Current through September 21, 2024
(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.
