Tree waste rules in West Virginia: forest fire seasons, the 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. window, burning permits and penalties

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. It follows West Virginia Code sections 20-3-5 and 20-3-6 as shown on the state Legislature's site, and the Division of Forestry's page on forest fire laws. Neither source sets a rule on chipping or hauling tree waste.

The two fire seasons

According to the text of section 20-3-5, March 1 through May 31 and October 1 through December 31 are the forest fire seasons. In a season, the section allows a person to set fire to forest land, or to grass, grain, stubble, slash, debris or other inflammable material, only between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. The fire must be out by the end of that window. The Division of Forestry's page on fire laws gives the same two periods and the same hours, and words the daytime ban as running from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

What the section lets through in a season

Small attended fires for food preparation, light or warmth, with all grass, brush, stubble and other debris cleared for 10 feet around the fire. These need no burning permit unless a burning ban is in effect.
Burning when the ground around the site is covered by one inch or more of snow.

Burning permits and fees

The section lets the director of the Division of Forestry, or a designee, issue a burning permit for a fire that the section otherwise bars during a season. The permit states the conditions and time frame. The section sets 30 days to act on a complete application when nobody contests it, and 90 days when it is contested. The Division's page describes these as commercial permits.

The fee falls on entities doing commercial, manufacturing, public utility, mining and like work, and agriculture is exempt from it. The fee is US$125 per site and covers the fire season in which it is issued. The section makes breaking a permit condition a violation, and says a permit obtained by willful misrepresentation is invalid.

Safety strip and fire control

The section requires flammable material to be removed around the material to be burned, for a distance that keeps the fire contained and never under 10 feet wide. It says a person, agent or employee whose fire crosses the strip and damages another person's land is guilty of a misdemeanor. With the Governor's approval, the director may prohibit the starting of fire and require it to be put out in a designated area, including fires the section permits, and may declare a forest area a danger area by proclamation, which takes effect after 24 hours.

Leaving a fire and throwing lit material

According to section 20-3-6, anyone who builds or uses a fire in a field, a public or private road, or an area next to forest land must totally extinguish it before leaving it for any period of time. The section also bars throwing or placing a lit match, cigar, cigarette, firecracker or other lit material on forest land, a private road, a public highway or a railroad right-of-way. It names the State Fire Marshal as an enforcer.

Penalties

Section	Offence	Penalty in the text
20-3-5	Any violation of the section, including breaking a permit condition	Misdemeanor, fine of US$100 to US$1,000 for each violation, plus a US$200 civil penalty paid to the Division within 60 days
20-3-6	Leaving a fire unextinguished or throwing lit material	Misdemeanor, fine of US$100 to US$2,000, or 10 to 200 days in county or regional jail, or 32 to 64 hours of litter clean-up, in any combination of one or more

The Division's page adds that the State recovers its fire-fighting costs from anyone whose negligence or violation causes a fire on grass or forest land, and that a landowner must take all practicable means to suppress a fire on his property or the State collects its costs from him. It also says sawmills, power shovels and any engine or machine capable of throwing sparks need an adequate spark arrestor on land subject to fire.

For other places see the table on tree waste and chip rules. Neighbouring Virginia is on tree waste rules in Virginia, and neighbouring Maryland is on tree waste rules in Maryland.