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Tree waste rules in Tennessee: open burning prohibited, the wood waste and vegetation exceptions and the half mile rule

What rule chapter 1200-03-04 of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation says about open burning: the general ban, the definition of wood waste, the exception for vegetation grown on the burn site, the half mile distance rule and the materials that may never be burned.

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 rules 1200-03-04-.02, .03 and .04 of the Tennessee Compilation of Rules and Regulations as shown by the Cornell Legal Information Institute. The rules do not set a fine in the text read.

The ban

According to rule .03, no person may cause, suffer, allow or permit open burning except as rule .04 exempts it. The definitions in rule .02 say open burning is burning where the products of combustion go straight into the open air without passing through a stack, and includes fires in a pile on the ground, a barrel, a fire pit or another semi-enclosure. An air curtain destructor or incinerator is not open burning under the rule, and is treated as incineration under the permitting rules of chapter 1200-3-9.

Rule .03(4) expressly bars burning tires and other rubber products, vinyl shingles and siding, other plastics, asphalt shingles and other asphalt roofing materials, and asbestos containing materials, even in an exempt fire.

Definitions that decide what counts as wood

Rule .02 defines wood waste as any product that has not lost its basic character as wood, such as bark, sawdust, chips and chemically untreated lumber, whose disposal by open burning is only to get rid of or destroy it. It says leaves, evergreen needles and grasses are not wood waste. Manufactured lumber such as plywood, fiberboard, particleboard and paneling is not wood waste, and neither is painted or artificially stained wood.

Exceptions that matter for tree work

In the text of rule .04, the list of open burning that may be done comes with a note that the exception does not relieve the burner of responsibility for any damage. Several items touch tree debris.

  • Fires consisting only of vegetation grown on the property of the burn site. The priming materials are limited to grade 1 or 2 fuel oils, wood waste or other ignition devices the Technical Secretary approves.
  • Fires disposing of wood waste only to get rid of it, as T.C.A. section 68-201-115(c) provides, with priming limited to grade 1 or 2 fuel oils.
  • Fires of vegetation, uncoated paper and cardboard, and manufactured lumber not chemically treated against insects or rot, such as plywood, fiberboard and paneling, if the site is not nearer than one half mile to an airport, hospital, nursing home, school, federal or state highway, national or state park, wildlife area, national or state forest, or occupied structures other than those on the burn property. The person burning must certify the distances in writing, naming the types and amounts of material, and deliver the certificate to the Division of Air Pollution Control regional Environmental Field Office at least ten working days before the burn.
  • Fires of material from a natural disaster such as tornadoes, hail and wind storms, ice storms and flooding. If a government collective burn site for damaged structures and vegetation is planned, the Division must be told at least three days ahead. The rule says using chippers and grinders in place of burning is encouraged.
  • Campfires, barbecues and outdoor fireplaces for cooking, ceremony, recreation or comfort heating.

Rule .04 also says the Technical Secretary may require burning to stop or be limited if the emissions are judged to endanger public health, make a nuisance or safety hazard, or interfere with air quality standards. An exception does not relieve anyone of getting a permit from another agency or meeting other requirements, ordinances or restrictions, and breaking a condition of an exception is a violation of the rule chapter.

For other places see the table on tree waste and chip rules. Rules for moving wood are on moving firewood in Tennessee, and neighbouring Kentucky is on tree waste rules in Kentucky.

Sources