Pilot program to help cities control the spread of apple maggots

Apple maggots are a serious threat to Washington’s apple industry. Many cities are under an apple maggot quarantine. For a few cities, the only disposal facilities for brush and yard waste from urban areas are located outside their quarantine area, and transporting urban yard waste to these facilities is not allowed. Burning this yard waste or brush would be an alternative, but cities are subject to burn bans under air quality regulations.

SB 6055 (Sen. Brad Hawkins, R-East Wenatchee) establishes a pilot program to allow limited outdoor burning of yard waste and brush in cities and towns and their urban growth areas, without a permit, and under the supervision of local fire authorities.

Cities that participate in the pilot program must provide information to the Washington State Department of Agriculture and the Department of Ecology, which is charged with reporting back to the Legislature on the program’s effectiveness by December 31, 2020.

AWC supports this bill.