UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

REGION IX AIR DIVISION

Technical Support Document 

for 

EPA’s Proposed Rulemaking 

for the 

California State Implementation Plan 

South Coast Air Quality Management District 

Rule 444 - Open Burning 

Prepared by: Rynda Kay 

June 2013 

 

 
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RULE IDENTIFICATION 

Agency: South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) 

SIP Approved Rule: Rule 444 – Open Burning 

Adopted - December 21, 2001 

Submitted - January 22, 2002 

Approved- April 8, 2002 (67 FR 16644) 

Superseded Submittals: There are no previous submittals of this rule since the approved 

2001 version (besides the 2013 version addressed here). The rule 

was revised locally on November 7, 2008.

Subject of this TSD: Rule 444 – Open Burning [excluding subdivision (g)] 

Adopted – May 3, 2013 

Submitted – June 12, 2013 

RULE SUMMARY 

Rule 444 is designed to minimize the impacts of smoke and other air pollutants generated by open 

burning conducted within the South Coast air district. Rule 444 allows open burning on permissive 

burn days, provided a permit and burn authorization is obtained; details the types of open burning 

that can be authorized; sets burn time, moisture-level, and ignition requirements; establishes burn 

plan requirements for prescribed burns; sets daily maximum burn acreage for agricultural and 

prescribed burning; and lists exemptions to rule requirements. Changes from the SIP approved rule 

include the following1: 

· Clarifies exemption language and makes other minor editorial changes to the rule. 

· Adds 15 definitions; amends 8 definitions; 

o Adds – Air Quality Index, Approved Ignition Fuels, Burn Authorization Number, 

Burn Management Plan, Burn Project, Emergency Burn Plan, Field Crop, Heavy 

Fuel, Imminent Fire Hazard, Light Fuel, Mandatory Winter Burning Curtailment, 

Product Testing, Sensitive Receptor Locations, Source/Receptor Area and 

Wildland. 

o Amends – Agricultural Operations, Agricultural Wastes, Approved Ignition 

Devices, Fire Hazard, Marginal Burn Day, No Burn Day, Permissive Burn Day, 

and Prescribed Burn. 

o Deletes – Burn Implementation Plan. 

· Adds a new definition and requirement for no-burn days to include a “Mandatory Winter 

Burning Curtailment” that is consistent with forecast procedures specified by SCAQMD 

Rule 445 – Wood-Burning Devices. 

· Replaces reference to the revoked 1-hour ozone NAAQS forecasts with Air Quality Index 

forecasts to determine permissive, marginal, and no burn days. 

· Adds time requirements for requesting a burn authorization number. 

· Prohibits open burns within 1,000 feet of sensitive receptor locations for agricultural burns 

 

1 Changes from SIP approved rule are discussed in SCAQMD “Final Staff Report for Proposed Amended 

Rule 208- Permit and Burn Authorization for Open Burning and Proposed Amended Rule 444- Open 

Burning,” dated November 7, 2008 & “Final Staff Report for Proposed Amended Rule 445- Wood Burning 

Devices and Proposed Amended Rule 444- Open Burning,” dated May 3, 2013. 
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· Requires the use of untreated wood, charcoal or approved ignition fuels for pyrotechnics, 

used in the creation of special effects for filming. 

· Prohibits completely burning existing structures for fire prevention/suppression training. 

· Requires agricultural wastes from field crops that are green when cut to be dried for 4 

weeks prior to burning. 

· Requires burn management plans for agricultural burn projects, including training burns, 

greater than 10 acres or projects that produce more than one ton of particular matter (PM). 

· Prohibits the transportation of agricultural waste, for the purpose of burning, from one 

property to another unless it is to avoid burning near a sensitive receptor. 

· Requires smoke management plans for fire prevention/suppression training greater than 10 

acres. 

· Requires smoke management plans to be updated annually. 

· Adjusts the allowed maximum daily burn acreage for agricultural and prescribed burning 

to reflect the decrease in the number of burn days in a season (overall emissions stay the 

same). 

· Adds additional record keeping requirements. 

· Adds exemption from receiving burn authorization numbers for training burns and for the 

burning of Russian thistle (tumbleweed). 

· Adds an exemption for open burning as an emergency measure to protect crop from 

freezing and product testing. 

EVALUATION CRITERIA - The following criteria were used to evaluate the submitted rule. 

1. Enforceability - The Bluebook (Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, 

Deficiencies, and Deviations, EPA, May 25, 1988) and the Little Bluebook (Guidance 

Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies, EPA Region 9, 

August 21, 2001) were used to help evaluate compliance with the CAA §110(a)(2)(A) 

requirement for enforceability. 

2. SIP Revisions - CAA §110(l) prohibits EPA from approving any SIP revision that would 

interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and reasonable further 

progress (RFP) or any other applicable requirement of the CAA. In addition, CAA §193 

prohibits the modification of any SIP-approved control requirement in effect before 

November 15, 1990, in a nonattainment area. 

3. Rule Stringency - The Los Angeles - South Coast Air Basin (South Coast) is currently 

designated as a serious non-attainment area for PM10 (40 CFR § 81.305).2 Accordingly, 

SCAQMD is subject to requirements to implement Best Available Control Measures 

(BACM) including Best Available Control Technology (BACT) for PM10 and PM10 

precursors as described in CAA § 189(b) and (e). On April 8, 2002, EPA approved Rule 

444 into the Applicable-SIP as fulfilling BACT/BACM for PM10 (67 FR 16644). We are 

not evaluating Rule 444 for compliance with BACT/BACM requirements in this 

rulemaking. 

 

2 On June 12, 2013, EPA signed a final rule to redesignate the area to attainment for the PM-10 NAAQS, 

which will become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. See “Approval and 

Promulgation of Implementation Plans; Designation of Areas for Air Quality Planning Purposes; California; 

South Coast Air Basin; Approval of PM10 Maintenance Plan and Redesignation to Attainment for the PM10 

Standard,” pre-publication final rule signed June 12, 2013. 
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CAA §172(c)(1) requires nonattainment areas to implement all reasonably available control 

measures (RACM), including such reductions in emissions from existing sources in the 

area as may be obtained through the adoption, at a minimum, of reasonably available 

control technology (RACT), as expeditiously as practicable. The South Coast is currently 

designated as an extreme 1-hr ozone nonattainment area and an extreme 8-hr ozone 

nonattainment area, and is also designated nonattainment for the 1997 annual, 1997 24-

hour, and 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM2.5) standards (40 C.F.R. 81.305). 

Open burning emits direct PM2.5, as well as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and 

oxides of nitrogen (NOx), which are regulated as precursors to PM2.5 and ozone in the 

South Coast. Therefore, SCAQMD must implement RACM for open burning if those 

measures will advance attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) 

for PM2.5 or ozone in the South Coast, when considered collectively with other reasonable 

measures. Additional control measures may be required pursuant to CAA §172(c)(1) if 

both: (1) additional measures are reasonably available; and (2) these additional reasonably 

available measures will advance attainment in the area when considered collectively. 

EPA EVALUATION 

1. Enforceability - The rule requirements and applicability provisions are clear and other 

provisions sufficiently ensure that affected sources and regulators can evaluate and 

determine compliance with Rule 444 consistently. 

2. SIP Revisions - We propose to determine that our approval of the submitted rule would 

comply with CAA §110(l) and CAA §193 because the revisions to Rule 444 all strengthen 

the SIP and, therefore, would not interfere with the on-going process for ensuring that 

requirements for RFP and attainment of the NAAQS are met or modify any SIP-approved 

control requirement in effect before November 15, 1990, in a nonattainment area. 

3. Rule Stringency - EPA reviewed the previous version of Rule 444 in 2002, and approved 

it as meeting requirements for RACM/RACT and BACM/BACT for PM10 at that time 

(67 FR 16644). 

In a comment letter sent by EPA on August 30, 2012 regarding the South Coast Final 

2012 Air Quality Management Plan, we recommended with respect to Rule 444 that “the 

District consider whether a ban on burning specific crops, which have economically and 

technologically feasible alternatives to burning, is reasonable as is done in SJVAPCD 

Rule 4103.”

The District responded, “Regarding the suggestion to prohibit the burning of specific 

agricultural crops where there are alternatives that are technically and economically 

feasible, staff intends to require economically and technologically feasible alternatives to 

burning where possible”.3 No additional requirements banning the burning of specific 

crops were added in the submitted Rule 444. 

With the exception of the provision described above, Rule 444 is generally as stringent as 

or more stringent than analogous rules in other California Districts.4 As necessary, in 

separate rulemakings, EPA will take action on the State’s RACM demonstrations for 

 

3

 See, South Coast Final 2012 Air Quality Management Plan, Response to Comments, page 9 &13. 

4

See, e.g., Bay Area AQMD Regulation 5 (July 9, 2008); Placer County APCD Regulation 3 (February 9, 

2012); San Joaquin Valley Unified AQCD Rule 4103 (April 15, 2010). 
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PM2.5 and ozone based on evaluation of the control measures submitted as a whole and 

their overall potential to advance the applicable attainment dates in the South Coast. See

40 CFR §§ 51.1010, 51.912(d). 

EPA ACTION 

We propose to determine that SCAQMD Rule 444 fulfills the applicable CAA §110 requirements. 

Therefore, under section 110(k) of the CAA, EPA staff recommends full approval of SCAQMD 

Rule 444. 

REFERENCES 

1. SCAQMD Rule 444, SIP-Approved Rule (December 21, 2001) 

2. SCAQMD Rule 444, Locally-Approved Rule (November 7, 2008) 

3. SCAQMD Rule 444, Submitted Rule (April 3, 2013) 

4. “Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations,” (a.k.a., 

Bluebook) EPA OAQPS, May 25, 1988 (web citation). 

5. “Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies,” (a.k.a., 

Little Bluebook), EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 

(http://www.epa.gov/region09/air/sips/littlebluebook2001.pdf) 

6. Final Staff Report, Rule 444 and 445, SCAQMD, April 2013. 

7. Bay Area AQMD Regulation 5 (July 9, 2008). 

8. Placer County APCD Regulation 3 (February 9, 2012). 

9. San Joaquin Valley Unified AQCD Rule 4103 (April 15, 2010).