Posted on 11/01/2008 10:45:54 AM PDT by SmithL
Bay Area residents who violate a new ban on burning wood fires on chilly Spare the Air nights could face some of the toughest fines in California — hundreds or even thousands of dollars per violation.
Effective today with the start of the burn season, the new Bay Area rule bars people from burning wood fires in fireplaces and wood stoves on bad air nights. The rule also bars excessive smoke from indoors fires any time of year.
Offenders — to be identified largely by neighbors phoning in complaints — will get written warnings for the first offense. But subsequent violations can be punished with fines of hundreds or even thousands of dollars, said managers at the nine-county Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
Fines in the Bay Area are not fixed, unlike in Sacramento, Fresno, Stockton and Los Angeles where the initial penalty is $50 or attendance at a smoke education class.
Bay Area pollution regulators said they expect their fines likely will be significantly higher.
The exact amount will be determined on a case-by-case assessment of several criteria set out in the state health and safety code. Those include the severity of the smoke, the impact on neighbors, the number of complaints and a violator's ability to pay fines — the same issues weighed in fining an oil refinery for a chemical release.
"We're not out to catch people by surprise," said Brian Bunger, the air district's general counsel, "but we want to protect people's health from the health effects of wood smoke on a few very cold nights when the problem is most severe."
The Bay Area typically gets about 20 nights a year on average when cold weather temperature inversions trap smoke near the ground, triggering Spare the Air alerts not to burn. Fires are allowed other nights.
Air district mangers said a $50 fine isn't enough to deter repeat offenders whose burning on bad air nights exposes neighbors to soot particles that can trigger asthma attacks, other lung and heart problems, and eye and throat irritation.
During air district public meetings the past two years, several Bay Area residents grumbled they could get no relief when neighbors persistently burned unseasoned wood, paper or other smoke-prone fuels.
"Smoke is a serious health issue," said Jack Broadbent, the air district's chief executive officer. The vast majority of people will follow the rule, but "a small percentage" may not, he said.
Critics of the rule say the air district should not regulate fires in homes. "In a time when people are being laid off, losing their homes and their 401(k)s, now they want to fine us for having a fire to heat our homes," said Bob Moore of El Sobrante.
Broadbent said the fines will be set to match the severity of the problem. If a homeowner burned while knowing the smoke aggravated a neighboring child's asthma, fines could be "in the thousands of dollars." On the other hand, some offenders might get little or no fine if the circumstances merited, he added.
The air district will rely heavily on public complaints to identify illegal burners, but the violations must be observed by district inspectors, officials said.
In Los Angeles, burning fines will be $50 for a first offense, $150 for a second and $500 for a third. Fines in Fresno range from $50 for a first offense to a maximum of $1,000. In Sacramento, fines are $50 for a first violation, but set on a case-by-case basis for subsequent violations.
That is too funny.... : )
Yep. I think these might be the people who think those Glade scents labeled ‘Country Air’ or whatever think that’s actually what it smells like.
Nope, it’s smoke, rotting trees, damp earth and maybe some newly fertilized fields thrown in. THOSE are the scents of Country Air. I guess our senses just too unsophisticated. ;)
LOL - Good idea.
This is sad as I LOVE wood fires. I knew it was coming though and have a regular fireplace with the option for gas and have hooked up a cool modern fireball situation with a burning pan. Very hip. Very fun to burn. I hate liberals. I would burn wood if I wanted and take the fine.
You make it sound so dreamy L0L
Hehehehe.
On the day of the big quake, the fires will return to the homes as the gas lines rupture, catch fire and then burn the houses to the ground. There will be no fine however. There will be no fire police to catch the miscreants.
The USA is overpopulated.
And so long as population growth continues, rules like this fireplace ban will be made in your neighborhood.
The good news is there’s simple cure to our runaway population growth: end illegal and END LEGAL immigration.
Had we ended LEGAL immigration 40 years ago, we’d have half as many citizens today, and twice as much resources—like twice as much fresh air.
You will note that there were no fireplace bans 40 years ago, when those areas were less populated.
Anyplace where I cannot freely burn wood in my fireplace, is uninhabitable as far as I’m concerned.
We get "Dairy Air" (intentional double entendre) where I live, and it doesn't smell like hot chocolate milk.
I say good on them. All their bad air flows straight west into the San Joaquin Valley making the air here some of the worse in the country.
......The USA is overpopulated......
I think you need to get out more often. Perhaps to Kansas or the vast unpopulated areas of west Tennessee, Texas or on and on and on.
Start on I40 in Wilmington NC and drive to Barstow CA and then say that again after about 4 days on the fantastic American road.
Oh, but it’s okay for;
1) gay marraige
2) marijauna clubs
3) Prostitution
Feel free to add to the list
I don’t think we should wait for them to secede from the union, they need to be kicked out. Cancer gets cutout before it spreads.
Insanity alert.
We live in a campfire camping region.
It is one of the reasons I built our home here.
LOVE the smell of a campfire burning and the view of the ocean in a rainforrest.
I had to stop and throw another log on the fire before posting.
In Washington state they instituted a “narc on your neighbor” phone line to tattle on suspected HOV violators. I’ve made it a point to call at least a couple of times a month to report the license numbers of police cars, ambulances, the mayor, and anyone else who I can think of as violators.
They are obliged to spend their resources investigating every complaint (or so they say), so I’m just doing my part to make waste their manpower and their budget.
As far as I’m concerned, this sort of nanny-state nonsense is fair game for sabotage.
****Burn coal instead ... it doesn’t appear to be specifically prohibited, and the smell .... mmmmmmmm, that rich sulfur smell will really get the neighbors’ attention.****
I remember reading of an English king who hanged a peasant for burning coal.
I absolutely agree. I am a Montana girl and wood fires and life are synonymous. :-D. I like the new fun, toys when it comes to fireplaces, but the smell of wood burning and the site of it are a pure passion for me. When there is high fire danger from lack of rain, I will respect that, but a liberal ban is unacceptable in my opinion. I agree with you 100%.
Bituminous or anthracite?
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