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Tree waste rules in Massachusetts: brush burning season, open air fire permits and slash near roads

What Massachusetts General Laws chapter 48 and the open burning regulation 310 CMR 7.07 say about open air fire permits, the January 15 to May 1 brush burning window, the cities where it is barred and how cutting slash is left near roads and woodland.

Checked against the sources at the bottom of this page on October 8, 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 sections 13 and 16 of chapter 48 of the Massachusetts General Laws as published by the state legislature, and the text of 310 CMR 7.07 on open burning as published by the Cornell Legal Information Institute, whose notes show the section last amended with an effective date of March 9, 2018.

Permission for any open air fire

According to section 13 of chapter 48, no one may set, maintain or increase a fire in the open air except by permission, covering no more than two days, from the forest warden or fire chief in cities and towns. A permission that is not in writing needs a written record, open to public inspection, with the date, the person and the manner of granting. The section lets the warden make it a condition that burning happens only after four o'clock in the afternoon, and says a permit can be revoked at any time. Persons 18 or older may set a reasonable cooking fire without a permit on sandy or gravelly land free of vegetation, enclosed in rocks or metal. A violation is punished by a fine of not more than US$500 plus the cost of suppression, or imprisonment for not more than one month, or both.

What the air regulation allows

The regulation opens with a rule that no person may cause, suffer, allow or permit the open burning of any combustible material, then lists exceptions in 310 CMR 7.07. Among the exceptions in subsection 3 is the disposal of brush, cane, driftwood and forestry debris, excluding grass, hay, leaves and stumps, from January 15 to May 1 of each year. The text sets three conditions.

  • The burning is on land close to where the debris was produced.
  • It is more than 75 feet from any dwelling.
  • It happens between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The regulation says this exception does not apply to commercial or institutional land clearing for non-agricultural purposes. It names 22 cities and towns where it is not permitted, among them Boston, Cambridge, Worcester and Springfield, and any place the department has notified for air quality or repeated violations. It also lists exceptions for brush and trees from agricultural land clearing, disposal of fungus-infected elm wood where no suitable alternative exists, and disposal approved by the department when it is shown that no alternative method is suitable. All of these burns must take place during good atmospheric ventilation, without a nuisance, with smoke-minimizing starters and under a permit issued under section 13.

The regulation also bars stacking or storing combustible material in a way that lets the department presume it is meant for open burning, and bars open burning at any refuse disposal facility other than an incinerator.

Slash from cutting near roads and woodland

According to section 16 of chapter 48, an owner, tenant or occupant, or their agents or employees, who cuts brush, wood or timber on land that borders another's woodland, a highway or railroad location, or a public forest or woods road must dispose of the slash in a set manner. The section defines slash as tops, branches, damaged trees, slabs, sawdust from milling and debris from logging or land clearing. It sets these limits.

  • Hardwood slash does not remain more than two feet above the ground within 40 feet of another's woodland, a railroad or the edge of a highway, or 20 feet of a forest or woods road.
  • Softwood slash does not remain on the ground within 40 feet of those places, and does not lie more than two feet high between 40 and 100 feet of a highway or within 25 feet of a forest or woods road.
  • All slash is disposed of in a way that minimizes fire danger, and none is allowed within 25 feet of a continuously flowing brook, stream, pond, river or water supply.

The director of the division of forests and parks may make exceptions when cutting plans are prepared or approved. The section says it applies to cutting operations under chapter 132.

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

Sources