[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of Newberry Township 9-27-2016 by Ord. No. 395. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known as the "Newberry Township Open Burning Ordinance."
A. 
This chapter identifies and regulates the following types of burning:
(1) 
Open burning.
(2) 
Personal use burning.
(3) 
Recreational and ceremonial burning.
(4) 
Outdoor furnace and heating devices burning.
B. 
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
ADULT PERSON
Any individual who has attained to age of 18 years.
BOARD
The Board of Supervisors of Newberry Township, York County, Pennsylvania.
BURNING
The act of consuming by fire; to flame, char, scorch, or blaze. As used in this chapter, "smoldering" shall have the same meaning as "burning" and any smoldering shall be deemed a burning.
BURNING BAN
A period of time when all burning other than burning for the purpose of preparing food in grills or smoker grills shall be prohibited by declaration of the Board of Supervisors in order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents of Newberry Township.
CLEARING AND/OR GRUBBING WASTE
Trees, shrubs and other native vegetation which are cleared from land during or prior to the process of construction, or for agricultural management and conservation practices. The term does not include demolition wastes and dirt-laden roots.
COMPETENT ADULT
An individual 18 years or older with the physical and mental capacity to supervise a fire.
FURNACE
Any enclosed device specifically designed for burning any material for the production of heat.
GARBAGE
All putrescible animal and vegetable matter resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
INCINERATOR
Any device specifically designed for the destruction by burning of refuse, sewage sludge, or any other combustible material.
OPEN BURNING
Any fire not confined in a receptacle of acceptable construction (metal, 55 gallons or smaller, or as described elsewhere in this chapter for personal use fires).
OUTDOOR FURNACE BURNING
Any furnace-type or boiler-style burning apparatus which uses wood or fossil fuels to heat dwellings on a property, whether those dwellings are occupied or not. These furnaces are typically detached from the main dwelling.
PERSON
Any individual, corporation, partnership, association, syndicate, company, firm, trust, corporation, department, bureau or other entity recognized by law as the subject of rights and duties.
PERSONAL USE BURNING
Any open burning of the materials which are placed in an area no greater than five feet in diameter. Personal use fires must be inside of a fireproof containment, such as is described elsewhere in this chapter, and/or in fire rings, chimineas, fire pits which have brick walls for containment use, grills, or outdoor fireplaces.
RECREATIONAL OR CEREMONIAL BURNING
Any open burning of the materials which are placed in an area greater than five feet in diameter, lit for recreational or ceremonial purposes, and not considered open burning as described elsewhere in this chapter. This definition is limited to fires that use wood or wood products that are not associated with land clearing or construction sites.
REFUSE
Garbage, rubbish and trade waste.
RESIDENTIAL AREA
Any area in which the primary uses are single-family dwellings with lot sizes less than 43,560 square feet.
RUBBISH
Solids not considered to be highly flammable or explosive, including, but not limited to, rags, old clothes, leather, rubber, carpets, wood, excelsior, paper, ashes, furniture, tin cans, glass, crockery, masonry and other similar materials.
RURAL AREA
Any area which the primary uses are single-family dwellings or agricultural uses with lot sizes in excess of 43,560 square feet.
SALVAGE OPERATION
Any business, trade or industry engaged in whole or part in salvaging or reclaiming any product or material, including, but not limited to, metals, chemicals, shipping containers or drums.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
SMOLDERING
As used herein, shall have the same meaning as "burning" and any smoldering shall be deemed a burning.
TRADE WASTE
All solid or liquid material or rubbish resulting from construction, building operations, or the prosecution of any business, trade or industry, including, but not limited to, plastic products, cartons, paint, grease, oil and other petroleum products, chemicals, cinders and other forms of solid or liquid waste materials; provided that "trade waste" shall not include any coal refuse associated with the mining or preparation of coal.
WOOD and WOOD PRODUCTS
Trunks of trees and limbs of trees exceeding four inches in diameter, and all products of, or made from, wood (e.g., charcoal, pellet, firewood, etc.).
Within the Township limits, all persons shall observe and obey the following:
A. 
No burning of any plastic, paper or building materials.
B. 
No burning of pressure- or chemically treated wood.
C. 
No burning of poison ivy, poison sumac, poison oak.
D. 
Open burning shall be limited to daylight hours only.
E. 
All personal use, recreational and ceremonial burning shall use only wood or wood products (e.g., charcoal, pellets, firewood, etc.).
F. 
All burning shall be maintained and kept under the supervision of a competent adult equipped with fire extinguishing materials and equipment.
G. 
All burning, including smoldering, shall be thoroughly extinguished after the use thereof has been completed.
H. 
All smoke and/or ash emissions which are or may be objectionable, offensive or deleterious to human or animal health, that shall permeate or cross over neighboring property lines, and/or fall onto buildings, vehicles or vegetation; such burning shall be deemed unlawful under this chapter, and, therefore, such burning may be suspended at the discretion of the appropriate appointed enforcement officer of the Township when such conditions exist.
I. 
No person shall conduct any fire on any street, sidewalk, alley or public ground of the Township, except where lawful and previously approved and where a designated area has been set aside or reserved for this purpose and an appropriate container has been provided to contain such a fire.
J. 
No burning of recyclable materials under the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act of 1988, as amended.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See 53 P.S. § 4000.101 et seq.
K. 
No burning of insulation from copper or other wiring, solid waste and/or construction waste as defined by the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act[2] and 25 Pa. Code § 271.1.
[2]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq.
L. 
No open burning or recreational or ceremonial fires shall be permitted within 100 feet of any building/structure or any wooded area, whether or not owned by any person setting the fire and whether or not occupied.
M. 
No open burning or recreational or ceremonial fires shall be permitted within 100 feet of a property line except with the consent of the adjacent property owner and occupant.
N. 
No person shall ignite or feed, cause, suffer, allow or permit the maintenance of any open fire in the conduct of a salvage operation, on any property under his/her control, outside of any building, or in any public or private place, outside any building.
O. 
Burning shall be prohibited during officially declared burning bans. Burning bans shall be determined by the Newberry Township Fire Department, or its successor, and the Newberry Township Manager in a jointly signed notice. The notice shall be provided to the Chief of Police and shall be announced to the public as widely as possible.
A. 
Fuel substances permitted for combustion in exterior furnace installations shall be limited to natural gas, propane, home heating oil, coal, firewood, pellets, corn, and untreated lumber.
B. 
The burning and combustion of flammable and volatile substances and material, such as, but not limited to, trash, plastics, gasoline, rubber, naphtha, household garbage, material treated with petroleum products (particle board, railroad ties, and pressure-treated wood), human and animal waste, leaves, paper products and cardboard, are strictly prohibited.
C. 
The use of outdoor furnaces and heating devices shall be permitted only in Agriculture and Rural Residential Zoning Districts. Any such devices having already been installed at the time of adoption of this chapter shall be permitted.
D. 
All outdoor furnaces and heating devices shall be set back not less than 100 feet from the nearest lot line.
E. 
Outdoor furnaces shall be operated only between September 1 and May 31, unless the furnace is being used to provide domestic hot water service.
F. 
All outdoor furnaces and heating devices shall be equipped with properly functioning spark arrestors.
G. 
All outdoor furnaces and heating devices shall be provided with a permanently attached stack or chimney, the height of which shall be the greater of one of the following:
(1) 
Four feet above the highest point of any structure, building or wall within a fifty-foot radius of the heating device; or
(2) 
A minimum of 17 feet in height measured from the ground at and on which the device is located; or
(3) 
Meet or exceed the guidelines of the manufacturer of the furnace or heating device.
H. 
All outdoor furnaces and heating devices installed within the Township subsequent to the adoption of this chapter are required to meet emission standards, if any, currently required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Emission standards currently required by the EPA or PA DEP are hereby adopted by reference, together with any amendments or modifications made to them in the future.
The prohibitions contained in § 164-3 are subject to the following exceptions:
A. 
A fire set to prevent or abate a fire hazard.
B. 
A fire set for the purpose of instructing or training firefighting or emergency response personnel.
C. 
A fire set for the prevention and control of disease or pests.
D. 
A fire set in conjunction with the production of agricultural commodities in their unmanufactured state on the premises of the farm operation.
E. 
A fire set in conjunction with the burning of clearing and/or grubbing waste (exclusively for agricultural management and conservation practices and protection). Clearing and/or grubbing waste must originate from the same property, but such burning shall not take place within 100 feet from any building/structure.
Individuals conducting all open burning shall be required to notify the York County Emergency Control prior to the commencement of the burning and again when the open burning is completed.
The Board shall appoint the Township Manager, Fire Department, Code Enforcement Officer, Police Department, Fire Commissioner, or other enforcement officer(s), who shall have the power to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
Any person who shall violate any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, in a criminal proceeding, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000, together with costs of prosecution, and, in default of payment, to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 30 days, unless otherwise so ordered by a court of law.
All ordinances or parts of ordinances which are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
If any sentence, clause, section, or part of this chapter is for any reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid, such unconstitutionality, illegality or invalidity, shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections or parts of this chapter. It is hereby declared as the intent of the Board that this chapter would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid sentence, clause, section or part thereof not been included herein.
This chapter shall become effective five days after adoption.