Chapter 70.94 RCW, the Washington Clean Air Act, declares it is the intent of the state to protect public health and it is the policy of the state that the responsibilities and costs of protecting the air resource and operating state and local air pollution control programs be shared as equitably as possible among all sources whose emissions cause air pollution. Some of the sources whose emissions contribute to air pollution in the state include industrial sources (large and small), mobile sources such as vehicles, and area sources such as woodstoves, general outdoor burning, and agricultural burning. A variety of strategies to control and reduce the impact of emissions are described throughout chapter 70.94 RCW, including controls on emissions created from agricultural burning. The act intends that public health be protected and also allows for agricultural burning that is reasonably necessary. The act also requires that burning be restricted and regulated to address the potentially competing goals of both limiting air pollution and allowing agricultural burning. Chapter 70.94 RCW authorizes the Washington state department of ecology (ecology) and local air authorities to implement the provisions of that act related to agricultural burning. This rule establishes control strategies for agricultural burning in the state to minimize adverse health and the environmental effects from agricultural burning in accord with the most reasonable procedures to follow in safeguarding life and property under all circumstances or is reasonably necessary to carry out the enterprise or both. These strategies include:

(1) Establishing a permit program with minimum statewide requirements and specific burn authorizations.

(2) Providing for implementation of a research program to explore and identify economical and practical alternatives to agricultural burning.

(3) Encouraging and developing economically feasible alternative methods to agricultural burning.

(4) Limiting the scope of the rule to agricultural burning and distinguishing between agricultural burning and other types of burning.

(5) Providing for local administration of the permitting program through delegation.

(6) Assessing air quality within a region and incorporating this data into an evaluation tailored to emissions from agricultural burning.

(7) Making use of metering as a component of the agricultural burning permit program. Metering is a technique of limiting emissions from agricultural burning at specific times and places by taking into account potential emission rates, forecasted weather (dispersion), and current and projected air quality.

(8) Using improved and proven technology in evaluating the conditions under which burning is authorized, including those related to meteorology, emissions, and air pollution.

(9) Providing for education and communication.