Community Response Plans

The goal of Community Response Plans (CRP) are to promote communication between the entities that conduct prescribed fire, the local public health authority, vulnerable populations, and the general public. It should include details about the needs of the community that it serves.

 At a minimum, the plan must include:

1. A description of populations in a Smoke Sensitive Receptor Area (SSRA) community that are vulnerable to the health effects of short-term smoke;
2. Adequate means by which the public, especially vulnerable populations in the SSRA community, will be notified in a clear and reliable way of anticipated smoke impacts in a timely manner;
3. Adequate options for protecting the health of vulnerable populations (or helping such populations to protect themselves) from short-term exposure to smoke; and
4. A plan and program for communications between the entities that conduct prescribed fire, the local public health authority, and the community's public and vulnerable populations who may be impacted by smoke.

CRP development toolkit

• Oregon Administrative Rule, OAR 629-048-0180
• Oregon Prescribed Fire Protocol – Coming soon
• Oregon Prescribed Fire Media Toolkit – Coming soon
  
• Oregon Prescribed Fire Media Communication Timeline – Coming soon
• U of O Smoke Center CRP Fact Sheet
  
• Existing Community Response Plans
  
• DEQ Prescribed Burning on Forestlands
  
• OHA Smoke, Air Quality, Health Recommendations
  
• Prescribed fire education
  
• U of O Center for Wildfire Smoke Research and Practice
  
• U of O Prescribed Fire Education
  
• OSU Prescribed Fire
  
• Current Community Response Plans with exemptions from the one-hour average smoke intrusion threshold.
  SSRA communities that develop and implement such a plan that meets the criteria outlined in (2) may request an exemption from the one-hour average smoke intrusion threshold. An exemption to the one-hour smoke intrusion threshold means that smoke impacts that surpass the one-hour threshold, but not the 24-hour average threshold, shall be deemed smoke incidents, not smoke intrusions, in the SSRA.
  
• Ashland Community Response Plan
• Oakridge Community Response Plan
• Bend Community Response Plan
  
• Wallowa Community Response Plan 
  
• Annual report
  Process overview to request an exemption from the one-hour average smoke intrusion threshold
  

An annual report is required for communities with CRP exemptions from the one-hour average smoke intrusion threshold. OAR 629-048-0180 advises, “SSRAs that have received an exemption must demonstrate they are implementing their community response plan through an annual report provided by the local health authority detailing:
(A) Compliance with requirements in (2);
(B) A summary of methods used to communicate to the public and vulnerable populations;
(C) A log of dates and times the community initiated their response plan;
(D) A record of local meetings to discuss or update the community response plan."
• Annual report template for communities with CRPs and exemptions from the one-hour rule – Coming soon
  
• Smoke Sensitive Receptor Areas (SSRAs)
• OAR 629-048-0140
• Smoke Sensitive Receptor Areas map