BILL REQ. #:  S-1859.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/14/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to use of solid fuel burning devices during impaired air quality conditions; amending RCW 70.94.473; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 70.94.473 and 2005 c 197 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any person in a residence or commercial establishment which has an adequate source of heat without burning wood shall:
     (a) Not burn wood in any solid fuel burning device whenever the department has determined under RCW 70.94.715 that any air pollution episode exists in that area;
     (b) Not burn wood in any solid fuel burning device except those which are either Oregon department of environmental quality phase II or United States environmental protection agency certified or certified by the department under RCW 70.94.457(1) or a pellet stove either certified or issued an exemption by the United States environmental protection agency in accordance with Title 40, Part 60 of the code of federal regulations, in the geographical area and for the period of time that a first stage of impaired air quality has been determined, by the department or any authority, for that area. A first stage of impaired air quality is reached when:
     (i) Fine particulates are at an ambient level of thirty-five micrograms per cubic meter measured on a twenty-four hour average; and
     (ii) Forecasted meteorological conditions are not expected to allow levels of fine particulates to decline below thirty-five micrograms per cubic meter for a period of forty-eight hours or more from the time that the fine particulates are measured at the trigger level; and
     (c) Not burn wood in any solid fuel burning device in a geographical area and for the period of time that a second stage of impaired air quality has been determined by the department or any authority, for that area. A second stage of impaired air quality is reached when:
     (i) A first stage of impaired air quality has been in force and not been sufficient to reduce the increasing fine ((particle [particulate])) particulate pollution trend;
     (ii) Fine particulates are at an ambient level of sixty micrograms per cubic meter measured on a twenty-four hour average; and
     (iii) Forecasted meteorological conditions are not expected to allow levels of fine particulates to decline below sixty micrograms per cubic meter for a period of forty-eight hours or more from the time that the fine particulates are measured at the trigger level.
     (2) Until June 30, 2009, an authority comprised of one county east of the Cascade mountains with a population of equal to or greater than four hundred thousand people, may determine by rule an alternative ambient air level of fine particulates that defines when a first stage and when a second stage of impaired air quality exists under subsection (1) of this section. All other criteria of subsection (1) of this section continue to apply.
     (3) Actions of the department and local air pollution control authorities under this section shall preempt actions of other state agencies and local governments for the purposes of controlling air pollution from solid fuel burning devices, except where authorized by chapter 199, Laws of 1991.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The legislature finds that there are communities in the state that may exceed recently adopted lower national ambient air quality standards for fine particulate and that wood smoke emissions from solid fuel burning devices are a source of fine particulate.
     (2) The department of ecology shall prepare a report to the governor and the appropriate committees of the senate and house of representatives by December 1, 2007, with recommendations that may include statutory or regulatory changes, incentives, and other strategies that will reduce wood smoke where it is likely to contribute to nonattainment with the new national ambient air quality standards for fine particulates in Washington state. In preparing its report, the department of ecology shall seek input from all regional air quality agencies, the state department of health, local health departments, and the hearth products industries.