Section R18-2-1510. Smoke Management Techniques

A.      Each F/SLM conducting a prescribed burn shall implement as many Smoke Management Techniques as are feasible subject to economic, technical, and safety feasibility criteria, and land management objectives.

B.       Smoke management techniques include:

1.        Burning from March 15 through September 15, when meteorological conditions allow for good smoke disper- sion;

2.        Igniting burns under good-to-excellent ventilation condi- tions;

3.        Suspending operations under poor smoke dispersion con- ditions;

4.        Considering smoke impacts on local community activi- ties and land users;

5.        Burning piles when other burns are not feasible, such as when snow or rain is present;

6.        Using mass ignition techniques such as aerial ignition by helicopter to produce high intensity fires with short dura- tion impacts;

7.        Using all opportunities that meet the burn prescription and all burn locations to spread smoke impacts over a broader time period and geographic area;

8.        Burning during optimum mid-day dispersion hours, with all ignitions in a burn unit completed by 3:00 p.m. to pre- vent trapping smoke in inversions or diurnal windflow patterns;

9.        Providing information on the adverse impacts of using green or wet wood as fuel when public firewood access is allowed;

10.     Implementing maintenance burning in a periodic rotation to shorten prescribed fire duration and to reduce exces- sive fuel accumulations that could result in excessive smoke production in a wildfire; and

11.     Using wildland fire-use strategies to shift smoke into more favorable smoke dispersion seasons.

Historical Note

Adopted effective October 8, 1996 (Supp. 96-4). Former Section R18-2-1510 renumbered to R18-2-1511; new R18-2-1510 made by final rulemaking at 10 A.A.R. 388, effective March 16, 2004 (Supp. 04-1).