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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo - Mail Packet - 6/8/2021 - Memorandum From Cassie Archuleta Re: Outdoor Residential Wood Burning – Implementation Summary Report Environmental Services 222 Laporte Ave PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970-221-6600 fcgov.com MEMORANDUM DATE: June 2, 2021 TO: Mayor and Councilmembers THRU: Darin Atteberry, City Manager Kyle Stannert, Deputy City Manager Jackie Kozak Thiel, Chief Sustainability Officer Lucinda Smith, Environmental Services Director FROM: Cassie Archuleta, Air Quality Program Manager RE: Outdoor Residential Wood Burning Implementation Summary Report The purpose of this memo is to provide a report summarizing the first two years of implementation for new outdoor residential burning policy, as adopted in March 2019. Bottom Line When Council adopted new outdoor residential burning policy in March 2019, it was requested that staff provide a summary and evaluation of the first year of implementation. The summary was delayed one year to include considerations related to COVID-19 and regional wildfires. The attached report includes an implementation summary, community feedback, an equity screening and potential future considerations. Background In March 2019, Council adopted new air quality nuisance rules related to outdoor residential wood burning, amending existing air pollution nuisance code (Municipal Code 20-1). New rules included prohibiting outdoor wood burning between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. along with a 15-foot property line setback for wood-burning fire pits and fireplaces. The intended outcome of the code changes was to better address negative health and nuisance impacts from outdoor residential wood fires, while not fully prohibiting these types of recreational fires. Following the first season of implementation (2019) community feedback was collected regarding implementation. For the second season of implementation (2020), regional wildfires prompted implementation of an executive order to temporarily ban outdoor residential wood fires; and staff received additional community feedback noting concerns about compounded air quality and respiratory impacts of both smoke and COVID-19. Key Findings The attached report includes a summary of the first two seasons of implementation, through December 2020. Some key findings included: there continues to be tension between those who enjoy having outdoor fires and those who are negatively impacted by the smoke; compared to previous years, complaints received increased in both 2019 (132) and 2020 (280), potentially due to outreach regarding the new regulations; the majority of complaints were resolved (e.g., no repeat substantiated complaints) with outreach and promotion of voluntary compliance; since implementation, three (3) notices of violation have been issued in cases where repeat substantiated complaints were received. No citations have been issued to date. 2 Next Steps The City is now embarking on a third season of implementation, which will continue to include collaboration with Poudre Fire Authority and an emphasis on promotion of awareness and voluntary compliance. Additional restrictions, such as limitations on air pollution advisory days, short-term rental restrictions or restrictions regarding permanent wood burning appliance installation, may require additional resources and c Air Pollution Nuisance Code: Outdoor Residential Burning (adopted March 2019) May 2021 ii Table of Contents Summary ............................................................................................................................................... 1 Background ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Policy History Overview ...................................................................................................................... 2 Implementation ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Complaint Response and Enforcement .............................................................................................. 3 Community Questionnaire ..................................................................................................................... 6 Equity Screening .................................................................................................................................... 7 Potential Future Considerations ............................................................................................................. 8 1 Summary The purpose of this report is to provide a two-year summary of implementation for changes to Air Pollution Nuisance Code (§20-1), as adopted on March 19, 2019, to better protect human health and reduce nuisance smoke and odor from outdoor residential wood burning activities (e.g., fire pits or fireplaces). Code modifications and amendments included: decriminalization of violations of Air Pollution Nuisance Code, a 15-foot property line setback for outdoor wood-burning fire pits and fireplaces, and prohibiting outdoor wood burning between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. This report includes community feedback that was collected following the first year of implementation (2019), and consideration of COVID-19 and wildfire activity impacts. In summary: outreach efforts in 2019 and 2020 included promotion of voluntary compliance through educational letters, social media posts, press releases, print ads, and newsletters; implementation included new complaint tracking and response tools and resources, with 132 complaints received in 2019, and 280 complaints were received in 2020; escalation of enforcement included one Notice of Violation (NOV) issued in 2019, and two NOVs issued in 2020. No citations have been issued to date; following the first year of implementation (2019), community feedback received via a questionnaire indicated that there continues to be tension between those who enjoy having outdoor fires and those who are negatively impacted by the smoke; in 2020, regional wildfires prompted implementation of an executive order to temporarily ban outdoor residential wood fires; also in 2020, staff received additional community feedback regarding compounded air quality and respiratory impacts of both smoke exposure and COVID-19 exposure, including some requests to renew consideration of a full ban. Continued efforts will include seasonal outreach, complaint-based response, and promotion of voluntary compliance and escalated response following substantiated repeat complaints. Additional considerations that could be explored include renewed consideration of a full ban, or expansions of restrictions such as: prohibition of outdoor wood burning fires at short-term rental properties; restrictions for permanent installations of outdoor wood burning fire pits; prohibiting outdoor wood burning on air pollution advisory days. Background Smoke and odor from wood burning is comprised of a complex mixture of gases and particulate matter that can contribute to nuisance and health concerns. Both short- and long-term exposures to particle pollution have been linked to a variety of health effects, especially for sensitive populations such as children, the elderly, and people with existing heart or respiratory conditions. On March 19, 2019, Council unanimously adopted amendments to existing Air Pollution Nuisance Code (§20-1) adding new requirements for outdoor residential wood burning activities. New requirements 2 included prohibiting outdoor burning between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., and adding a 15-foot property line setback for outdoor solid-fuel burning appliances such as fire pits and fireplaces. The intended outcome of the code changes was to better address negative health and nuisance impacts from outdoor residential wood fires, while not fully prohibiting these types of recreational fires. At the time of adoption, it was requested that staff provide a summary and evaluation after 1-year of implementation. The evaluation was extended to a 2-year period (though 2020) to include consideration of COVID-19 impacts and regional wildfires. Policy History Overview The City began regulating sources of nuisance wood smoke in 1986, when Council first adopted Air Pollution Nuisance Code (§20-1(a), formerly §79-10(a)), prohibiting: (a) (t)he emission or escape into the open air from any source or sources of smoke, ashes, dust, dirt, grime, acids, fumes, gases, vapors, odors or any other substances or combination of substances in such manner or in such amounts as to endanger or tend to endanger the health, comfort, safety or welfare of the public or to cause unreasonable injury or damage to property or to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of property or normal conduct of business... has been periodically amended to align with updates to International Fire Code and include definitions of permissible burning activities, fuel types, and wood burning appliances. In 2017, smoke from outdoor fire pits was identified as a Council priority and in 2018, a budget revision offer was approved to support community and stakeholder engagement efforts to inform development of policy recommendations. Policy updates, as adopted unanimously in March 2019, included the following restrictions and exemptions: (e) No person being the owner, occupant, tenant, or otherwise having any possessory control, individually or jointly with others, of any property shall cause or allow the burning of solid fuel outdoors on such property between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. (f) No person being the owner, occupant, tenant, or otherwise having any possessory control, individually or jointly with others, of any property shall cause or allow the burning of solid fuel outdoors on such property less than fifteen feet from any abutting property line. (g) The provisions of 20-1(e) and 20-1(f) shall not apply to any of the following: (1) Solid fuel-burning appliances specifically designed and used exclusively for outdoor noncommercial cooking of food for human consumption, such as barbecue grills and smokers; (2) Fires, where written approval has been granted by the Fire Code Official; (3) Smoking, as defined in City Code 12-56, "smoke or smoking." 3 Implementation Implementation and enforcement of the new code began on March 20, 2019. For implementation, Council allocated additional staff resources (0.25 FTE) to support activities such as outreach, education, promotion of good neighbor relations, and complaint tracking and response. Efforts to date have included: educational messaging and materials including website updates (fcgov.com/woodsmoke), newsletters, print media, social media, and a press release; collaboration with Poudre Fire Authority (PFA) to revise and align educational messaging and materials; preparation of an Implementation and Enforcement Plan (IEP) to identify and outline internal policies and procedures; transition of complaint management from Community Development and Neighborhood Services (CDNS) to ESD, including establishment of an air quality complaint intake system to assist environmental compliance staff in gathering evidence regarding complaints; c to promote neighbor-to-neighbor resolutions to common nuisance woodsmoke concerns, and development of a do-it-yourself guide for talking to neighbors about this issue; and additional outreach in 2020 regarding temporary full prohibition of residential burning, which was implemented by executive order during the worst regional fire impacts (8/31/20-11/18/20). Prior to adoption, there was discussion regarding additional allocation of resources to provide a 24-hour nuisance response, and it was determined that PFA would instead support after hours non-emergency response if necessary. For initial implementation, PFA provided non-emergency after-hours responses and indicated that this did not add a need for additional PFA resources. Rather, PFA reported that providing the additional City resources and increased City role in responses to nuisance smoke complaints reduced PFA requests for these types of responses. Complaint Response and Enforcement Prior to adoption of new code in 2019, the City began collecting information related to nuisance complaints related to smoke from outdoor fires. For complaint tracking, ESD staff developed a complaint/case management tool, including a GIS database for visualizing spatial distribution. Figure 1, below, is a map showing the spatial distribution of outdoor residential burning complaints received by PFA and ESD for this reporting period. Figure 2, below, shows a history of complaints since 2012 related to wood smoke nuisances, as received by CDNS, ESD and PFA. The total number of complaints increased with adoption of new code, potentially in part due to efforts to increase awareness following adoption of new restrictions. Table 1, below, shows the number of complaints received between April 2019 (first month of implementation) and December 2020, as received by the Environmental Services Department (ESD) and Poudre Fire Authority (PFA). In summary, since implementation through 2020: 132 complaints were received in 2019, and 280 in 2020; when sufficient information was available, initial outreach letters were sent in response to complaints, followed up by an escalated response for repeat substantiated complaints; 4 one (1) Notice of Violation (NOV) was issued in 2019, and two (2) NOVs were issued in 2020; no citations were issued. Some challenges for complaint response included: some complaints were anonymous or incomplete, so it was not always possible to collect enough information from a complainant regarding a complaint; the source of smoke was not always identified. In some of these cases, outreach letters were sent to an entire area of potentially impacted neighbors; Figure 1. Map showing approximate locations of complaints received between 2019 and 2020. 5 Figure 2. Summary of Historic Complaint Response Data, 2012 Through 2020 Table 1. 2019 and 2020 Complaint Summary Quarter # Complaints Received Primary Nature of Complaint Nuisance Code Fire Code Other ESD PFA Total Time of Day Property Line Distance Nuisance Smoke Burning Yard Waste Distance to Combustibles (Odor/ Health/ Unknown) 2019 Q2* 24 32 56 14 2 14 5 5 16 Q3 31 30 61 23 0 6 10 5 17 Q4 3 12 15 1 3 1 4 1 5 Total 58 74 132 38 5 21 19 11 38 2020 Q1 5 18 23 0 1 5 7 3 7 Q2 78 49 127 21 2 38 15 14 37 Q3 33 69 102 20 1 24 8 4 45 Q4 5 23 28 0 1 2 12 1 12 Total 121 159 280 41 5 69 42 22 101 *Data collection began in April 2019, following the March 2019 adoption of the new policy. 6 Community Questionnaire Following the first year of implementation, an online questionnaire was published and included direct outreach (via email) to community members who originally provided feedback during policy adoption. A total of 80 responses were received, all from respondents who indicated they are City of Fort Collins residents. Per these questionnaire responses: Figure 3 summarizes responses from those who indicated impacts from smoke, with most indicating that they took no action. Additionally: o 45% (36 respondents) indicated they were negatively affected by wood smoke from an outdoor wood fire within City limits in 2019. o Of those reporting negative smoke impacts, none reported owning an outdoor woodburning appliance. Figure 4 summarizes responses from owners of outdoor wood burning appliances regarding impacts of the new requirements, with the majority indicating that the curfew impacted them because they had to extinguish the fire before they would have liked. Additionally: o 43% (34 respondents) indicated they owned an outdoor woodburning appliance. o Of those appliance owners, 76% (26 respondents) indicated that the new requirements influenced their wood burning activities in 2019. o 50% of outdoor wood burning appliance owners (13 respondents) also indicated that the installations were permanent. When adopting a 10pm curfew, there was some discussion about whether this was the appropriate time or if an alternate time would better address concerns. While the 10pm curfew was the second highest reported issue for complaints (following fire code related issues), and the requirements that most impacted questionnaire respondents who owned fire pits, there was no evidence that an alternate time would be more appropriate. 7 Figure 3. 2019 Questionnaire responses regarding action taken when impacted by smoke. Figure 4. 2019 questionnaire responses regarding impacts of regulations on fires. Equity Screening The City is committed to advancing equity for all, leading with race, is not a predictor of outcomes. For new policy, this includes seeking to identify intents and impacts that may be felt unevenly along lines of race, ethnicity, disability, income level, housing status and more. Prior to adoption, feedback from stakeholders and the broader community indicated that this was a divided issue, with key tensions related to the cultural and social value of recreational fires pits at home, versus neighbors experiencing adverse impacts of While a full equity analysis is not included here, some factors that could potentially impact inequitable outcomes are noted below. Inherently, the combination of fire code and nuisance rules allows for some recreational wood fires, but not others. For those that value the ability to have wood fires outdoors, inequities may include: limitations for community members with smaller properties, as the 15-foot setback from property lines would require a large outdoor space. additional investments for use of alternatives, such as a gas-fueled fires. Poor air quality affects everyone, but negative impacts can be disproportionate to some. If there are odors or visible smoke from an active wood burning fire, some factors that may affect exposure and risk include: if an individual has a preexisting respiratory or cardiovascular condition or is especially sensitive to air pollution; the age of an individual children, the elderly and those compromised respiratory or cardiovascular systems; 8 where one lives, as those who live closer to industrial emission sources or major travel corridors may have increased risk; whether one can easily avoid the smoke, as recommended methods to limit exposure to outdoor pollutants include remaining indoors, closing windows and doors, recirculating air with air conditioners, and keeping filters clean. In some cases, community members may not have access to filtered air, or may prefer being able to open windows at night to cool their homes; the time of day of the smoke, as the nuisance ordinance does not prohibit smoke between 7am and 10pm. When a community member has concerns about smoke, the City encourages friendly neighbor-to- s as applicable, while an escalated City enforcement response is complaint-based. In some cases, there may be factors that may affect an smoke has become a health or nuisance concern. Some barriers in effectiveness of a complaint-based system may include: community members may not be aware of the safety or nuisance restrictions for wood burning, or the health implications of exposure to particulate matter; the main routes for complaints, such as Access Fort Collins and the Nuisance Hotline, may have accessibility issues for some, such as internet access and language barriers. a neighbor may have concerns about preservation of a relationship or retaliation if they have a conversation about impacts or contact the City. rental properties may have frequent tenant turnover, making it difficult to establish relationships if there is not a clear, visible, smoke plume or fire, it may be difficult to determine the source of smoke. Concerns may not be addressed in real time, as the City only responds to complaints during business hours, and generally the first response to a complaint is an outreach letter. For continued implementation, important aspects of addressing equity issues will include further exploration of access barriers for complaint resources, targeting outreach for historically underserved areas of the community, providing resources in both Spanish and English, and further collaborating with community partners to promote awareness of resources to address smoke impacts. Potential Future Considerations In line with the leading with race, it is important that community members in Fort Collins have equal access to clean air, indoors and outdoors. While the new nuisance rules did not completely eliminate impacts from wood smoke, new restrictions, campaigns and enforcement have provided some new tools for the City and community to focus on awareness of impacts, health effects, awareness of resources, and voluntary compliance. Additional regulatory considerations that could be explored include renewed consideration of a full ban, or expansions of restrictions such as: Restrictions for Permanent Outdoor Solid-Fuel Burning Appliances: Installations of permanent outdoor fire pits are often considered a landscaping amenity. Per the 2019 questionnaire, 50% of respondents with fire pits indicated they were permanent (rather than portable). For future 9 implementation, if directed, staff could explore restrictions on future installations of outdoor solid- fuel burning appliances. Restrictions for Short-Term Rentals: Vacation rentals or short-term rentals (STRs) are rentals that are typically listed online through sites such as Vacation Rental by Owner (VRBO) and Airbnb for less than 30 days. Prior to implementation, staff was asked to evaluate the number of complaints related to short-term rental properties, as there was concern about woodburning fire pits being offered as an amenity, and concern about the frequency that short-term residents would use these fires. For complaints received during the first two years of implementation, none of the addresses identified were associated with short term rentals. However, restricting these types of fires as STR amenities was supported by PFA as there is a risk that frequent occupant turnover could lead to increased or unsafe fire use. No Burn Days: No-burn days are notifications based high pollution advisories, which currently include mandatory indoor wood burning restrictions for the seven-county Denver-Boulder metropolitan area. Staff will continue promoting voluntary adherence to these limitations, and regulatory restrictions for both indoor and outdoor burning could be considered.