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EPC reports ongoing open-burn ban, community outreach and Clean Air Fair date
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Summary
EPC staff reported an open-burn ban effective Jan. 17, delegation to issue non-agricultural open-burn authorizations from the Florida Forestry Service, five active permits as of the morning, and outreach activities including town halls and the Clean Air Fair on May 7 at Poe Plaza.
At the Feb. 19 meeting, the executive director (identified in the record as Jenny) briefed commissioners on current open-burn restrictions and outreach. She said Hillsborough County’s burn ban has been in effect since Jan. 17 and that the EPC holds delegation from the Florida Forestry Service to issue non-agricultural open-burn authorizations for development-related burns; authorized burners must contact the Forestry Service each morning for approval and authorizations may be revoked if conditions deteriorate.
Staff reported there were five active open-burn permits shown on the slide and said the Forestry Service had allowed use of air-incinerator curtains (ACI) as an alternative to open piles as of that morning. The executive director also summarized recent outreach: staff participation in town halls across the county, attendance at the Martin Luther King parade, volunteer events, the Hillsborough County Bar Association environmental conference, and the upcoming 25th (noted in presentation as 20 fifth) annual Clean Air Fair scheduled for May 7 at Poe Plaza in downtown Tampa.
Commissioners had no questions on the report. Commissioner Wolster later requested staff convene a roundtable with County Development Services and external stakeholders to explore permitting and design-review process improvements and asked for a report back by April or June.
