[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to silvicultural burning; and amending RCW 70.94.670.

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

Sec. 1. RCW 70.94.670 and 1991 c 199 s 405 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department of natural resources in granting burning permits for fires for the purposes set forth in RCW 70.94.660 shall condition the issuance and use of such permits to comply with air quality standards established by the department of ecology after full consultation with the department of natural resources. Such burning shall not cause the state air quality standards to be exceeded in the ambient air up to two thousand feet above ground level over critical areas designated by the department of ecology, otherwise subject to air pollution from other sources. Air quality standards shall be established and published by the department of ecology which shall also establish a procedure for advising the department of natural resources when and where air contaminant levels exceed or threaten to exceed the ambient air standards over such critical areas. The air quality shall be quantitatively measured by the department of ecology or the appropriate local air pollution control authority at established monitoring stations over such designated areas. Further, such permitted burning shall not cause damage to public health or the environment. All permits issued under this section shall be subject to all applicable fees, permitting, penalty, and enforcement provisions of this chapter. The department of natural resources shall set forth smoke dispersal objectives designed consistent with this section to minimize any air pollution from such burning and the procedures necessary to meet those objectives.

(2) Upon receiving a request or application to conduct silvicultural burning, the department of natural resources shall promptly transmit to the department of ecology a copy or record of the request or application. The department of ecology shall promptly transmit a copy of the request or application to each local air pollution control authority within the jurisdictional boundaries of which the burning would be conducted and to each local air pollution control authority a jurisdictional boundary of which is within seventy-five miles of the proposed burning.

(3) The department of natural resources shall encourage more intense utilization in logging and alternative silviculture practices to reduce the need for burning. The department of natural resources shall, whenever practical, encourage landowners to develop and use alternative acceptable disposal methods subject to the following priorities: ((~~(1)~~)) (a) Slash production minimization, ((~~(2)~~)) (b) slash utilization, ((~~(3)~~)) (c) nonburning disposal, ((~~(4)~~)) (d) silvicultural burning. Such alternative methods shall be evaluated as to the relative impact on air, water, and land pollution, public health, and their financial feasibility.

(4)(a) The department of natural resources shall not issue burning permits and shall revoke previously issued permits at any time in any area where the department of ecology or local board has declared a stage of impaired air quality as defined in RCW 70.94.473. The department of natural resources shall not issue burning permits for silvicultural burning conducted on publicly owned or managed land during a calendar year if the department of ecology or an air pollution control authority requires agricultural burning for cereal grain or grass or turf seed production to be reduced or eliminated during that calendar year when compared to the total of such agricultural burning during any other calendar year.

(b) If the department of natural resources determines that the circumstances identified in (a) of this subsection do not require that a request or application for a permit for silvicultural burning be denied, but the department of ecology or a local air pollution control authority transmitted a copy of the request or application under subsection (2) of this section determines to the contrary, the department of ecology or authority shall immediately notify the department of natural resources of its determination and the request or application for the permit shall be denied or, if already issued, revoked.