Tree waste rules in Illinois: open burning of landscape waste, trade waste and permits

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It follows the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency open burning page and brochure, and section 9 of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act as published by the General Assembly.

The general rule

According to the agency's open burning page, open burning is defined as open burning the combustion of any matter in the open or in an open dump, and it is generally prohibited unless an exemption applies. Section 9(c) of the Act bars causing or allowing the open burning of refuse, with the Pollution Control Board able to adopt rules that allow it in certain cases. The agency brochure says local ordinances may be more restrictive, may require extra permits, and are not overridden by state law.

Landscape waste

The agency page lists trees, tree trimmings, branches, stumps, brush, weeds, leaves, grass, shrubbery and yard trimmings as landscape waste. It says landscape waste may be burned on the premises where it is produced, or at sites provided and supervised by a unit of local government, except within any county with a population of more than 400,000. Section 9 of the Act uses the same county wording. The agency page repeats the 400,000 figure for municipalities in its leaf paragraph, so the two places on the page do not match.

The statute as published carries a further sentence for tree businesses. Section 9 says nothing in it prohibits burning landscape waste by a person engaged in the business of tree removal at the person's registered place of business, provided the burning is in a county with a population of 50,000 or less, is more than 1,000 feet from the nearest residence, is not in an area with a PM2.5 design value above 9 micrograms per cubic meter, is not in an area of environmental justice concern as determined by the agency's EJ Start tool, and follows all federal, State and local laws and ordinances.

The brochure says anyone in a town, or within one mile of a town, with a population of 1,000 or more may burn only landscape waste. The agency page calls these restricted areas and says a later change to Section 9 appears to nullify some prohibited area requirements in the rules. The page also says there is no state ban on leaf burning, and that local governments may limit hours or materials, or ban burning completely.

Business waste

The brochure says open burning of waste by a business is illegal, except landscape waste generated to maintain the property and agricultural waste generated on the property under limited circumstances.
Commercial waste, garbage (food, food scraps, food packaging, diapers), construction and demolition debris, tires and materials containing asbestos are listed as waste that can never be burned.
Household waste is listed as burnable only on the premises where it is generated and outside a restricted area. The page excludes landscape waste, garbage and trade waste from that term.

Burns that need an agency permit

The page lists four kinds of permitted open burning: firefighter and fire extinguisher training, landscape waste burned with an air curtain destructor, prairie and ecological burns, and disaster debris after a declared major disaster. It says the permit is free, that the agency has 90 days by law to issue it, and that permits are typically issued for one year. The brochure lists the application form for the training, air curtain and prairie burns as APC 325. The agency page says an air curtain destructor may also need local siting approval under section 39.2 of the Act.

The page says campfires and bonfires on private property need no state permit, and the brochure words this as cooking and campfires. The page also lists landscape and agricultural waste burned under the conditions above as needing no state permit. It gives no fines or penalties.

For other places see the table on tree waste and chip rules. Wisconsin has its own page: tree waste rules in Wisconsin.