Tree waste rules in Connecticut: open burning of brush, residential permits and municipal burns

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It follows four pages of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) on open burning: the overview, residential, municipal, and campfires and bonfires. The overview and campfire pages show a last update of January 16, 2026, and the residential and municipal pages show December 10, 2021.

Brush only

On the DEEP residential open burning page, open burning is limited to brush, defined as shrubs, vegetation or prunings no more than three inches across at the widest point. It says leaves and grass are not brush. It says open burning is not allowed to clear land, or to dispose of construction debris, household trash or leaves. The overview page defines open burning as burning of any matter so that the products of combustion go straight into the air without passing through a stack or flue.

Residential property only

The residential page defines residential property as property used exclusively for residential purposes with one to four dwelling units. It says burning on property not classified as residential is prohibited, and that a city or town may have an ordinance that restricts or bans burning on residential property. A resident must hold a valid, signed permit from the local Open Burning Official, and the page says the permit does not relieve the permittee of legal liability for the fire. The page directs smoke and nuisance complaints to the local fire marshal or Open Burning Official, not to DEEP.

When burning is not allowed

When the Air Quality Index is forecast at 100 or higher anywhere in the state.
When the Forest Fire Danger Index is rated High, Very High or Extreme.
When state or national ambient air quality standards may be exceeded, when a hazardous health condition might be created, or when DEEP advises of an air pollution episode.
Where a municipal ordinance prohibits it, or when a fire marshal, fire department officer or health or DEEP official directs it stopped.

Permit conditions

The residential page lists these conditions. Burning takes place between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on a sunny or partly sunny day with the wind between 5 and 15 miles per hour, and the pile is completely extinguished by 5 p.m. The permit is kept on site, the fire is never left unattended, and burning must not create a nuisance.

Municipal burns and campfires

According to the DEEP municipal open burning page, a municipality may burn clean brush at its DEEP permitted transfer station, landfill or recycling center up to six times a year with a DEEP permit, applied for by the fire marshal with the chief elected official's approval. A staffed fire truck with water stays at the site. The campfire and bonfire page says campfires and bonfires are not defined by state statute or regulation, that burning is prohibited if it creates a nuisance or breaks a local rule, and that only clean, non-processed wood should be burned, not pallets, construction debris, painted, stained or treated wood.

For other places see the table on tree waste and chip rules. Maine has its own page: tree waste rules in Maine. Rules for moving wood are on moving wood in Connecticut.