Or. Admin. Code § 629-048-0150

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

Section 629-048-0150 - Criteria for Future Listing of Smoke Sensitive Receptor Areas

To ensure continued accomplishment of the Smoke Management Plan objectives, additional SSRAs may be listed according to the following procedures:

(1) Not more than once per calendar year, the board must consider additional SSRA listings if:

(a) ODF recommends consideration of a community for SSRA listing based on observations of repeated smoke incidents as described in section (5) of this rule;

(b) DEQ recommends consideration of a community for SSRA listing based on evidence of airborne particulate concentrations in the community at levels that make periodic NAAQS exceedances a significant possibility; or

(c) The governing body of a city, or county for an unincorporated area, requests by official action consideration of a community for SSRA listing, and cites the reasons for its request upon:

(A) The occurrence of a smoke incident as described in section (5) of this rule lasting more than four hours; or

(B) Repeated smoke incidents as described in section (5) of this rulein the same calendar year.

(2) When considering whether to list a community as an SSRA, the board shall evaluate the evidence presented to it, including any information received at one or more public meetings.

(a) Specifically, the board shall consider information regarding:

(A) The frequency, duration and magnitude of smoke incidents;

(B) Population of the community;

(C) The results, if any, of mechanical or systematic monitoring of airborne particulate concentrations, or other verifiable information regarding existing air quality problems in the community under consideration;

(D) The nature and performance of any local programs addressing airborne particulate concentrations;

(E) Recent trends in, and future plans for, prescribed burning activity on surrounding forestlands;

(F) Any local topographic or meteorological effects that may influence the frequency, duration or magnitude of smoke incidents;

(G) Evaluation of the local and regional effect that listing the community as an SSRA will have on the Smoke Management Plan's objectives of maintaining air quality and accomplishing necessary prescribed burning;

(H) The reasons cited in a request received under subsection (1)(c) of this rule;

(I) The joint recommendations of the department and DEQ regarding whether the community should be listed and why; and

(J) Any other information that is relevant to accomplishing the objectives of the Smoke Management Plan.

(b) If joint recommendations are not achieved under paragraph (2)(a)(I) above, the department shall prepare a report for the board detailing any differences in recommendations and its explanations for the differences.

(3) After considering the evidence presented to it, except as provided in section (4) of this rule, the board may take any one of the following actions:

(a) Reject the recommendation or request;

(b) Acknowledge that smoke incidents have occurred, but direct the department to pursue an alternate course of further information gathering, monitoring, operational modifications or other efforts aimed at reducing the likelihood of continuing smoke incidents; or

(c) Accept the recommendation or request by defining the applicable boundaries of the community to be listed, directing the department to begin treating the community as an SSRA and following a timely process to amend OAR 629-048-0140 accordingly.

(4)

(a) The board's choice of actions shall be limited to those described in either subsections (b) or (c) of this section, if it finds that all of the following circumstances exist:

(A) The community proposed for listing has incurred repeated smoke incidents as described in section (5) of this rule;

(B) The community is a city with a population in excess of 10,000 within the incorporated city limits, according to the most recently published population estimate of the Population Research Center, Portland State University; and

(C) There is a likelihood of continuing frequent use of prescribed burning as a forest management activity on forestland within 30 miles of the city limits.

(b) For communities with no air quality monitoring data, the board may delay a final action determining whether to list the community as an SSRA if monitoring equipment is installed in the community to gather information leading to a final determination; or

(c) The board may define the applicable boundaries of the community to be listed, direct the department to begin treating the community as an SSRA and follow a timely process to amend OAR 629-048-0140 accordingly.

(5) "Repeated smoke incidents" as used in this rule refers to two or more smoke incidentsthat meet or exceed the level of a smoke intrusionin one calendar year.

Or. Admin. Code § 629-048-0150

DOF 4-2007, f. 12-31-07, cert. ef. 1-1-08; DOF 1-2019, amend filed 02/15/2019, effective 3/1/2019

Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 477.013, 477.562, 526.016 & 526.041

Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 477.013, 477.515 & 477.562