Section R18-2-1501. Definitions

In addition to the definitions contained in A.R.S. § 49-501 and R18- 2-101, in this Article:

1.        “Activity fuels” means those  fuels  created  by  human activities such as thinning or logging.

2.        “ADEQ” means the Department of Environmental Qual- ity.

3.        “Annual emissions goal” means the annual establishment in cooperation with the F/SLMs, under R18-2-1503(G), of a planned quantifiable value of emissions reduction from prescribed fires and fuels management activities.

4.        “Burn plan” means the ADEQ form that includes infor- mation on the conditions under which a burn will occur with details of the burn and smoke management prescrip- tions.

5.        “Burn prescription” means, with regard to a burn project, the pre-determined  area, fuel, and  weather conditions required to attain planned resource management objec- tives.

6.        “Burn project” means an active or planned prescribed burn, including a wildland fire use incident.

7.        “Duff” means forest floor material consisting of decom- posing needles and other natural materials.

8.        “Emission reduction techniques (ERT)” means methods for controlling emissions from prescribed fires to mini- mize the amount of emission output per unit of area burned.

9.        “Federal land manager (FLM)” means any department, agency, or agent of the federal government, including the following:

a.         United States Forest Service,

b.        United States Fish and Wildlife Service,

c.         National Park Service,

d.        Bureau of Land Management,

e.         Bureau of Reclamation,

f.         Department of Defense,

g.        Bureau of Indian Affairs, and

h.        Natural Resources Conservation Service.

10.     “F/SLM” means a federal land manager or a state land manager.

11.     “Local fire management officer” means a person desig- nated by a F/SLM as responsible for fire management in a local district or area.

12.     “Mop-up” means the act of extinguishing or removing burning material from a prescribed fire to reduce smoke impacts.

13.     “National Wildfire Coordinating Group” means the national inter-agency group of federal and state land man- agers that shares similar wildfire suppression programs

and has established standardized inter-agency  training courses and qualifications for fire management positions.

14.     “Non-burning alternatives to fire” means techniques that replace fire for at least five years as a means to treat activ- ity fuels created to achieve a particular land management objective (e.g., reduction of fuel-loading, manipulation of fuels, enhancement of wildlife habitat, and ecosystem restoration). These alternatives are not used in conjunc- tion with fire. Techniques used in conjunction with fire are referred to as emission reduction techniques (ERTs).

15.     “Planned resource management objectives” means public interest goals in  support  of  land  management  agency objectives including silviculture, wildlife habitat manage- ment, grazing enhancement, fire hazard reduction, wil- derness management, cultural scene maintenance, weed abatement, watershed rehabilitation, vegetative manipu- lation, and disease and pest prevention.

16.     “Prescribed burning” means the controlled application of fire to wildland fuels that are in either a natural or modi- fied state, under certain burn and smoke management prescription conditions that have been specified by the land manager in charge of or assisting the burn, to attain planned resource management objectives. Prescribed burning does not include a fire set or permitted by a pub- lic officer to provide instruction in fire fighting methods, or construction or residential burning under R18-2-602.

17.     “Prescribed fire manager” means a person designated by a F/SLM as responsible for prescribed burning for that land manager.

18.     “Smoke management prescription” means the predeter- mined meteorological conditions that affect smoke trans- port and dispersion under which a burn could occur without adversely affecting public health and welfare.

19.     “Smoke management techniques (SMT)” means manage- ment and dispersion practices used during a prescribed burn or wildland fire use incident which affect the direc- tion, duration, height, or density of smoke.

20.     “Smoke management unit” means any of the geographic areas defined by ADEQ whose area is based on primary watershed boundaries and whose outline is determined by diurnal windflow patterns that allow smoke to follow pre- dictable drainage patterns. A map of the state divided into the smoke management units is on file with ADEQ.

21.     “State land manager (SLM)” means any department, agency, or political subdivision of the state government including the following:

a.         State Land Department,

b.        Department of Transportation,

c.         Department of Game and Fish, and

d.        Parks Department.

22.     “Wildfire” means an unplanned wildland fire subject to appropriate control measures. Wildfires include those incidents where suppression may be limited for safety, economic, or resource concerns.

23.     “Wildland fire use” means a wildland fire that is ignited by natural causes, such as lightning, and is managed using the same controls and for the same planned resource management objectives as prescribed burning.

Historical Note

Adopted effective October 8, 1996 (Supp. 96-4).

Amended by final rulemaking at 10 A.A.R. 388, effective March 16, 2004 (Supp. 04-1).