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The Air District is issuing a Public Hearing Notice and accepting comments on proposed amendments to:
- Regulation 5: Open Burning (Regulation 5) and
- Regulation 6: Particulate Matter, Rule 3: Wood-Burning Devices (Rule 6-3).
The proposed amendments to Regulation 5 waive operation fees for all persons conducting prescribed burns, expanding the current exemption that applies only to public agencies. This change is intended to reduce administrative barriers and improve operational flexibility for nonprofit organizations and private landowners who may be positioned to carry out prescribed burns in areas where public agency capacity is limited. The proposed amendments to Regulation 5 support statewide efforts to expand beneficial fire practices for wildfire prevention and land stewardship.
Under Rule 6-3, the Air District announces a prohibition against wood-burning (Mandatory Burn Ban) when the agency forecasts that the 24-hour average fine particulate matter concentration will exceed a designated threshold that is currently set at 35 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3). The proposed amendments to Rule 6-3 would lower this 24-hour average fine particulate matter threshold to 25 µg/m3, allowing the Air District to issue Mandatory Burn Bans when it forecasts conditions will meet this lower threshold. This change is intended to reduce short and long-term peaks in fine particulate matter exposure from wood-burning. Multiple scientific and regulatory bodies have cited evidence supporting the need for more health-protective measures to curb particulate matter emissions.
For more information and to access proposed amendments to Regulation 5 and Rule 6-3 and the Staff Report, please visit the Air District’s Woodsmoke Rule Amendments web page.
Written comments on the proposed amendments to Regulation 5 and Rule 6-3 and Staff Report should be addressed to Rule Development, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, 375 Beale Street, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94105. Comments may also be sent by e-mail to woodsmokerule@baaqmd.gov. Comments on the proposed amendments to Regulation 5 and Rule 6-3 are requested by August 13, 2025, at 5:00 PM.
The Air District Board of Directors will consider adopting these amendments to Regulation 5 and Rule 6-3 and approving a determination that adoption of these amendments is exempt from provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act at a public hearing on October 1, 2025.
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Your Air District
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