UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

REGION IX AIR DIVISION

Technical Support Document 

for

EPA’s Rulemaking

for the

California State Implementation Plan

Butte County Air Quality Management District’s Rule 300

Open Burning Requirements, Prohibitions and Exemptions

Prepared by: Kevin Gong

June 20, 2016
1

RULE IDENTIFICATION 

Agency Butte County Air Quality Management District (BCAQMD)

SIP Approved 

Rule

Rule 300 – Open Burning Requirements, Prohibitions and 

Exemptions

Amended – February 24, 2011

Submitted - September 21, 2012

EPA Action- Limited Approval and Limited Disapproval, July 8, 

2015 (80 FR 38966)

Subject of this 

TSD

Rule 300 – Open Burning Requirements, Prohibitions and 

Exemptions

Amended – August 27, 2015

Submitted - March 11, 2016

Completeness 

Finding

Determination of Completeness letter: April 19, 2016

RULE SUMMARY 

Rule 300 is designed to minimize the impacts of smoke and other air pollutants 

generated by open burning conducted within Butte County and to assure that it is 

managed consistent with state and federal law. Rule 300 allows open burning on 

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

that can be authorized; sets burn hours, drying-time, and ignition requirements; 

establishes burn plan requirements for prescribed burns; limits burn acreage for 

agricultural burning; and lists exemptions to rule requirements. 

Changes from the approved SIP rule include the following:

1. Expand the definition of “Open Burning” to also include Open Outdoor Fires or 

Open Fires as used in this rule at 5.31.

2. Remove the definition for “Variance” at 5.53 and renumber subsequent terms 

accordingly.

3. Remove the option to burn garbage under a variance at 6.5.

4. Remove the option for the APCO to waive drying times at 8.24. 

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The following criteria were used to evaluate the submitted rule. 
2

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. Stringency: Open burning emits particulate matter (PM), including particulate 

matter of ten microns or less (PM10) and particulate matter of 2.5 microns or less 

(PM2.5) directly, as well as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and oxides of 

nitrogen (NOx), which are precursors to ozone and PM2.5.

BCAQMD regulates an ozone nonattainment area, which is classified as Marginal 

under the 1997 and 2008 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for 

ozone (40 CFR § 81.305). CAA §182(a) exempts ozone nonattainment areas 

classified as marginal from the requirement to submit an attainment 

demonstration. Because EPA interprets the reasonably available control measures 

(RACM) requirement of CAA §172(c)(1) in the context of the requirement to 

demonstrate attainment as expeditiously as practicable, EPA does not require 

marginal areas to meet the RACM test (77 FR 28438; 78 FR 34196). Therefore, 

BCAQMD is not required to implement RACM for ozone.

BCAQMD is currently designated attainment for PM10 (40 CFR § 81.305). 

Accordingly, BCAQMD is not subject to the requirement to implement RACM or 

Best Available Control Measures (BACM) for PM10 and PM10 precursors in CAA§ 

189(b) and (e). Therefore, we are not evaluating Rule 300 for compliance with 

RACM or BACM requirements with respect to PM10.

Effective December 14, 2009, EPA designated the Chico nonattainment area, in 

Butte County, which is under BCAQMD jurisdiction, as nonattainment for the 2006 

24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS (74 FR 58688, November 13, 2009). As a result, the area was 

required to implement RACM for PM2.5. On September 10, 2013 (78 FR 55225), 

EPA issued a determination that the area had attained the 2006 24-hour PM2.5

standard based on complete, quality-assured, and certified ambient air monitoring 

data for the 2010–2012 monitoring period. Under EPA's Clean Data Policy and the 

regulations that embody it (40 CFR 51.1004(c) for PM2.5), an EPA determination 

that an area is attaining the relevant standard suspends the area's obligations to 

submit RACM for as long as the area continues to attain. Therefore, BCAQMD is 

not currently required to implement RACM for PM2.5. If the Chico nonattainment 

area is redesignated to attainment, RACM requirements for PM2.5 will no longer 

apply.

3. SIP Relaxation: 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. 
3

In addition, CAA §193 prohibits the modification of any SIP-approved control 

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

EPA EVALUATION 

A summary of our evaluation of the three criteria follows.

1. EPA finalized a limited approval and limited disapproval of the current SIPapproved version of Rule 300 at 80 FR 38966. EPA finalized the limited approval 

because we found that most of the provisions and requirements of the rule were 

sufficiently enforceable. However, two instances of Air Pollution Control Officer 

(APCO) discretion (allowing the burning of garbage under discretionary variance at 

6.5, and allowing discretion to waive drying times at 8.24) did not meet 

enforceability criteria, and precluded full approval of the rule. These provisions 

allowed the APCO to independently interpret the SIP without explicit and 

replicable procedures within the rule to define how the discretion is exercised in 

order to assure equivalent emission reductions, and without explicit approval of 

such discretion provisions by the EPA. As a result, EPA also finalized a limited 

disapproval which triggered sanctions and Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) 

clocks.

BCAQMD’s new submittal was submitted in response to these EPA-identified 

deficiencies. The new rule language removes these instances of APCO discretion, 

resolving the previous enforceability concerns. As a result, Rule 300’s 

requirements and applicability now ensure that sources and regulators can 

evaluate and determine compliance consistently.

2. As noted above, BCAQMD is not currently required to implement RACM for PM2.5.

EPA’s Technical Support Document (TSD) assessing the previous version of this rule 

found that this rule was generally as stringent as other California District rules for 

this category, but that “some areas were implementing more stringent 

requirements that may be technologically and economically feasible for 

implementation in Butte County.”1 We recommend reviewing the other 

recommendations made in that TSD for implementation in the next revision of this 

rule.

3. We propose to determine that our approval of the submittal would comply with 

CAA §§110(l) and 193 because (1) the proposed SIP revision would not interfere 

with the on-going process for ensuring that requirements for RFP and attainment 

of the NAAQS are met, and (2) the emission limits in the submitted rule are more 

 

1 “Technical Support Document for EPA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the California State 

Implementation Plan, Butte County Air Quality Management District Rule 300, Open Burning, Prohibitions 

and Exemptions,” Prepared by Rynda Kay, October 2014.
4

stringent than the existing SIP-approved control requirements that they would 

replace.

EPA ACTION

The submitted Rule 300 strengthens the SIP by resolving previously identified 

deficiencies. The rule largely fulfils the relevant CAA §110 and part D requirements. 

Therefore, EPA staff recommends approval of Rule 300 pursuant to CAA §110(k)(3) and 

§301(a). EPA's approval of this submittal would terminate the FIP and sanctions clocks 

started in our previous final action at 80 FR 38966.

REFERENCES

1. “Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations,” 

(a.k.a., Bluebook) EPA OAQPS, May 25, 1988.

2. “Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies,” 

(a.k.a., Little Bluebook), EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001.

3. “Technical Support Document for EPA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the 

California State Implementation Plan, Butte County Air Quality Management 

District Rule 300, Open Burning, Prohibitions and Exemptions,” Prepared by 

Rynda Kay, October 2014.