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Compliance Advisory

January 18, 2013

Under-fired Charbroilers: Upcoming Requirements 

This Advisory is provided to inform you about activities of the Air District which may affect your 

operation. It is intended to assist you in your effort to achieve and maintain compliance with 

applicable air pollutions regulations.

ATTENTION: RESTAURANT OWNERS AND OPERATORS

SUBJECT: REQUIREMENTS FOR RESTAURANTS WITH UNDER-FIRED 

CHARBROILERS

Effective January 1, 2013, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s (Air District) 

Regulation 6, Rule 2: Commercial Cooking Equipment, requires any restaurant that 

operates an under-fired charbroiler(s) with an aggregate grill size of 10 square feet (ft2) or 

more, that purchases 1000 pounds or more of beef per week and that cooks 800 

pounds or more of beef per week on the charbroiler, to take all of the following actions:

1. Register the charbroiler with the District at http://registration.baaqmd.gov/. At the 

time of registration, you will be required to pay a registration fee of $421 and an 

annual renewal fee of $117, thereafter.

2. Install an emission control device (e.g. afterburner, scrubber) that is certified by the 

control device manufacturer to comply with the Air District regulation. To be certified, 

the control device must satisfy the emissions standards in Section 302.

3. Keep records at the restaurant that contain the following information and retain each 

record for 5 years:

 Date of installation for any emission control device (Section 502.1).

 Date of installation of any under-fired charbroiler installed on or after January 1, 

2008 (Section 502.2).

 All maintenance, preventative maintenance, breakdown repair and cleaning 

performed on the emission control device including the date, time and 

description of work (Section 502.3).

Exemption: A restaurant need not comply with the above requirements if it purchases less 

than 1000 lbs of beef per week or if it grills on the under-fired charbroiler less than 800 lbs

of beef per week, provided the restaurant maintains records documenting the amount of 

beef grilled per week.

NOTE: At the present time, there are no certified control devices available in the Bay 

Area. However, testing of several control devices is in process. The Air District will post 

certified devices on our website as soon as they are available. Due to this delay, the Air 

District will allow a reasonable period of time for compliance. Restaurants subject to the 

rule must still register their charbroiler(s) by January 1, 2013. 
Compliance Advisory January 18, 2013

Under-fired Charbroilers:Upcoming Requirements Page 2 

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Charbroilers produce air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 

particulate matter (PM). VOCs react with other compounds in the atmosphere to form 

ground-level ozone, commonly called smog. PM consists of fine particles that are equal to 

or less than 10 microns in diameter, commonly referred to as PM10. Both VOCs and PM10

present significant public health risks. 

More information can be obtained from the following sources: 

 For a copy of the rule, see www.baaqmd.gov/rules.

 For questions about this advisory, contact Jeannette Lim, Supervising Air Quality 

Inspector at jlim@baaqmd.gov or (415) 749-4981.

 For registration assistance, call the Engineering Division at (415) 749-4990.

 For compliance assistance, call the Compliance Counselor Hotline at 

(415) 749-4999.

Wayne Kino

Director of Compliance and Enforcement