Gathering Open Burning Activity Information and Limitations of the EIIP Preferred Methodology

Emissions Inventory Improvement Program (EIIP) suggests using a survey as the preferred method for gathering residential municipal solid waste (MSW) burning and yard waste burning activity information. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of using a survey to gather open burning activity information for use in developing emission inventories for MSW burning and yard waste burning, including both brush waste and leaf waste. E.H. Pechan and Associates, Inc. (Pechan) conducted MSW and yard waste burning surveys for the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Visibility Union (MANE-VU). Two separate surveys were performed. One survey was designed to gather information on local control programs that were in place for open burning (e.g. burn bans). As part of the control survey, a rule effectiveness (RE) survey was conducted to estimate controlled emissions. The second survey was designed to gather activity information in areas where burning is allowed. The survey did not find statistically-significant differences in MSW activity among urban, suburban, and rural areas. In areas allowing both brush and leaf waste burning, survey respondents could not provide separate estimates for the number of households burning each of these types of yard waste. Municipal yard waste burning results showed a higher percentage of households that burn yard waste in areas that have a municipal collection program, than in other areas, so there may be factors involved that lead to a higher incidence of both residential and municipal burning for an area. As a result of this project, there will be significant changes from the National Emission Inventory (NEI) estimates.