By Darell Dickey
Polluted air makes me sick.
Every year when the cold settles in I am precluded from working in my yard and taking walks. I cannot participate in outdoor activities due to the air pollution produced from fires lit by Davis residents.
The EPA informs us that burning organic matter releases numerous toxic air pollutants including benzene, formaldehyde, hydrocarbons, and of course fine particles. Smoke can trigger asthma attacks as well as heart attacks, stroke, and heart failure. In my case the smoke from fireplace burning aggravates my autoimmune disease and advances my heart disease. Though many people in Davis suffer serious health risks associated with air pollution, and though the city has declared a Climate Emergency, the City of Davis has no firm rules against fireplace burning.
Instead of treating the toxic smoke appropriately as a health hazard, the City of Davis defines it as a “nuisance,” the same as an over-grown yard or another unsightly condition. And the smoke is considered a nuisance only under limited conditions.
23.01.030 Nuisances. (b) (14)
"The emission into the open air of visible smoke from any residential indoor non-wood pellet-burning appliance or any non-EPA-Phase II certified wood burning appliance or fireplace used for home-heating purposes in such manner or in such amounts as to endanger or tend to endanger the health, comfort, safety or welfare of any reasonable person or to cause unreasonable injury or damage to property or which could cause annoyance or discomfort in the area of the emission.”
My paraphrase:
The toxic air from burning is a nuisance only if it comes from inside a residence (no problem if on the patio or from a business), only if it can be seen (no problem at night), and only if the fire is used for heat (no problem if used for aesthetic reasons). The smoke is not a nuisance as long as it comes from an approved appliance (even if burning trash, un-seasoned or treated wood, plastics, etc).
In a similarly deficient attempt to curtail air pollution, the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District (YSAQMD) issues “advisories” to ask people to voluntarily refrain from burning only on those days when the air quality is already poor. The advisory requests:
"Please refrain from burning wood or using fireplaces or wood and pellet stoves. If you are smelling smoke, you're breathing it.”
This short advisory introduces significant confusion. While the Davis ordinance implies that smoke is an annoyance only when it can be seen, the YSAQMD accurately tells us that we are inhaling the toxic air any time we smell it. And while the Davis ordinance exempts pellet burning from any regulation, the YSAQMD accurately implies that these appliances (similar to all combustion appliances) produce an unacceptable level of air pollution.
The Davis ordinance and the YSAQMD advisory use weak and contradictory language to manage air pollution. They prioritize ambiance over health and only encourage voluntary compliance. When the San Francisco Bay Area experiences bad air quality days, the Bay Area AQMD bans further burning. Davis should also ban burning on bad air quality days while the city continues to work toward eliminating the burning that creates the bad air days in the first place.
The City of Davis strictly regulates the disposal of most waste, yet still allows the release of garbage into our air from discretionary burning. Davis needs to stop allowing this pollution that wrecks our air and health.
Davisite 
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