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Senate approves bill to ease permitting for air curtain incinerators used in wildfire fuel reduction
Summary
The Senate passed House Bill 23 32, which exempts certain mobile air curtain incinerators from DEQ Title 5 permitting when they burn only clean wood waste, a change supporters say will speed deployment of equipment used to reduce wildfire fuels and produce biochar.
The Oregon State Senate approved House Bill 23 32, a measure intended to streamline use of mobile air curtain incinerators for processing wood waste and reducing wildfire fuel loads. Sponsors said the bill narrows the DEQ Title 5 permitting requirement for such units when they burn only wood waste or clean lumber-yard waste.
Senator Brock Smith, the bill's carrier, said air curtain incinerators "reduce the smoke and particulate up to 80 and over 80%" compared with open burning and can sometimes be modified to produce energy or biochar, a soil amendment. He told colleagues the bill would exempt qualifying incinerators from a DEQ Title 5 permit, allowing more rapid deployment of units in rural areas where fuel reduction is needed.
Senator Golden, speaking in favor of the measure, described the policy as a pragmatic step to address an "enormous dilemma" created by accumulated fuels from a century of fire suppression and a shrinking window for prescribed burns. Golden called mobile air curtain units a "promising possibility" in expanding non-burning alternatives for fuel reduction.
On a roll call the measure received a constitutional majority and was declared passed. Supporters said the bill aims to speed operations that reduce wildfire risk while ensuring emissions controls limit smoke; the exemption applies only when the units burn eligible materials and operate within applicable environmental rules.
The bill is administrative and regulatory in effect: it alters when a DEQ Title 5 permit is required for certain equipment but does not change criminal or civil liability provisions related to air quality or open burning. Proponents said the change would help land managers and fire mitigation projects deploy cleaner, mobile disposal and conversion technologies more efficiently.
