BUTTE COUNTY AQMD RULES AND REGULATIONS 

Rule 300 Open Burning Requirements, Prohibitions and Exemptions 

(Adopted February 23, 1971; Amended December 12, 1972 and July 15, 1980; Recodified and 

Amended August 6, 1985; Amended September 18, 1990 and April 7, 1992; Recodified 

and Amended August 20, 1998; Recodified August 22, 2002; Amended January 22, 2004; 

Recodified and Amended December 9, 2010: Amended February 24, 2011) 

RULE 300 CONTENTS 

1 PURPOSE 

2 APPLICABILITY 

3 EFFECTIVE DATE 

4 EXEMPTIONS 

4.1 Agricultural Burning 

4.2 Animal Husbandry Branding 

4.3 Backfires 

4.4 Disposal of Contraband 

4.5 Disposal of an Unserviceable American Flag 

5 

4.6 Filmmaking 

4. 7 Fire Hazard Reduction 

4.8 Fires Set By Public Officers 

4.9 Industrial Site Fire Training 

4.10 Non-Agricultural Burning 

4.11 Pesticide Application 

4.12 Recreational Fires 

4.13 Residential Burning 

4.14 Right-of-Way Clearing 

DEFINITIONS 

5.1 Agricultural Burning 

5.2 Agricultural Waste 

5.3 Air Pollution Control Officer (APCO) 

5.4 Approved Ignition Devices 

5.5 Backfire 

5.6 Brush Treated 

5.7 Burn Barrel 

5.8 Burn Information Recorder 

5.9 Burn Permit or Air Quality Burn Permit 

5.10 Burn Season Month 

5.11 California Air Resources Board (CARB) 

5.12 Chico Sphere oflnfluence 

5.13 Class I Area 

5.14 Contraband 

5.15 Crackle Test 

5.16 Daily Acreage Allocation 

5.17 Disposal 

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BUTTE COUNTY AQMD 

5.18 DISTRICT 

5.19 Fire Agency Burn Permit 

5.20 Fire Hazard Reduction Burning 

5.21 Fire Protection Agency 

5.22 Forest Management Burning 

5.23 Garbage 

5.24 Incinerator 

5.25 Land Clearing 

5.26 Land Manager 

5.27 Magalia/Upper Ridge Area 

RULES AND REGULATIONS 

5.28 National Emissions Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPs) 

5.29 No-Burn Day 

5.30 Non-Agricultural Burning 

5.31 Open Burning 

5.32 Paper Containers of Agricultural Chemicals 

5.33 Permissive Burn Day or Burn Day 

5.34 Person 

5.35 Prescribed Burning 

5.36 Prescribed Fire Incident Reporting System (PFIRS) 

5.37 Prohibited Materials 

5.38 Prunings-Only Burn Day 

5.39 Range Improvement Burning 

5.40 Residential Burning 

5.41 Residential Burn Day 

5.42 Rice Equivalent Acres 

5.43 Rubbish 

5.44 Sacramento Valley Air Basin 

5.45 Sacramento Valley Air Basin Smoke Management Program 

5.46 Silvaculture or Timber Management 

5.47 Smoke Impact Liability 

5.48 Smoke Management Plan 

5.49 Smoke Management Program Coordinator 

5.50 Smoke Sensitive Area 

5.51 State Responsibility Areas 

5.52 Town ofParadise Sphere 

5.53 Variance 

5.54 Wildland 

5.55 Wildland Management Burning 

6 GENERAL PROHIBITIONS 

7 BURN PERMIT REQUIREMENTS 

7.1 General Requirements 

7.2 Required Information 

7.3 Fees 

7.4 Exemptions to Permit Requirements 

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BUTTE COUNTY AQMD RULES AND REGULATIONS 

8 GENERAL BURN REQUIREMENTS, CONDITIONS AND PRACTICES 

8.1 Designated Burn Period 

8.2 Drying Time Requirement 

8.3 Fire Control 

8.4 Fire Protection Agencies 

8.5 Fire Suppression 

8.6 Ignition Devices 

8. 7 Required Conduct 

8.8 Restriction OfBurning During Poor Air Quality Conditions 

8.9 Smoke Minimization 

8.10 Strict Liability 

8.11 Suspension ofBurning Privilege 

8.12 Wind Direction 

9 AGRICULTURAL BURNING 

9.1 General Conditions 

9.2 Burn Hours 

9.3 Daily Acreage Allocation 

9.4 Field Crop Burn Limitation 

9.5 Notice oflntent to Ignite 

9.6 Paper Containers of Agricultural Chemicals 

9. 7 Flood Debris 

9.8 Permit to Burn on a No-Burn Day 

9.9 Range Improvement Burning on a No-Burn Day 

9.10 Acreage Limitation on No-Burn Days 

9.11 Rice Straw Burning 

9.12 Wildland Vegetation Management Burning 

10 NON-AGRICULTURAL BURNING 

10.1 General Conditions 

10.2 Burn Hours 

10.3 Fires Set by Public Officers 

10.4 Disposal ofContraband 

10.5 Industrial Site Fire Training 

10.6 Land Clearing 

10.7 Right ofWay, Levee, Reservoir and Ditch Clearing 

10.8 Fire Hazard Reduction 

11 RESIDENTIAL BURNING 

11.1 General Conditions 

11.2 Burn Hours 

11.3 Performance Standards 

11.4 Additional Requirements for Magalia/Upper Ridge Area 

11.5 Additional Requirements for the Chico Sphere oflnfluence 

12 SEVERABILITY 

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