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Federal Clean Air Regulations
for Burning Wastes
The link at the bottom of the page is for the federal air regulations
on burning wastes. There is a difference between burnboxes and incinerators.
What EPA calls "incinerators" are very expensive for Villages
to operate. Click here
to read about Alaska Villages that operate incinerators and some
of the associated costs.
Alaska is the only state where burnboxes and burncages are allowed
as a community waste disposal option (for class 3 communities only).
It is confusing, but for right now, the Alaska Solid  Waste
regulations for burning wastes do not meet the Federal Air Quality
regulations for burning wastes. That is because we have unique situations
where burning in burnboxes can be our only affordable choice –
at least for now. Without them, some of us would have dumps expanding
into our rivers and towns instead, or the dumps lit on fire by residents.
What you need to know is that you will not “get
a knock on the door” from the federal government telling you
that you are in violation of their trash incinerator air laws. These
were written for conventional communities, and the federal government
understands that Alaska Villages are unable to afford incinerators
for now. Like everything else, it is something to think about and
work towards.
For now, think of burning wastes as a step by step improvement project.
Each and every step is a big step towards helping your community
and subsistence.
1. If you haven’t already, check
whether you have to burn: Make sure you are in a sitaution
where you need to burn your wastes. Many, if not most, villages
need to burn, but some villages have enough landfill space, cover
material, heavy equipment, and maintenance fees to ope rate
without burning wastes.
2. Move away from dump burns:
If you are in a situation where you need to burn your wastes, a
burnbox is better than an open dump burn.
3. Improvement options: There are many ways to
make the burnbox burn better and make your community safer, including
trash separation, relocatipon, setting burn hours, protecting drying
racks, etc. Click
here for all the tips we have thought of so far. Also click
here for general information about burning trash.
4. More advanced burn units: There
are better units that make less toxic smoke. These are "halfway
between a "burnbox/burncage" and a full incinerator that
meets federal Clean Air Act requirements for community wastestreams.
See ADEC's
Burning Garbage document. Also click
here for some examples.
5. The future: EPA is funding
research to make good incinerators cheaper. for Villages. What is
not affordable now might be affordable in a few years. Also in the
next couple of years we will know more and more about the practical
health risks from burnboxes in Villages. That will give your Village
the power to make the best decisions to protect community health
and subsistence areas. As these studies are carried out, SWAN will
let you know the results as soon as possible.
6. Looking for the big $$: If
the smoke is a primary concern for your community, and none of the
"improvement options" help you enough - you can start
looking for funding now to
pay for the expensive, but much safer, “incinerators”
that meet federal air regulations.
7. Education: Remember, you will
need to also plan for how your community will pay for the high operation
and maintenance costs of a good incinerator that meets federal requirements.
An incinerator that is not properly maintained or used is just another
burnbox. As we all know, community education is a process, and to
change waste disposal habits can take many years.
Click here
for Federal Air Regulations on Burning Trash
Click here
for the Federal Fact Sheet on Proposed Air Emissions Rules
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