Preview build People, jobs, listings and posts are samples. Guides, events and the directory are real.
ArboNation Join free

Tree waste rules in Arizona: unlawful open burning, construction burning permits and prohibited materials

What Arizona Revised Statutes 49-501 and 49-502, rule R18-2-602 of the Arizona Administrative Code and A.R.S. 13-1706 say about open fires, permits for construction and residential burning, the materials that are prohibited and the penalties.

Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 9, 2026. Rules, fees and pay change: the source has the last word.

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It follows the Arizona Legislature's text of A.R.S. 49-501, 49-502 and 13-1706, and the text of rule R18-2-602 as published by Cornell's Legal Information Institute, which copies the Arizona Administrative Code. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality open burning page and the Arizona Secretary of State rules site both refused automated access on October 9, 2026, so neither is cited.

The statute: open fires are unlawful unless excepted

According to A.R.S. 49-501, it is unlawful to ignite, permit or maintain any open outdoor fire except as the section provides. It also makes every open outdoor fire unlawful from May 1 through September 30 each year in "area A", a set of townships in Maricopa, Pinal and Yavapai counties that A.R.S. 49-541 lists. The section excepts fires used only for cooking, warmth or branding animals, orchard heaters for frost protection, fires set by public officers for weed abatement or fire hazard prevention or fire-fighting instruction, and fires permitted under the article's rules. It defines an open outdoor fire as any combustion of material outdoors where the products of combustion do not pass through a flue.

The statute lets the director of environmental quality delegate open burning permits to a county, city, town or fire district, which may assign them to a private fire protection service provider. A first violation lasting no more than 24 hours carries a civil penalty of not more than US$500.

The rule: permit categories for tree and clearing waste

Rule R18-2-602 says that in a county without independent authority to permit fires, which it limits to Maricopa, Pima and Pinal counties, nobody may ignite or maintain an open outdoor fire except as the statute and the rule allow. It defines construction burning as burning wood or vegetative material from land clearing, site preparation or building work, and residential burning as burning vegetative material by or for the occupants of a dwelling. Neither includes household waste or prohibited materials.

  • Construction, agricultural and residential burning, and fires in an air curtain incinerator, are allowed with an open burning permit from the director or a delegated authority. Permits run for no more than one year.
  • Permits must say that fires are lit no earlier than one hour after sunrise and out no later than two hours before sunset, unless the director waives that for a specific day.
  • Permits require that the person notify the local fire-fighting agency before burning, attend the fire until it is out, keep extinguishing equipment on site and keep a pit, pile or approved waste burner at least 50 feet from any structure.
  • Permits bar burning during an air stagnation advisory or a declared air pollution episode, and the director or another public officer may order a burn put out in poor smoke dispersion or extreme fire danger.
  • Permittees report each burn, with date, fuel type and quantity, fire type and location, either daily or in an annual report due March 31.

Prohibited materials and penalties

The rule lists prohibited materials that no permit may cover, other than a separate permit to burn dangerous materials. They include chemically treated wood, lead-painted wood, tires, oleanders, asphalt shingles, tar paper, plastic and rubber products, waste petroleum products, asbestos and batteries.

According to the text of A.R.S. 49-502, a violation of the article, a rule under it or a permit condition is a class 1 misdemeanor for each day it continues, with a civil penalty of not more than US$10,000 per day per violation. Separately, the criminal code section A.R.S. 13-1706 makes it unlawful to set wildland on fire other than a person's own or to let a fire pass onto another person's grounds. It lists exceptions, including lawful open burning in agricultural operations, and grades the offence from a class 2 misdemeanor for criminal negligence up to a class 3 felony for an intentional fire that endangers a person's life.

For other places see the table on tree waste and chip rules. Another Western state is on the Idaho page.

Sources