Or. Admin. Code § 603-077-0105

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 12, December 1, 2024

Section 603-077-0105 - Definitions

As used in this Division:

(1) "Actively Extinguish" means the direct application of water or other fire retardant to an open field fire.

(2) "Permit or "Burn Permit" or "Burning Permit" means a permit issued by the Department pursuant to ORS 468A.575.

(3) "Candidate Fields" means all grass seed or cereal grain fields being considered for open field burning or propane flaming.

(4) "Commission" means the Environmental Quality Commission.

(5) "Critical Nonburn Area" means the area of a grass seed or cereal grain field where burning is prohibited, such as underneath power transmission lines, or near a school, airport, or hospital pursuant to OAR 603-077-0119. This prohibition may be permanent or for a limited period of time, as provided in these rules.

(6) "Crop" means cultivated agricultural plants such as grain.

(7) "Cumulative Hours of Smoke Intrusion in the Willamette Valley means the average of the totals of cumulative hours of smoke intrusion recorded, and has been determined by the Department that open field burning, propane flaming, or stack burning was a significant contributor to the smoke intrusion:

(a) The Department shall record one hour of intrusion for each hour the nephelometer hourly reading exceeds a background level by 1.8 x 10-4 b-scat units or more but less than the applicable value in subsection (b) of this section;

(b) The Department shall record two hours of intrusion for each hour the nephelometer hourly reading exceeds a background level by 5.0 x 10-4 b-scat units:

(c) The background level shall be the average of the three hourly readings immediately prior to the start of burning on the day in which the intrusion occurred.

(8) "Department" means the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

(9) "Director" means the Director of the Department or delegated employee representative.

(10) "Director of Agriculture" means the Director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

(11) "Drying Day" means a 24-hour period during which the relative humidity reached a minimum less than 50 percent and no rainfall was recorded at the nearest reliable measuring site.

(12) "Effective Mixing Height" means either the actual height of plume rise as determined by ODA field staff or the calculated or estimated mixing height as determined by the Department.

(13) "Emergency Open Burning" is defined in Oregon Administrative Rule by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality; OAR 340-266-0030.

(14) "Field-by-Field Burning" means burning on a limited or restricted basis in which the amount, rate, and area authorized for burning is closely controlled and monitored. Included under this definition are experimental open field burning emergency burning, and burning within priority areas.

(15) "Field Reference Code" means a unique four-part code which identifies a particular registered field for mapping purposes. The first part of the code shall indicate the grower registration (form) number, the second part the line number of the field as listed on the registration form, the third part the crop type, and the fourth part the size (acreage) of the field (e.g., a 35 acre perennial (Chewings Fescue) field registered on Line 2 of registration form number 1953 would be 1953-2-P-CF-35).

(16) "Field Specific Burn Plan" means an individual burn plan designed for a field or acreage that has been approved under OAR 340-266-0065 for emergency burning, which identifies specific criteria, conditions, precautions, and requirements that need to be followed when burning in order to ensure the smoke does not endanger public health and safety.

(17) "Fire District" or "District" or "Fire Protection District" means a fire permit issuing agency.

(18) "Fire Permit" means a permit issued by a local fire permit issuing agency pursuant to ORS 477.515, 476.380, or 478.960.

(19) "Fires-Out Time" means the time announced by the Department when all flames and major smoke sources associated with open field burning should be out and prohibition conditions are scheduled to be imposed.

(20) "Fluffing" means an approved mechanical method of stirring or tedding crop residues for enhanced aeration and drying of the full fuel load, thereby improving the field's combustion characteristics.

(21) "Grower" means a person that cultivates perennial or annual grass seed or cereal grain.

(22) "Grower Allocation" means the amount of acreage sub-allocated annually to the grower registrant, based on the grower registrant's pro rata share of the maximum annual acreage limitation, representing the maximum amount for which burning permits may be issued, subject to daily authorization. Grower allocation is defined by the following identity: Grower Allocation = (Maximum annual acreage limit) x ((Total acreage registered by the grower registrant) /(Total acreage registered in the valley))

(23) "Grower Registrant" means any person who registers acreage with the Department for the purposes of open field burning, propane flaming, or receives a permit to stack burn.

(24) "Identified Species" means a grass seed field consisting of Creeping Red Fescue, Chewings Fescue, or Highland Bentgrass, or as identified by the Director of Agriculture.

(25) "Marginal Conditions" means atmospheric conditions such that smoke and particulate matter escape into the upper atmosphere with some difficulty but not such that limited additional smoke and particulate matter would constitute a danger to the public health and safety.

(26) "Marginal Day" means a day on which marginal conditions exist.

(27) "Nephelometer" means an instrument for measuring ambient smoke concentrations.

(28) "Northerly Winds" means winds coming from directions between 270° to 90° in the north part of the compass, averaged through the effective mixing height.

(29) "Open Field Burning" means burning of any grass seed or cereal grain crops, or associated residue, including steep terrain and species identified by the Director of Agriculture, or any "emergency" or "experimental" burning, as identified in these rules.

(30) "Open Field Burning Permit" means a permit issued by the Department pursuant to ORS 468A.575.

(31) "Permit Agent" means the person under contract or otherwise authorized by the Department to administer registration of acreage, issue burn permits, collect fees, and keep records for open field burning, propane flaming, or stack burning within their permit jurisdictions pursuant to ORS 468A.550 et seq.

(32) "Permit Issuing Agency" means the county court or board of county commissioners, or fire chief or a rural fire protection district or other person authorized to issue fire permits pursuant to ORS 477.515, 476.380, or 478.960.

(33) "Person" means, but is not limited to, individuals, corporations, associations, firms, partnerships, joint stock companies, public and municipal corporations, political subdivisions, states and their agencies, and the Federal Government and its agencies.

(34) "Preparatory Burning" means controlled burning of portions of selected fields for the specific purpose of reducing the fire hazard potential or other conditions which would otherwise inhibit rapid ignition burning when the field is subsequently open burned.

(35) "Priority Acreage" means acreage located within a priority area.

(36) "Priority Areas" means certain areas in the Willamette Valley where burning is restricted, such as near population centers, airports, Interstate I-5, and other highways, as specified in 603-077-0119(1).

(37) "Problem Field" means a field where special precautions need to be taken by the grower because of potential fire hazard or proximity to a sensitive area, as specified in OAR 603-077-0119(4).

(38) "Prohibition Conditions" means conditions under which open field burning is not allowed except for individual burns specifically authorized by the Department pursuant to OAR 603-077-0115(2).

(39) "Propane Flaming" means the flame sanitization of a grass seed or cereal grain field using a mobile flamer device which meets the following design specifications and utilizes an auxiliary fuel such that combustion is nearly complete and emissions are significantly reduced:

(a) Flamer nozzles shall not be more than 15 inches apart;

(b) A heat deflecting hood is required and shall extend a minimum of three feet beyond the last row of nozzles.

(40) "Propane Flaming Permit" means a permit issued by the Department pursuant to ORS 468A.575 and consisting of a validation number and specifying the conditions and acreage specifically registered and allocated for propane flaming.

(41) "Quota" means an amount of acreage established by the Department for each fire district for use in authorizing daily burning limits in a manner to provide, as reasonably as practicable, an equitable opportunity for burning in each area.

(42) "Rapid Ignition Techniques" means a method of burning in which all sides of the field are ignited as rapidly as practicable to maximize plume rise. When using this method, little or no preparatory backfire burning shall be done.

(43) "Released Allocation" means that part of a grower's allocation, by registration form, that is unused and voluntarily released to the Department for first come-first serve dispersal to other grower registrants.

(44) "Residue" means straw, stubble, screenings and associated crop material generated in the production of grass seed and cereal grain crops.

(45) "Responsible Person" means each person who is in ownership, control, or custody of the real property on which open field burning occurs, including any tenant thereof, or who is in ownership, control or custody of the material which is burned, or the grower registrant. Each person who causes or allows open field burning, propane flaming, or stack burning to be maintained shall also be considered a responsible person.

(46) "Screenings" means organic waste materials resulting from the seed cleaning process of grass seed and cereal grain.

(47) "Small-Seeded Seed Crops Requiring Flame Sanitation" means small-seeded grass, legume, and vegetable crops, or other types approved by the Department, which are planted in early autumn, are grown specifically for seed production, and which require flame sanitation for proper cultivation. For purposes of this Division, clover and sugar beets are specifically included. Cereal grains, hairy vetch, or field peas are specifically not included.

(48) "Smoke Management" means a system for the daily or hourly control of open field burning, propane flaming, or stack burning through authorization of the times, locations, amounts and other restrictions on burning, so as to provide for suitable atmospheric dispersion of smoke particulate and to minimize impact on the public.

(49) "Southerly Winds" means winds coming from directions between 90° to 270° in the south part of the compass, averaged through the effective mixing height.

(50) "Stack Burning" means the open burning of bound, baled, collected, gathered, accumulated, piled or stacked straw residue from perennial or annual grass seed or cereal grain crops.

(51) "Stack Burning Permit" means a permit issued by the Department pursuant to ORS 468A.575 that identifies the responsible person, date of permit issuance, and specifies the acreage and location authorized for stack burning.

(52) "State Fire Marshal Fire Safety Buffer Zone" means an area within 1/4 mile of Interstate I-5, and 1/8 mile of major highways, that is required to have a noncombustible ground surface, as defined in the State Fire Marshal rules in OAR 837 Division 110.

(53) "Steep Terrain" means a grass seed or cereal grain field defined by Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) and percent slope, as identified by the Director of Agriculture.

(54) "Test Fires" means individual field burns specifically authorized by the Department for the purpose of determining or monitoring atmospheric dispersion conditions.

(55) "Training Fires" means individual field burns set by or for a public agency for the official purpose of training personnel in fire-fighting techniques.

(56) "Unusually High Evaporative Weather Conditions" means a combination of meteorological conditions following periods of rain that result in sufficiently high rates of evaporation, as determined by the Department, where fuel (residue) moisture content would be expected to approach about 12 percent or less.

(57) "Validation Number" is used interchangeably with "Burn Permit" and means:

(a) For open field burning a unique five-part number issued by the Department or its delegate identifying a specific field and acreage allowed to be open field burned and the date and time the permit was issued (e.g., a validation number issued August 26 at 2:30 p.m. for a 70-acre burn for a field registered on Line 2 of registration form number 1953 would be 1953-2-0826-1430-070);

(b) For propane flaming and stack burning a unique five part alphanumerical, issued by the Department or its delegate, identifying a specific field and acreage allowed to be propane flamed or stack burned, the date and time the permit was issued, and the burn type (e.g., a validation number issued on July 15 for a 100 acre field to be propane flamed registered on Line 4 of registration form 9999 would be 9999-4-0715-P-100).

(58) "Ventilation Index (VI)" means a calculated value used as a criterion of atmospheric ventilation capabilities. The Ventilation Index as used in this Division is defined by the following identity: VI = (Effective mixing height (feet))/1,000 x (Average wind speed through the effective mixing height (knots))

(59) "Wildfire" means an uncontrollable fire started due to a breakdown of equipment, an accident, caused by human error or negligence or any other cause, including an intentional act.

(60) "Willamette Valley" means, for the purposes of these rules, Benton, Clackamas, Lane, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Washington, and Yamhill counties.

Or. Admin. Code § 603-077-0105

DOA 2-1998, f. & cert. ef. 3-3-98; DOA 18-2003, f. & cert. ef. 5-15-03; DOA 22-2004, f. & cert. ef. 8-10-04; DOA 10-2009(Temp), f. & cert. ef. 7-15-09 thru 12-1-09; Administrative correction 12-23-09; DOA 12-2010, f. & cert. ef. 7-12-10; DOA 22-2012, f. & cert. ef. 8-1-12

Stat. Auth.: ORS 561.190

Stats. Implemented: ORS 468A.585