1 / 19

Open Burning Logging Slash in Beetle Wood Harvesting Areas of British Columbia.

Open Burning Logging Slash in Beetle Wood Harvesting Areas of British Columbia. Meeting MOF and WLAP Requirements E. Plain, Air Quality Meteorologist Cariboo Region. Issue:.

duncan
Download Presentation

Open Burning Logging Slash in Beetle Wood Harvesting Areas of British Columbia.

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Open Burning Logging Slash in Beetle Wood Harvesting Areas of British Columbia. Meeting MOF and WLAP Requirements E. Plain, Air Quality Meteorologist Cariboo Region

  2. Issue: • Up until recently, a forest harvesting landing burn (Category 7) was defined in the Forest Fire Prevention and Suppression Regulation as a “resource management open fire”. These types of fires are exempt under the Open Burning Smoke Control Regulation – O.C. 481/93 (OBSCR). • On November 5, 2001, the Ministry of Forests amended their regulation to define a “resource management open fire” as including Category 8 Open Fire only. As a result, forest harvesting landing burns are now covered by the OBSCR.

  3. Implications: • Forest companies wishing to burn logging slash anywhere in the province must comply with the conditions set out in the OBSCR.

  4. Burning Under the OBSCR • In order to legally initiate open burning under the OBSCR (assuming all other conditions are met), Venting Index conditions must be forecast to be Good on the day of the burn and forecast to be either Good or Fair on the second day. These conditions provide only a narrow window of opportunity for burning during the winter season.

  5. Frequency of Good/Good or Good/Fair Venting Conditions – 100 Mile House, BC 2001.

  6. Open Burning Impacts Under Poor Venting Conditions

  7. Catch 22 • The Forest Practices Code requires that forest companies have their slash (especially from beetle kill harvesting areas) burned within the first burning season after harvesting while the Venting Index is such that it is illegal to burn under the OBSCR for the majority of the winter season. • In addition, companies need to comply with both the MOF and WLAP requirements in order to maintain their ISO14000 certification.

  8. Catch 22 • From a licensee perspective there is also the problem of mobilizing work crews and where to send them when they cannot find out if they can legally burn until 7:30 am each day.

  9. Specific Exemptions (OBSCR) • The conditions of the OBSCR do not apply to the following types of open burning: (Appendix A, Part 1, Sec. 3). • Burning of leaves, foliage, weeds, crops or stubble for domestic or agricultural purposes or in compliance with the Weed Control Act. • Fires set or controlled by a person acting under a notice of a designated forest official as that term is defined in the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia Act, or under an order issued by a local assistant as that term is defined in the Fire Services Act.

  10. Specific Exemptions Cont. Under Section 8(1) of the OBSCR Code of Practice: • Unless otherwise specified for smoke management purposes in a Ministry of Forests burning permit or in a burn plan approved by the Ministry of Forests, open burning of debris must not be initiated unless the ventilation index is forecast as: “good” for the day the open burning is to be started, and, “good” or “fair” on the second day the debris is anticipated to release smoke.

  11. The Cariboo Experience What works? • Comply with the OBSCR VI requirements. • Burn when the regularly available VI information from Environment Canada (EC) will allow operators to initiate open burning. • Obtain a “spot forecast” from EC for burns located outside of valley bottoms when the regular VI is in the high Fair category. The spot forecast option was used regularly in the Cariboo during the 2002 burning season.

  12. The Cariboo Experience What works? • Apply for approval of a burn plan from the Ministry of Forests for smoke management purposes. • In this case, a burn plan is approved for burn locations outside of municipal boundaries (Category A) and outside of smoke sensitive areas. • Specific smoke sensitive areas have been defined as the Williams Lake and Quesnel Airsheds. • All conditions of the OBSCR still apply within smoke sensitive Airsheds and Category A areas.

  13. Burn Plan Options • An approved burn plan only exempts the licensee from the VI requirements in Section 8(1) and 8(4) of the OBSCR Code of Practice. All other conditions of the OBSCR still apply (set-back distances, initiation of burns under poor local air flow, etc.). Ultimately WLAP still has the power to shut down a burn that is causing a problem (under “Authority of a Manager”). • The big benefit of a burn plan to the client is that it gives them the ability to plan for burns and mobilize crews in a more practical fashion.

  14. Cariboo Burn Plan • In the majority of the Cariboo Region we have left the content of the burn plan itself up to the discretion of the MOF. We are provided with copies of approved plans (usually a 2-3 page document) so that we know where authorized burns may be taking place. • This simple approach works in our region to reduce regulatory barriers to economic development. However, it is very labour intensive for MOF as a single approval has to be given for each burn.

  15. Quesnel Forest DistrictPilot Project • In an effort to reduce the amount of administrative work involved in authorizing individual burn plans, the Quesnel MOF in cooperation with WLAP and local Licensees have developed a single “Burn Plan for Smoke Management” for the Quesnel Forest district that covers the burning period from October 1st 2002-April 30th 2003.

  16. Quesnel Forest DistrictPilot Project • This plan is based on a sensitivity rating scheme where individual licensees have rated their operating areas as either high, medium or low sensitivity. Sensitivity ratings are based on proximity to communities or rural residences, known geographic barriers to smoke drift, and the prevailing wind direction. • Burning guidelines are then produced for each sensitivity area.

  17. Table 1. Quesnel Forest District Burning Procedures Summary

  18. Quesnel Forest DistrictPilot Project • This plan is considered a ‘burn plan’ under the OBSCR sec. 8 (1) of schedule A. This means that the venting requirements in this plan supersede the venting requirements of the Open Burning Smoke Control Regulation. • By identifying burning opportunities based on sensitivity ratings in the Quesnel Forest district, Licensees now have the flexibility to mobilize crews more effectively based on VI conditions.

  19. Quesnel Forest DistrictPilot Project • This Plan is a good example of a creative, cooperative solution to meeting legislative requirements of two different Ministries while at the same time reducing some of the “red tape” by streamlining the process. • Initial feedback indicates that burning opportunities have been increased without creating smoke problems. There have been no “smoke” complaints in the Quesnel FD this burn season.

More Related