Burning

Burning has been a long-time contributor to air pollution in our area. Historically, burning throughout the county has resulted in numerous complaints to the District concerning impacts on public health, odors, and visual pollution. To further protect the public’s health, efforts are being made at the state and local level to work with residents and members of the agricultural community to reduce the amount of burning and to better manage smoke from burning practices.

Changes have been made to the requirements for many different types of burning.

Burn day forecasting for both residential and agricultural burning has recently changed to a 2-zone system that will allow the inland and coastal areas to have separate and more accurate forecasts. Click on the thumbnail image below to view a larger image of the Burn Zone map.  Please note, the city of Atascadero is located entirely within the inland burn zone.

Click on the thumbnail image below to view a detail image of the burn zones in the Huasna area.

The California Air Resources Board, California Department of Forestry (CDF) and the APCD designate permissive burn days. Call the CDF Burn Line at (800) 834-2876 to find out if the current day is a permissive burn day in your zone.

Residential Burning

The APCD took steps to phase-out non-agricultural backyard burning of green waste in developed areas of the county. More

Agricultural Burning

Agricultural burning is the use of fire for vegetation management of agricultural fields and orchards. Prescribed burning is the use of fire for management of wildlands, like rangelands and forests.  District Rule 502 and the California Air Resources Board (ARB) Title 17 (Smoke Management Guidelines) for Agricultural and Prescribed Burning give burners directions on how to burn properly and the requirements for burning.  More

Regular Agricultural Burn Permits
Starting January 1, 2006 Regular Agricultural Burn Permits are required prior to conducting any burning.  There is a one-time permit cost of $10 per year, payable in advance to the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District (APCD).  Up to 100 tons of material can be burned using the Regular Agricultural Burn Permit.  Applications for Regular Agricultural Burn Permits are available at any CDF station and from the APCD.  Postage paid envelopes are included.

Smoke Management Plans
Larger burns must use the Smoke Management Plan permit application form only available from the APCD.  These larger burns also have permit fees.  Fees are based on the amount of acreage burned or stacked/ piled material burned.  The fee schedule is as follows:

Fee	Description of Material
$10	For up to 10 acres or up to 100 tons of  material
$50 - $75	For over 10 acres or at least 100 tons or more of material
$100	For over 250 acres and over 1,000 tons of material

Disease and pest control burns are exempt from all burn permit fees.

Developmental Burning

Developmental Burning is the burning of vegetation, tree stumps, etc. that are grown on property being developed for commercial or residential uses. As of February 25, 2000 developmental burning is no longer allowed in San Luis Obispo County. If no alternatives to burning are available, limited developmental burning under severe restrictions may be allowed. This will require application to the APCD, payment of a fee based upon the size of the project, APCD approval, and issuance of a permit by the APCD and the local fire department authority.

Burning of Household Waste

Smoke and ash generated through the burning of household waste (e.g., garbage and rubbish) may contain many toxic air contaminants, including dioxin. Exposure to these pollutants can cause respiratory ailments, stressed immune systems and cancer. These pollutants often travel long distances and may contaminate air, water, food and soil. Unfortunately, the toxins can remain in the environment for many years. Children are often more susceptible than adults to the health impacts of these air contaminants. To increase awareness of the potential public health impacts of burning household waste, the APCD, in cooperation with the ARB, has prepared a Fact Sheet.

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) recently enacted a statewide regulation that will prohibit burning of household waste, including paper and cardboard, to minimize toxic air contaminants generated during the burning of such material. More

Locally, the APCD will begin enforcing a prohibition on Residential Waste burning in burn barrels on January 1, 2004. After January 1, 2004, burn barrel burning of household waste will prohibited throughout most of the county, and will only allowed in the exempt areas with a burn permit issued by the local California Department of Forestry (CDF). Burning of products containing rubber, plastic, tar, creosote or hydrocarbons in burn barrels is never allowed in the county. More

Permitting

Burn permits are required for the following:

All burning permits listed above are issued by the Air Pollution Control District, except as indicated for agricultural burning. The California Department of Forestry (CDF) also requires a permit for all types of burning.

If smoke or flying ash produced while burning becomes a nuisance, the burn permit may be revoked.

Contact us for more information on this topic.

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