Newport asks AQMD to change its mind on charcoal fire rings at the beach

Newport Beach is requesting that air-quality regulators repeal a ruling that led the city to require charcoal-burning fire rings on the beach.

The Newport Beach City Council voted 5 to 2 Tuesday to send a letter to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Councilmen Keith Curry and Ed Selich dissented.

The request asks that the agency’s board repeal changes made in July 2013 to Rule 444, which requires a 700-foot buffer between bonfires and homes.

“At this point in 2016, the City Council ... believes that the rule should be revisited, and the 2013 provisions repealed,” the letter states. “Doing so would allow us greater flexibility in implementing local solutions in concert with local and visitor desires, as well as the California Coastal Commission.”

The 2013 rule change, which sparked controversy over how to configure rings, also designated “no-burn days” when fine particulates are at unhealthy levels.

In response to the AQMD’s actions, Newport Beach began enforcing an ordinance that limited fuel in fire rings to charcoal, which the AQMD considers cleaner-burning than wood.

However, the California Coastal Commission said it did not approve of the change because charcoal is more expensive than wood and might deter people from using the rings. One of the agency’s responsibilities is to help maintain low-cost activities on the coast. The lack of consensus left Newport Beach in the middle of the fight between the two agencies.

The Coastal Commission last summer agreed to Newport’s plan for reconfiguring 64 fire rings, allowing more than half of them to burn wood and the others to burn charcoal, and expanding the footprint of the rings on the beach to comply with AQMD rules. The city is waiting on a finalized permit from the Coastal Commission before it relocates the rings to their permanent locations.

The request for the AQMD rule change stems from the city’s struggle to enforce rules on the type of fuel that can be burned in the rings.

The city spends about $165,000 a year for a private security firm to monitor fuel use at the Balboa Pier and Corona del Mar State Beach, according to City Manager Dave Kiff.

“We end up disappointing a lot of people,” Kiff said. “We’re just making people unhappy with this.”

Councilman Scott Peotter, who suggested the letter, said with the recent shift in the majority of the AQMD governing board, the fire ring regulations may find less support. The AQMD board voted 7-6 on March 4 to vote out its top executive, Barry Wallerstein, shortly after the board’s majority shifted from Democratic to Republican.

However, the AQMD board has not indicated whether it intends to change the rule.

Peotter said his ultimate goal is to keep beach fire rings in their current footprint.

“We still don’t have local control,” Peotter said. “What we have are severe rules that the science would indicate are somewhat arbitrary. For me, this is kind of a local control issue.”

If the AQMD agrees to repeal the amendment to Rule 444, the city would likely have to seek an amendment to its permit from the Coastal Commission.

Councilman Ed Selich said arguments between residents worried about the health effects of wood smoke and those trying to preserve the beloved tradition of beach bonfires divided the community for years.

“I think it was a mistake to open this up to begin with,” Selich said. “To go down the path of opening it up again is something we’re really going to be sorry about.”