Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 3, March 1, 2024
The following identifies smoke management requirements for
Priority Areas, Critical Non-Burn Areas, Fire Marshal Buffer Zones, and Problem
Fields, where burning is either restricted or prohibited, in order to further
protect public health and safety from smoke impacts and potential fire
hazards:
(1) Priority Areas:
(a) The following are priority areas where
open field burning, propane flaming, and stack burning are restricted by the
Department. No priority area acreage shall be burned upwind of any city,
airport, Interstate freeway or highway within the same priority area. Any
burning within a priority area is subject to field-by-field authorization by
the Department.
(A) Within three miles of the
city limits of incorporated cities having populations of 10,000 or
greater;
(B) Within three miles of
the city limits of the City of Lebanon;
(C) Within one mile of airports servicing
regularly scheduled airline flights;
(D) Areas on the west and east side of and
within 1/2 mile of Interstate I-5, from Portland to the Douglas/Lane County
lines;
(E) Areas on the west and
east side of and within 1/4 mile of these highways: 99, 99E, and 99W. Areas on
the south and north side of and within 1/4 mile of U.S. Highway 20 between
Albany and Lebanon, Oregon Highway 34 between Lebanon and Corvallis, Oregon
Highway 228 from its junction south of Brownsville to its rail crossing at the
community of Tulsa.
(b)
Parts of the Interstate I-5 and highway priority areas identified above are
subject to the State Fire Marshal rules for fire safety buffer zones, which
require a noncombustible area be established. See subsection (3) of these
rules.
(c) Each responsible person
open field burning, propane flaming, or stack burning within a priority area
shall refrain from burning and promptly extinguish any burning if it is likely
that the resulting smoke would noticeably affect the priority area.
(2) Critical Non-Burn Areas:
(a) Burning is prohibited in critical
non-burn areas. No person shall cause or allow any open field burning, propane
flaming, or stack burning in the following critical non-burn areas:
(A) Any part of a field that is underneath a
power transmission line of 230kV rating or greater, extending 75 feet on either
side of the center line of the power transmission line.
(B) Any part of a field within 500 feet of a
hospital.
(C) Any part of a field
within 500 feet of a school, when the school is in-session. A school shall be
considered not in-session during the following time periods:
(i) During the regular summer closure period,
ending 7 days prior to the first day of regular fall classes. The Department
will determine the end of the regular summer closure period by reviewing each
affected schools regularly published school-year calendar;
(ii) 2 hours after the time the school day is
officially over. The official end of the school day will be determined by the
Department as published in each affected schools regular school-day
calendar.
(D) Any part of
a field within 500 feet of any airport servicing regularly scheduled airline
flights. In cases where an airport does not have regularly scheduled flights,
field by field burning may be authorized by the Department, in accordance with
the requirements in subsection (4) that apply to problem fields.
(b) It shall be the
responsibility of the grower to ensure the critical non-burn area does not
burn. It is recommended that the field stubble either be flail-chopped, mowed,
or otherwise cut close to the ground, and the loose straw removed so that the
field will not sustain an open fire. Application of water to the critical
non-burn area to ensure there is no combustion is also recommended. Should any
open fire occur, all flame and smoke sources shall be immediately and actively
extinguished.
(c) Each responsible
person conducting open field burning, propane flaming, or stack burning
adjacent to a critical non-burn area shall take appropriate steps to ensure
that the critical nonburn area remains unburned.
(d) Field by field burning may be authorized
by the Department within 500 feet of a school that is not in-session, subject
to the following restrictions:
(A) No burning
is allowed upwind of the school;
(B) The responsible person burning the field
makes a visual observation to first confirm that there are no children or other
persons present on the school grounds.
(e) When burning next to a school or hospital
critical non-burn area, or beyond 500 feet of a school that is not in-session,
the Department shall take special precautions to ensure that prevailing winds
do not cause smoke to impact the school or hospital.
(f) Any field that is intersected by a power
transmission line of 230kV rating or greater shall be registered and burned as
two separate fields, to minimize the potential of smoke to come into direct
contact with the power transmission line.
(3) State Fire Marshal Safety Buffer Zones:
(a) State Fire Marshal Rules for fire safety
buffer zones, as specified in OAR 837, Division 110, establish a 1/2 mile
buffer zone for Interstate I-5 and the highways listed below in this
subsection. No person shall cause or allow any open field burning, propane
flaming, or stack burning in the following portions of the State Fire Marshal
fire safety buffer zones:
(A) Within 1/4 mile
of either side of Interstate I-5, from Portland to the Douglas/Lane County
lines.
(B) Within 1/8 mile of
either side of the designated roadways listed below, as specified in the State
Fire Marshal Rules in OAR 837, Division 110:
(i) ORE 99 -- The section from Junction City
to Eugene;
(ii) ORE 99E -- The
sections from Oregon City to Salem and from Albany to Junction City;
(iii) ORE 99W -- The entire section from
Portland to Junction City;
(iv) US
20 -- The section from Philomath to Lebanon;
(v) ORE 22 -- The section from ORE 18 to
Mehama;
(vi) US 26 -- The section
from ORE 47 interchange to Portland;
(vii) ORE 34 -- The section from Corvallis to
Lebanon.
(b)
The 1/4 and 1/8 mile safety buffer zone distances identified above must be a
noncombustible area, as defined in the State Fire Marshal Rules. For all
requirements related to the State Fire Marshal Fire Safety Buffer Zones, see
OAR 837, Division 110. Nothing in the Departments' rules regarding fire safety
buffer zones replaces or substitutes for meeting all the requirements in the
State Fire Marshal Rules.
(c) The
area beyond the 1/4 and 1/8 mile noncombustible area in the fire safety buffer
zone represents the area that is considered a priority area as described above
in subsection (1)(a)(D) and (E). Burning in this part of the fire safety buffer
zone is subject to the restrictions for priority areas in subsection (1) of
these rules.
(4) Problem
Fields:
(a) No problem fields shall be burned
without first contacting the Department to determine what specific weather
conditions and smoke management criteria need to be followed when burning the
field, in order protect any school, hospital, airport, or other sensitive area,
in proximity to the field.
NOTE: This rule is included in the State of Oregon
Clean Air Act Implementation Plan as adopted by the Environmental Quality
Commission under OAR
340-200-0040.
Stat. Auth.: ORS 468 & 468A
Stats. Implemented: ORS
468A.610