , THANK YOU
So if a burn ban is issued at noon how much time do we have until the fire must no longer be going and putting out smoke???
Thanks for your question. Under state law, burn bans are enforceable three hours after they are issued:
173-433-150(8) “Ecology, authorities, health departments, fire departments, or local police forces having jurisdiction in the area may enforce compliance with the above solid fuel burning device curtailment rules after three hours has elapsed from the declaration of the episode or impaired air quality.”
–Puget Sound Clean Air Agency
http://www.pscleanair.org
Still waiting for an answer to my question from the 16th.
72Camaro: the answer to your question, “What changes were in manpower, fines and equipment after the newest burn ban came into effect…” depends on where you live. Across the state there are different air authorities that issue and enforce burn bans. You can find the authority that manages air quality where you live here:
http://waburnbans.net/air-authorities/
If you’re a resident of King, Kitsap, Pierce or Snohomish County, your air quality is managed by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency – and we’d be happy to answer any questions you have about our burn ban program.
You can email or call us: http://www.pscleanair.org/actions/askquestion.aspx
-Puget Sound Clean Air Agency
http://www.pscleanair.org
I appreciate an answer, thanks. Can you give us a quick synopsis of man power and equipment before and after the new Federal dollars poured in that changed the times when the burn bans came into effect and what the threshold for calling the burn bans was before the big Federal dollars and what it is now? Pierce County is where I’m interested in.
I’d also like to know what and if the fines have changed since the new Federal dollars arrived to make it harder to burn firewood with the new extremely low thresholds that makes more criminals of us previously law abiding citizens that are just trying to survive. And thanks again for any answers that are specific instead of very general political non answer answers or links to give us lots to do.
72Camaro:
Here are some quick answers to your questions:
Under state law, a Stage 1 burn ban can be called in Pierce County when fine particle pollution levels are expected to reach 30 micrograms per cubic meter within 48 hours. Note that Pierce County has a lower burn ban “trigger” than other parts of the state because it is a nonattainment area for fine particle pollution. The statewide trigger for Stage 1 bans is 35 micrograms per cubic meter.
A Stage 2 burn ban can be called when pollution levels reach or exceed 25 micrograms per cubic meters. More information on state burn ban protocols is available online here: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=70.94.473
With regard to enforcement: in the Tacoma-Pierce County Smoke Reduction Zone we have increased our enforcement of burn bans. Through personnel-sharing partnerships with local agencies, we may have up to 30 teams patrolling when a burn ban is in effect. A map of the Smoke Reduction Zone can be found here: http://airsafepiercecounty.org/facts
With regard to whether fines have changed: No. We have not changed our fine for burn ban violations.
For additional detail about our burn ban program – or with other questions or concerns about air quality in Pierce County – please feel free to call or email us via the options here: http://www.pscleanair.org/actions/askquestion.aspx
–Puget Sound Clean Air Agency
You have done a great job on answering some of the questions and I would appreciate it if you continue answering some of the questions still not answered. What were the thresholds of particulates before the newer regulations went into effect for stage 1 and stage 2 and what was the amount of personel used to patrol before the new thresholds went into effect? Also, is is true that you are using infrared or some other type of device to tell who is not in compliance as well as answer if a plane is in the plans or is in use to locate more homes easier than before the new threshold of particulates? And is it true this mostly happened after the state accepted Federal dollars to go after the good people in Washington State that are burning wood to try to make ends meet?
Hi, 72Camaro–
The current burn ban triggers have been on the books since 2008. That’s when the State tightened them to align with stricter air quality health standards for fine particle pollution adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A summary of the changes made to state burn ban protocol in 2008 can be found here: http://www.pscleanair.org/airq/burnban/background.aspx
What’s new effective this heating season is the lower “trigger” for nonattainment areas, such as Pierce County, which we referenced in our earlier response to you.
Increased enforcement of burn bans began this heating season (fall 2012) in the Tacoma-Pierce County Smoke Reduction Zone. Increased enforcement of burn bans is a strategy recommended by the Tacoma-Pierce County Clean Air Task Force as a means for addressing the region’s wintertime air pollution problem. This Task Force was comprised of people who live and work in the Tacoma-Pierce County Nonattainment Area. You can learn more about the Task Force and their recommendations here: http://www.cleanairpiercecounty.org/taskforce/index.aspx
We also have a fact sheet that summarizes the work we’re doing in the Tacoma-Pierce County area to reduce fine particle pollution:
http://www.cleanairpiercecounty.org/why/index.aspx
Prior to this heating season, enforcement of burn bans was conducted by our team of approximately 12 inspectors.
And nope – our enforcement staff do not use infrared devices. And we sure don’t have a plane –or any plans for a plane. Digital cameras are used to document potential burn ban violations.
We hope this information is helpful.
-Puget Sound Clean Air Agency
I’ll have to admit, I’m presently surprised on the plane and heat seeking devices (you only mentioned infrared) are not being used against us. That is good news. And I’m going to just hope your 30 teams you have now are teams of two per team for 60 enforcement officers vs the 12 you had till this last year, and not more. We can all hope.
You are doing a great job on answering. So only the one question still remains, did the stricter particle restriction and/or more enforcement with a 5 times increase or more in personel increasing the size of government employees to search and fine the good people of Washington State easier with more enforcement have anything to do with more federal dollars coming into the coffers?
Thanks again for taking the time to answer, I really do appreciate it.
We’re glad you find this information useful.
To answer your last question: no. The reason we’re doing all this work in Pierce County is because in 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated most of Pierce County as a “nonattainment area” for fine particle pollution. This is because fine particle pollution levels too frequently exceeded national limits. Fine particle pollution comes from a number of sources, but smoke from fires in wood stoves and fireplaces is the biggest contributor to Pierce County’s air quality challenge.
As a result of the nonattainment designation, we have an obligation to help improve air quality in Pierce County. That’s why we convened a Task Force of people who live and work in Pierce County, to come up with recommendations on how best to address the pollution situation. Enhanced enforcement of burn bans is one of the top strategies this group recommended.
KBTC recently aired this Northwest Now segment that may help explain the work we’re doing in Pierce County:
http://video.kbtc.org/video/2328274771/
–Puget Sound Clean Air Agency
If you are saying you did not receive any Federal monies when the agency increased the amount of support from 12 people to over 60 people for enforcement surprises me. Please correct it if I’m wrong. That means to support the program with that many people with the counties and states in dire need of money, I wonder where the money came from? The video didn’t really answer it clearly even though they attempted to. What I really got out of the video was that as usual, follow the money. If we do not keep the particulates down we could lose federal road dollars. Follow the money, that is what really dictates the rules, not really much of any other reason. If it was really so bad to burn wood and have the particulates because of health reasons we would have to have a near forest fire to have enough smoke to need a bunch of people to move out of the area, and we are a long way from that. That also was in the video.
If you feel like answering fine, but you were very gracious in answering what you did, most arms of government do a form letter. (write to Senators Murray and Cantwell and you will know what I mean.)
Hi, 72Camaro.
We did not receive any federal monies to support the additional enforcement personnel.
To be clear, we have not hired over 60 new inspectors. Rather, we have formed partnerships with local government agencies. In this arrangement we have trained some of their employees and we call upon them to assist us with burn ban enforcement when needed. Our Agency compensates the local government agencies for the time their staff spend helping us with burn ban enforcement.
Hope this answers your question.
-Puget Sound Clean Air Agency
That is much different than the picture the paper gave a while back when this was first proposed and how it was to be funded and how enforcement was going to go. I looked quite a while one day for the article from the The News Tribune and wished I would have cut it out and saved it as I cannot seem to find it. It mainly comes down to they cut our road funding if we do not stay in line with the environmental requests they have made. To bad they don’t take into account what areas use what type of heating, be it oil, coal or wood, but want to control everything to minutia.
A lady where my wife works already got her $1000 bill in the mail. She was very surprised as she said nobody even talked to her and that she needs the stove to adequately heat her house.
Thank you for all your information as usually anything with government, and I have dealt with school districts and some of our legislatures, they are not as willing to discuss anything but appreciate it when you sit down, be quiet and pay your taxes. With your explanation I feel a bit better, but not much. The Federal dollars I thought the county was accepting to go after the good people of this state is what I had the biggest problem with, and reality that is happening tying it to the freeways with one of the highest gas taxed states in the union, and they want another .10/gal and more tolls, but that is for a different time and not your fight.