020-10 Wyo. Code R. §§ 10-2 - Open burning restrictions

(a) Definitions. The following definitions apply to Chapter 10, Section 2. Unless defined differently below, the meaning of the terms used in this section is the same as in Chapter 1, Section 3 of these regulations.

(i) "Jurisdictional fire authority" means an agency, organization or department whose purpose is to prevent, manage, and/or suppress fires in a designated geographic area, including, but not limited to, volunteer fire departments, fire districts, municipal fire departments and federal fire staff.

(ii) "Open burning" shall mean a fire where any material is burned in the open or in a receptacle other than a furnace, incinerator, or other equipment connected to a stack or chimney. Open burning does not include burns for recreational purposes, cooking of food, providing warmth for human beings, branding of animals, handheld fire extinguisher training and other similarly insignificant burning activities.

(iii) "Pile volume" means the quantity in cubic feet of vegetative materials that have been manually or mechanically relocated and heaped together, as calculated using pile shape and overall dimensions.

(iv) "Population" means all individuals, other than the open burner, occupying a fixed area. Fixed areas include, but are not limited to, portions of property normally occupied as residential, recreational, institutional, commercial, or educational premises, but do not include fixed areas under control of the open burner.

(v) "Prohibited materials" means substances including, but not limited to; natural or synthetic rubber products, including tires; waste petroleum products, such as oil or used oil filters; insulated wire; plastic products, including polyvinyl chloride ("PVC") pipe, tubing and connectors; tar, asphalt, asphalt shingles, or tar paper; railroad ties; wood, wood waste, or lumber that is painted or chemically treated; explosives or ammunition; batteries; hazardous waste products; asbestos or asbestos containing materials; or materials which cause dense smoke discharges, excluding refuse and flaring associated with oil and gas well testing, completions and well workovers.

(vi) "Refuse" means any waste material including garbage that is generated at dwelling units, farmsteads, or ranch headquarters.

(vii) "Trade wastes" shall mean solid, liquid, or gaseous material resulting from construction or the prosecution of any business, trade or industry, or any demolition operation including but not limited to wood, plastics, cartons, grease, oil, chemicals and cinders and excluding vegetative material and refuse.

(viii) "Vegetative material" means untreated unprocessed wood, including, but not limited to, trees, tree stumps, tree limbs, bark, chips, duff, grass, grass clippings, leaves, conifer needles, bushes, shrubs, weeds, clippings from bushes and shrubs, and agricultural plant residue.

(b) Compliance with requirements.

(i) The person or organization conducting an open burn shall comply with all rules and regulations of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality, and with the Wyoming Environmental Quality Act.

(ii) Authorized representatives of the Division shall be given permission by the person or organization conducting an open burn to enter and inspect a property, premise or place on or at which an open burn is or was located solely for the purpose of investigating actual sources of air pollution, and for determining compliance or non-compliance with any applicable rules, regulations, standards or orders. This permission shall extend for a maximum time of ten business days after the open burn is completed. Site inspections during this period shall be initiated only after notification of the person or organization conducting the open burn.

(iii) Nothing in this Section shall relieve any person or organization conducting an open burn of the responsibility to comply with all applicable local, state and federal laws, regulations and ordinances.

(iv) Nothing in this Section shall relieve any person or organization conducting an open burn of the responsibility to comply with any lawfully issued restriction on burning.

(v) Nothing in this Section is intended to address safety issues related to the use of fire, which fall under the control of jurisdictional fire authorities.

(c) Unlawful open burning. No person shall burn prohibited materials using an open burning method, except as may be authorized by permit.

(d) Emergency open burning. For purposes of eliminating a potential or an imminent danger to public health, safety, or the environment, the Administrator of the Division may, on a case-by-case basis, waive any and all requirements of this Section.

(e) Restrictions on refuse burning. No person shall dispose of refuse by open burning, or cause, suffer, allow or permit open burning of refuse, except open burning of refuse associated with dwelling units, farmsteads, or ranch headquarters generated on those same premises, when all of the following requirements are met.

(i) The nearest population is at least 500 feet away from the refuse burn.

(ii) The refuse burn is conducted during the daytime hours.

(iii) The person conducting the open burn shall attend and observe the refuse burn periodically to determine the dispersion, direction, and impacts of the smoke.

(f) Restrictions on open burning of trade wastes, salvage operations, fire hazards, or fire fighting training. No person or organization shall conduct or cause or permit open burning for the disposal of trade wastes, for a salvage operation, for the destruction of fire hazards if so designated by a jurisdictional fire authority, or for fire fighting training, except when it can be shown by a person or organization that such open burning is absolutely necessary and in the public interest. Any person or organization intending to engage in such open burning shall file a request to do so with the Division, on a form provided by the Division. Upon approval of the request by the Division, the person or organization may proceed with the open burn, when all of the following requirements are met.

(i) Prior to ignition of an open burn, the person or organization conducting an open burn shall remove all prohibited materials, except as may be authorized by permit.

(ii) The person or organization conducting the open burn shall notify the Division prior to the ignition of the open burn, in accordance with the notification process approved by the Administrator of the Division. This notification shall include the contact information for the person or organization conducting the open burn, the location of the open burn, and other information required by the Administrator of the Division.

(iii) Prior to the ignition of an open burn, the person or organization conducting the open burn shall communicate burn information to the public by notifying the jurisdictional fire authority(ies) responsible for the geographic area in which the open burn is to occur.

(iv) The person or organization conducting the open burn shall attend and observe the open burn periodically to determine the dispersion, direction, and impacts of the smoke.

(g) Restrictions on vegetative material open burning.

(i) Open burning of vegetative material is subject to the requirements of Chapter 10, Section 4, except as provided in Subsection (g)(ii) of this regulation.

(ii) Open burning of vegetative material under this Subsection may be conducted provided that burning does not exceed 0.25 tons of PM₁₀ emissions per day. When areas or piles are on a contiguous land area and will be burned on the same day and by the same person or organization, the sum of these areas or piles constitutes the daily burn area or daily pile volume. Open burning of vegetative material under this Subsection shall meet all of the following requirements:

(A) Prior to the ignition of an open burn, the person or organization conducting the open burn shall communicate burn information to the public by notifying the jurisdictional fire authority(ies) responsible for the geographic area in which the open burn is to occur.

(B) The person or organization conducting the open burn shall attend and observe the open burn periodically to determine the dispersion, direction, and impacts of the smoke.

(C) The open burn, except for fenceline, irrigation ditch or canal burns, shall only be conducted at least 500 feet from a population, unless a waiver of this requirement has been granted by the Administrator of the Division. The person or organization conducting the open burn shall document in writing the reasons for requesting the waiver. The Administrator of the Division shall consider such waiver requests on a case-by-case basis.

Notes

020-10 Wyo. Code R. §§ 10-2