Excluding the days from the calculation could affect whether the Macon-Allied monitor shows the area meeting the federal annual soot standard.
Latest and next
- Latest
- September 21, 2026: Exceptional Events Demonstration requesting exclusion of 18 PM2.5 exceedance days at the Macon-Allied monitor caused by prescribed (silviculture) fire smoke
- Next
- EPA review of the demonstration and concurrence decision, following the 30-day public comment period that opened September 21, 2026.
Georgia's environmental protection agency is preparing documentation tying a PM2.5 pollution spike at an Augusta monitor to nearby forestry burns…
Latest and next
- Latest
- September 21, 2026: PM2.5 exceedance at Augusta monitor on February 18, 2025 attributed to prescribed/silviculture fire smoke
- Next
- No next step has been documented.
The exclusion would lower the official pollution reading used to judge whether the Augusta area meets the federal annual PM2.5 health standard.
Latest and next
- Latest
- September 21, 2026: PM2.5 exceedance at Augusta monitor on February 20, 2024 attributed to prescribed/silviculture fire smoke
- Next
- No next step has been documented.
State regulators granted more time to finish previously approved construction work on the Apalachee River water intake facility without changing the project's environmental impact.
Latest and next
- Latest
- September 21, 2026: Buffer variance time extension for Apalachee River Intake Facility Construction (BV-147-21-02), Walton County Water and Sewerage Authority
- Next
- No next step has been documented.
The state agency's draft document seeks to attribute elevated fine-particle pollution readings in Augusta to Canadian wildfire smoke rather than local sources…
Latest and next
- Latest
- September 21, 2026: Draft Canadian Wildfire Exceptional Event Demonstration for 2024 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS at Augusta, GA (2023-2025)
- Next
- No next step has been documented.
Georgia's environmental regulator wants to exclude Canadian wildfire smoke from 2023-2025 air quality readings used to judge Columbus against federal fine-particle pollution standards.
Latest and next
- Latest
- September 21, 2026: Draft Canadian Wildfire Exceptional Event Demonstration for 2024 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS at Columbus, GA (2023-2025)
- Next
- No next step has been documented.
Georgia's environmental regulator has proposed blaming elevated fine-particle pollution at an Augusta monitor on smoke from permitted burning, a finding that could affect how the reading counts toward…
Latest and next
- Latest
- September 21, 2026: PM2.5 exceedance at Augusta monitor on February 24, 2025 attributed to prescribed/silviculture fire smoke
- Next
- No next step has been documented.
State environmental regulators are documenting that widespread prescribed burning, not other pollution sources, may explain a fine-particle air quality exceedance recorded at an Augusta monitor last year.
Latest and next
- Latest
- September 21, 2026: PM2.5 exceedance at Augusta monitor on February 25, 2025 attributed to prescribed/silviculture fire smoke
- Next
- No next step has been documented.
The state environmental agency wants federal regulators to discount 2023-2025 Macon air pollution readings blamed on Canadian wildfire smoke…
Latest and next
- Latest
- September 21, 2026: Draft Canadian Wildfire Exceptional Event Demonstration for 2024 Annual PM2.5 NAAQS at Macon, GA (2023-2025)
- Next
- No next step has been documented.
The request could keep smoke from controlled burns from counting against the Columbus area's compliance with the federal fine-particle pollution standard.
Latest and next
- Latest
- September 21, 2026: 30-day public comment period on the Columbus-Baker Exceptional Event Demonstration
- Next
- A 30-day public comment period on the demonstration, which opened September 21, 2026, must close before EPD can submit it to EPA for concurrence.
Georgia's environmental agency says smoke from dozens of permitted burns near Augusta, not routine pollution, caused a fine-particle air quality exceedance recorded in February 2025.
Latest and next
- Latest
- September 21, 2026: PM2.5 exceedance at Augusta monitor on February 3, 2025 attributed to prescribed/silviculture fire smoke
- Next
- No next step has been documented.
The draft could let state regulators exclude smoke from prescribed burns when judging whether the Macon area meets federal fine-particle air quality standards.
Latest and next
- Latest
- September 21, 2026: Analysis of county fire-return intervals near Macon showing prescribed burns unlikely to recur frequently at a given location (human activity unlikely to recur criterion)
- Next
- No next step has been documented.