Fire Emissions Joint Forum Charge 7/29/98

Oversight: Joint by Technical Oversight Committee and Initiative Oversight Committee
Schedule: Anticipated Start Date - June, 1998

Mission:

The Fire Emissions Joint Forum (FEJF) is to make recommendations to the WRAP and related WRAP forums on policies and methodologies for:

· estimating air pollution emissions and their effects on air quality and visibility due to smoke from various natural and human-caused fires

· developing a data set and associated tracking system for those emissions in the geographical area at least encompassed by the GCVTC states and tribes

· recommending strategies and methods to manage emissions from these sources.

This group will specifically cover wildland fire (wildfire, prescribed natural fire, wildland fire managed for resource benefits), and prescribed fire (silvicultural, rangeland, and agricultural). (Other types of burning such as residential wood combustion and open burning may be considered, but are not the primary focuses of this group.) This forum will coordinate with both the IOC and the TOC.

Background:

The GCVTC recommendations lay out improvements in smoke management and the tracking and projecting of future emissions that are needed to protect visibility. The recommendations recognize the need to increase some kinds of burning in order to address other environmental goals. The recommendations also recognize the complexity of estimating the emissions and the impacts caused by the increase in burning.

Improvements made in emission factors based on research by federal land managers and others is not readily available to states and tribes, so outdated AP-42 numbers are used. There are ongoing efforts to update these factors and make them available. There are other efforts to standardize reporting of fires and prescribed burning to facilitate tracking. WESTAR, NWCG and others have held workshops to improve tools available for estimating emissions and effects of smoke. National efforts to assess similar technology issues including the EPA FACA group and the EPA wildland fire/air quality policy group and the agricultural burning FACA workgroup have developed policy and technology papers that may address some of the GCVTC recommendations with respect to fire. These efforts and others need to be reviewed and incorporated into the forum's recommendations where they further the development of the GCVTC recommendations relating to emissions from fire. Where there is not sufficient progress from other efforts, the forum will develop and implement the GCVTC recommendations (e.g. implementation of smoke management programs).

The use of fire on tribal lands is a significant management and cultural issue needing due consideration in the work of this forum.

Proper documentation is critical to the success of the current and future technical and policy processes, and the FEJF will develop such formal reports and progress reports as deemed necessary by the IOC and TOC jointly overseeing this forum's work. These are defined below.

Scope and Related References:

The first charge of the FEJF is to address both the policy and technical recommendations of the GCVTC that are related to fire emissions. For those unfamiliar with the activities of the GCVTC it will be instructive for them to review the entire document, "Recommendations for Improving Western Vistas," but the following specific references should be reviewed from those recommendations that refer to fire emissions explicitly or emissions inventories in general p. 48, p. 55, p. 60, pp. 61-63, and pp. 85-87.

In addition, the GCVTC reports, "Development of an Emissions Inventory for Assessing Visual Air Quality in the Western United States" and "First Revision to the GCVTC's Draft Assessment" should be reviewed for an understanding of what was done previously. For many sources, the 1990 baseline inventory is to be the starting point for emissions inventory development.

Because of the seasonal and yearly variations in fire emissions, the GCVTC-related report "Wild and Prescribed Fire Emissions in the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Region" should also be evaluated closely. This describes the data set used during the technical work, which may also be used as a base for the work of the FEJF.

Some familiarity with pertinent efforts by EPA and other groups dealing with fire activities is needed. Also the efforts to update AP-42, the technical papers of the EPA fire policy workgroups, and the new fire reporting systems under development by the federal agencies should be reviewed.

Finally, EPA's Emissions Inventory Improvement Project (EIIP) database has some broad-based potential to be used by several of the emissions inventory groups in some manner, so the FEJF should explore the potential of that resource.

Tasks and Deliverables:

1. Develop work plan for including who will be responsible for what, when tasks will be completed, and how cooperation will be ensured. The FEJF will develop a work plan in consultation with the IOC and TOC that describes how the objectives and related tasks laid out here are to be achieved within the prescribed time frame. (The forum may form short-term workgroups of specialists to accomplish specific tasks.)

2. Review recent workshops and/or host a workshop to review the possibilities for estimating fire emissions and developing a database and tracking system for fires. A summary document of this task or workshop will be prepared as a guide to the ongoing work of the group.

3. Develop cooperative funding mechanisms between burners and regulatory agencies to implement smoke management programs and support cost of integrated assessment.

a) Identify current funding arrangements and costs
b) Assess potential funding mechanisms
c) Develop model cooperative funding agreements for use among two or more parties, on a jurisdictional or regional scale

4. Assess the progress of federal, state, tribal, and private prescribed fire programs to incorporate smoke effects in planning and application by the year 2000.

a) Evaluate progress of inclusion of smoke effects in burn planning and application
b) Evaluate progress of inclusion of smoke effects in programmatic planning
c) Evaluate progress of incorporation of smoke effects in air quality planning for regional haze
d) Report on progress and suggestions for improvement.

5. Integrated Assessment.

a) After thoroughly evaluating fire emissions estimating techniques, the FEJF will prepare a report for submittal to the TOC and IOC, the Public Advisory Board (PAB) and then to the WRAP. This paper will advise the adoption of such estimation methodologies as they deem most accurate and effective for improvement of the current assessment of fire emissions (which may or may not be appropriate for update in AP-42). (The paper may need to discuss the difference between methods for assessment on a broad scale as compared to project emission calculations - pros, cons, uncertainties, etc.)

b) Review and identify problems with the current fire emissions assessment and develop a process to address shortcomings by 1999. Once the methodologies are accepted by the WRAP, the FEJF will developing improved estimates of fire emissions (the assessment) for an area that at least includes the GCVTC transport region and may be larger with approval of the WRAP. The updated assessment will:

i) Identify specific areas where fire activities have or could have an adverse impact on health and/or visibility
ii) Identify areas where mechanical treatment could reduce emissions and associated health and welfare impacts
iii) Assess feasibility of alternatives to fire in the identified areas, including biomass utilization, market development, and non-statutory administrative barriers

c) Identify and report on technical information and institutional needs, including meteorological information, air quality monitoring, smoke dispersion modeling, emission factor estimation techniques, interstate planning mechanisms, and methods for comparing the economic, air quality and other resource effects of wildfire and prescribed fire.

d) Once the assessment is completed the FEJF will host a workshop to present all its findings. (Note: the FEJF is not limited to the number of workshops it may have, but should include them in their work plan per #2.)

e) The FEJF will draft a report considering the comments received during and after the workshop, which summarizes all its work, research and inventory development. That report is to be submitted to the TOC, IOC, PAB, then the WRAP.

6. Smoke Management Programs.

a) After evaluating smoke management programs and the probable increases of fire, the FEJF will prepare a report for submittal to the TOC and IOC, the Public Advisory Board (PAB) and then to the WRAP. This paper will summarize the adequacy of existing programs to handle additional emissions and their effects on visibility, and the advisability of employing enhanced smoke management techniques and programs.

b) Develop basic and enhanced requirements for smoke management programs that can be adopted for all federal, state, tribal, and private prescribed fire (including silvicultural, rangeland, agricultural) programs by 2000.

i) Establish clearinghouse for existing smoke management plans and smoke management MOUs

ii) Monitor progress and incorporate results of EPA Wildland Fire Policy Committee (work about to be completed) and Agricultural Fire Policy effort (in progress)

iii) Monitor and assess FLM, state, tribal and private parties progress in developing and implementing smoke management plans including training to field staff/burners

iv) Evaluate and track the improvement of tools, meteorological data availability, etc.

c) Implement enhanced smoke management programs (including alternative management practices) and emission reduction strategies in areas identified in #5b.

i) Develop criteria for when enhanced smoke management practices should be required

ii) Develop suggested requirements for enhanced smoke management plans

iii) Recommend a schedule for incorporating such enhancements into smoke management programs by 2000 (per #6b)

7. Emissions Tracking. Develop and implement an emissions tracking system for all fire activities, wildland fire, silvicultural and agricultural prescribed burning. In addition, the FEJF will develop a process whereby states and tribes can track emissions from prescribed fire, wildfire, and agricultural burning. These systems should address the amount, location, and time of smoke releases.

a) Evaluate/review existing methods for estimating emissions
b) Identify improved methods for estimating emissions, where needed
c) Develop model tracking system for potential use by individual states and propose institutional mechanism for regional tracking
d) Establish use of common data elements for burners and air regulators.
8. Support development of a public education program regarding role of fire in air quality to be undertaken by land managers and other interested groups.

a) Establish clearinghouse of existing information and messages (e.g. how smoke management mitigates visibility and air quality impacts, risks of not using prescribed fire, long-term and short-term risks/benefits, etc.) including scope and method of distribution

b) Identify additional information needs and methods for presentation

c) Utilize existing mechanisms for implementing educational program or develop recommendations on how to implement the education program

9. Assess the feasibility of and, where appropriate, develop recommendations for annual emissions goals for all fire programs to minimize emission increases to the maximum extent feasible. Involve states, tribes, state and federal land management agencies and the private sector in the development of these goals. (States and Tribes have the responsibility to adopt any goals.) Some period of time will be needed to determine possible future emission goals. In the interim, some alternative measures and strategies should be evaluated, including:

a) Developing criteria for the use of reasonable alternatives to fire or alternatives to the amount of fuel consumed to mitigate emissions where fire is critical

b) Developing criteria for the use smoke management practices whenever and wherever possible.

10. Identify and make recommendations for removal of non-statutory administrative barriers to emission reduction strategies.

a) Determine barriers to use of non-burning alternative

b) Develop accountability mechanisms for ensuring consideration of the use of alternatives, smoke management practices, and emission reduction measures in appropriate situations.

Collaborative Requirements:

It is critical that the FEJF interact with the TOC and IOC, as well as other forums where interfaces occur. In particular, the FEJF should:

· Coordinate with whatever IOC group is charged with dealing with control strategies inside and near Class I areas.

· Work closely with the TOC forum charged with tribal data gathering in order to make sure that the group has the tools and resources necessary to acquire high quality information.

· Coordinate development with the Area Source Emissions Forum and the Stationary Source Emissions Working Group toward standard formats for area source emissions inventories and processes.

· Consult with the Tracking and Forecasting Forum to assure that the outputs of the FEJF are consistent with their direction.

Process Requirements:

The FEJF should:

· Follow the general guidelines developed by the WRAP for all forums.

· Adhere to the objectives described above, and incorporate the deliverables into the process.

· Provide meeting minutes to the IOC and TOC, as well as short quarterly reports (no more than 5 pages).

Membership Criteria:

Appointments to the FEJF will be based on credentials or interest in one or more types of fire being considered. The group will also be composed of a mix if technical and policy experts. Membership will adhere to WRAP guidelines except the mobile source sector will not be represented.