Yard debris burning rules in Oregon

Who regulates a backyard fire in Oregon

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality writes the baseline in OAR Chapter 340, Division 264, Rules for Open Burning. Division 264 sets what may never be burned anywhere in the state (340-264-0060), then sets county-by-county rules for domestic burning in 340-264-0100 to 0175. Lane County is the exception: the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency administers its own Title 47, Outdoor Burning, in place of DEQ’s county rules.

On top of that, cities and fire districts add bans and call-in requirements, and DEQ’s own page says they do: cities, counties and local fire districts have their own restrictions. The Oregon Department of Forestry adds a fourth layer on forestland during fire season under ORS 477. Two state tools pull the layers together: DEQ’s interactive “Can I Burn?” map and the Before You Burn site at beforeyouburn.net, where you check restrictions and, where required, register the burn.

The Portland-metro year-round ban

Domestic open burning, which is the rule’s term for a homeowner’s yard-debris fire, is prohibited all year inside a mapped boundary in each of the three metro counties:

• Multnomah County (OAR 340-264-0130): the urban Portland area, bounded by the three-county corner, southeast Portland, the Columbia River and the Willamette; all of northwest Multnomah County outside a fire protection district; and the Burlington Water District. West of the Sandy River but outside those areas, yard debris may be burned only March 1 to June 15 and October 1 to December 15. East of the Sandy River domestic burning is allowed year-round subject to state and local rules.
• Clackamas County (OAR 340-264-0120): a polygon running from the three-county corner along the county lines, the Clackamas River, the Metro boundary and the Willamette and Tualatin rivers, which takes in the county’s urbanized north. Inside the Metro boundary but outside that polygon, including mapped areas near Clackamas Community College, Henrici Road and Highway 213, yard debris only in the two seasonal windows. Elsewhere, year-round during daylight.
• Washington County (OAR 340-264-0140): a boundary starting at Interstate 205 and the county line that takes in Tualatin and the county’s metro core. Incorporated areas and fire districts outside that boundary get the same March 1 to June 15 and October 1 to December 15 windows; unincorporated land outside a fire district may burn year-round between 7:30 a.m. and two hours before sunset.

DEQ letter permits for yard debris in Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah and Washington counties are restricted to hardship situations. In practice, a homeowner inside Portland, Gresham, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Tigard, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Happy Valley or Oregon City should assume no backyard burning at all and plan on chipping or hauling.

Salem, Albany, Corvallis and the Yamhill towns

OAR 340-264-0110 covers Benton, Linn, Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties with “special open burning control areas” drawn as circles around towns. Domestic burning is restricted within 6 miles of Corvallis, Salem and Keizer, and within 3 miles of Albany, Philomath, Brownsville, Harrisburg, Lebanon, Lyons, Mill City, Tangent, Sweet Home, Aumsville, Gervais, Hubbard, Jefferson, Mt. Angel, Silverton, Stayton, Sublimity, Turner, Woodburn, Dallas, Falls City, Independence, Monmouth, Willamina, Amity, Carlton, Dayton, Dundee, Lafayette, McMinnville, Newberg and Sheridan. Inside those circles, yard debris may be burned only from March 1 through June 15 and from October 1 through December 15, during daylight, subject to the fire district and the State Fire Marshal. Outside the circles, domestic burning is allowed year-round under the same general rules.

Columbia County (OAR 340-264-0150) restricts construction and demolition burning within 3 miles of Clatskanie, Rainier, St. Helens, Scappoose and Vernonia and defers domestic-burning timing to the fire districts. Every county section repeats the same instruction: check with the local jurisdiction and the State Fire Marshal before lighting anything.

Lane County: LRAPA Title 47

LRAPA’s rules are stricter than DEQ’s and are written around lot size. No yard-debris burning is allowed inside the Eugene or Florence city limits regardless of lot size. Inside the Eugene urban growth boundary but outside the city, the lot must be at least 2 acres. Inside the Springfield UGB the minimum is half an acre. In Oakridge, the coastal areas and the rest of the county there is no minimum lot size. The seasons in the Eugene, Springfield and Oakridge areas run from March 1 to early June and from early October to October 31, and all burning is closed during fire season.

Before any burn in Lane County you call the daily advisory line, (541) 726-3976, or (541) 997-1757 on the coast, which tells you whether burning is open that day. Only clean, woody yard trimmings generated on the property may be burned; nothing may be brought from another site, and overnight smoldering is not allowed. Commercial, construction, slash and bonfire burning need an LRAPA letter permit.

ODF permits and fire season

The State Forester declares fire season district by district (ORS 477.505). ORS 477.515 makes it unlawful to set an open fire inside or within one-eighth of a mile of a forest protection district without a written permit from the forester, who may waive the requirement outside fire season; campfires are excepted. The forester can attach conditions on how the fire is set and kept from spreading, can revoke a permit obtained by misrepresentation, and can delegate permit administration to counties, cities and rural fire districts by agreement.

ODF’s burn page applies that to two situations. Slash burning on forestland in an ODF district needs a burn permit during fire season, and some districts require one all year; smoke management rules in OAR 629-041 apply. Household yard debris is handled differently: ODF routes it to the local fire district and to Before You Burn, and notes that many areas prohibit all burning when fire danger is high. If your lot is in or near a protection district, the practical rule is to call the local ODF district office before any debris fire between roughly June and October, and to expect a flat no during regulated-use closures. ODF’s restrictions page has an interactive map: choose “Check public fire restrictions”, zoom to your property and click it to see the rules in force that day.

Rules by region

What you may and may not burn

Where burning is open, the only lawful fuel is dry yard debris: leaves, needles, prunings and limbs from your own property. LRAPA’s rule says it for Lane County, clean woody yard trimmings generated on the property, and the DEQ framework assumes the same thing by calling the category “domestic” burning.

OAR 340-264-0060 lists what may never go in an open fire anywhere in Oregon: wet garbage, plastic, asbestos, wire insulation, automobile parts, asphalt, petroleum products and petroleum-treated materials, rubber products, animal remains, food waste, and any material that normally emits dense smoke or noxious odors. The same section bars any fire that creates a nuisance or a hazard to public safety, bars burning on days when DEQ tells the State Fire Marshal that weather or air quality warrants it, and bars burning outside the hours DEQ specifies. DEQ’s guidance page adds the hours, 7:30 a.m. to two hours before sunset, and names tires, treated wood and dead animals in its plain-language list. For a tree job that means no stump with soil on it, no treated fence boards mixed into the pile, and no green, sap-heavy limbs that will smolder; the stump grinding page covers what to do with the stump instead. Anything beyond a homeowner’s own yard debris, such as a contractor’s pile from clearing a lot, is “debris burning” that needs a DEQ letter permit unless it is agricultural waste still under the control of the person who produced it (340-264-0060). Questions about current restrictions go to the regional DEQ office.

Alternatives: chipping, carts and transfer stations

Inside the burn-ban areas the realistic options are a chipper, a curbside cart, or a transfer station.

• Chipping. A crew’s chipper turns limbs into mulch on site in minutes, and most removal and land clearing quotes include chipping and haul-away. Chips can stay as mulch or go in the cart. For a lot with brush rather than trees, see brush clearing.
• Portland’s green cart. Portland’s compost roll cart takes yard debris with small branches under 4 inches thick and 36 inches long. Stumps, larger branches, dirt, rocks, sod, lumber and treated wood are not accepted. The city’s garbage line is 503-823-7202.
• Lane County transfer stations. Yard debris and wood waste rates apply at the Cottage Grove, Glenwood and Florence sites only: Glenwood and Florence charge $109.58 per ton with an $11 minimum, Cottage Grove $25 for 1 to 3 cubic yards and $11 per additional yard. No dirt, bags or garbage in the load.
• Marion County sites. Marion County Environmental Services lists the Salem-Keizer Recycling and Transfer Station, North Marion Recycling and Transfer Station and Brown’s Island among its disposal locations; call (503) 588-5169 for current yard debris rates.
• Eugene and Salem carts. Neither city’s yard-debris page could be read on the check date, so ask your garbage hauler whether a yard debris cart is offered on your route and what branch sizes it takes.

Penalties and liability

Illegal burning draws two kinds of consequences. The first is a civil penalty from the air agency. ORS 468.140 sets the statutory ceiling for air quality violations at $25,000 per day; actual amounts depend on the class of violation and the violator’s history, and LRAPA, cities and fire districts issue their own citations under their own codes.

The second is the fire itself. On forestland, violating the forest protection laws is a Class D violation for a first offense, Class C for a second and Class A for a third, and becomes a Class A misdemeanor when the violation causes injury, death or property damage of $10,000 or more; each day counts as a separate violation (ORS 477.993). Separately, an owner or operator who is negligent, willful or malicious in the origin or spread of a fire is liable for the state’s fire suppression costs, with 10 percent annual interest from 90 days after the State Forester’s written demand, a lien on the land, and attorney fees to the prevailing party (ORS 477.068). DEQ’s page says what every fire district says: burning in compliance with the rules does not exempt you from civil or criminal liability for damage the fire causes.

If a debris pile is the end of a tree removal, the cheaper order of operations is to get the permit first, have the crew chip on site, and keep the only fire for a lot outside the ban areas on an open day inside the season. The main tree removal page covers how a crew prices chipping and haul-away.