Buncombe County opens public comment on proposed air quality code

Buncombe County has opened the public-comment window on its plan to adopt the Buncombe County Air Quality Code, putting local burning, emissions and enforcement rules into a more formal regulatory stage. The notice, carried by the Asheville-Buncombe Air Quality Agency and published in the June 17 edition of the Asheville Citizen Times, gives residents, businesses and environmental advocates a chance to weigh in before the county moves any farther.

The proposed code matters because air rules are not abstract in Buncombe County. They can shape how open burning is handled, how dust and smoke complaints are investigated, and how the county responds when wildfire smoke or poor weather traps pollution in the valleys around Asheville and western Buncombe. County officials have already urged residents to avoid burning during periods of high fire danger, and they have issued or extended burn bans when drought and hazardous conditions made that necessary.

The Asheville-Buncombe Air Quality Agency says its mission is to protect and monitor local air quality to safeguard public health and the environment. It operates an ambient monitoring network in Buncombe County for ground-level ozone and fine particles, two pollutants that are watched closely across the Southeast. The agency also responds to complaints involving dust, smoke, odors and open burning, while providing compliance assistance, education and outreach.

Buncombe County is one of only three North Carolina counties with a local air program, alongside Forsyth and Mecklenburg. The county and the City of Asheville created the Asheville-Buncombe Air Quality Agency through an interlocal agreement under state law, giving local officials a direct role in enforcing federal, state and local air-quality rules rather than relying entirely on Raleigh.

The agency’s board meets bi-monthly and has authority over industrial permits, the agency budget, appealed notices of violation and rule updates. The five-member board includes two members appointed by Asheville City Council and three appointed by the Buncombe County Commissioners. City and county officials also say the board approves rule updates and fee changes, which means the public comment period now underway could influence how the code is written before any final vote.

The stakes extend beyond neighborhoods and industrial sites. After Hurricane Helene, Buncombe County said storm debris burning and air-curtain burner use required permission from the Asheville-Buncombe Air Quality Agency, a reminder that local air rules also affect cleanup work after major storms. With wildfire smoke guidance from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality warning that particulate matter is the principal public-health threat, the county’s proposed code could end up shaping everyday decisions about land clearing, construction dust and emergency response across Buncombe County.