The city hereby adopts the outdoor burning rules as outlined
in title 30 of the Texas Administrative Code, sections 111.201 through
111.211, except as amended below. If a conflict occurs between title
30 of the Texas Administrative Code, sections 111.201 through 111.221
and this article, the stricter of the two codes shall prevail.
(Ordinance 2012-02-06-014 adopted 2/6/12)
No person may cause, suffer, allow, or permit any outdoor burning
within the city limits, except as provided by this article. The burning
of household trash, garbage of any form, or municipal solid waste
is prohibited within the city limits. It shall also be unlawful for
any person to light or have lighted any fire in any street, alley,
thoroughfare or public property. Outdoor disposal or disposition of
any material capable of igniting spontaneously, with the exception
of the storage of fossil fuels, shall not be allowed. No furniture,
construction/demolition materials, heavy oils, asphaltic materials,
potentially explosive materials, chemical wastes, and items containing
natural or synthetic rubber shall be burned.
(Ordinance 2012-02-06-014 adopted 2/6/12)
Regardless of the exceptions in title 30 of the Texas Administrative
Code, sections 111.201 through 111.211, only fires, under the conditions
described below, will be permitted within the corporate limits of
the city:
(1) Fire training.
Outdoor burning shall be authorized for
training of firefighting personnel when requested in writing and authorized
either verbally or in writing by the county fire marshal’s office.
The burning shall be authorized if notice of denial is not received
within 10 working days after the date of postmark or date of personal
delivery of the request.
(2) Domestic outdoor fires.
Outdoor burning shall be authorized
for fires used solely for recreational or ceremonial purposes, or
in the noncommercial preparation of food, or used for the purpose
of supplying warmth during cold weather. Fires for cooking or warmth
shall be limited to fires in a fireproof container, such as a bar-b-que
pit or chimenea, made of brick, stone, metal, or other fireproof material
in such a manner to prevent said fire from escaping. Domestic outdoor
fires do not require a burn permit.
(3) Land clearing.
Special permission may be obtained for the burning of vegetation in the clearing of land. See section
5.07.004 below for obtaining permission to burn.
(4) Disposal fires.
Except as provided in Local Government
Code, section 352.082, outdoor burning is authorized for the following:
(A) Diseased animal carcass burning when burning is the most effective
means of controlling the spread of disease;
(B) Veterinarians in accordance with Texas Occupations Code, section
801.361, Disposal of Animal Remains;
(C) Brush, trees, and other plant growth causing a detrimental public
health and safety condition burned by a county or municipal government
at a site it owns upon receiving site and burn approval from the executive
director of the state commission on environmental quality. Such a
burn can only be authorized when there is no practical alternative,
and it may be done no more frequently than once every two months.
Such burns cannot be conducted at municipal solid waste landfills
unless authorized by regulations of the state commission on environmental
quality.
(5) Otherwise prohibited outdoor burning.
If not otherwise
authorized by this article, outdoor burning may be authorized by written
permission from the city council if there is no practical alternative
and if the burning will not cause or contribute to a nuisance, traffic
hazard or to a violation of any federal or state primary or secondary
ambient air standard. The city council may specify procedures or methods
to control or abate emissions from outdoor burning authorized pursuant
to this article. Authorization to burn may be revoked by the city
council at any time if the burning causes nuisance conditions, is
not conducted in accordance with the specified conditions, violates
any provision of an applicable permit, or causes a violation of any
air quality standard.
(Ordinance 2012-02-06-014 adopted 2/6/12)
(a) Application
for a “permit to burn” shall be made to the city manager
in writing by the owner, operator, or other person in control of the
property upon which the burning is to occur. Application shall indicate
the permitted address, applicant’s name, address and telephone
number and valid driver’s license or identification number.
(b) The
permit is effective for thirty (30) days from the date of issuance.
(c) Requestor
must obtain final approval to burn from the county fire marshal’s
office immediately prior to the start of burning to ensure that weather
conditions will be conducive to this type of burning.
(d) Permit
is automatically voided if the county fire marshal’s office
considers the conditions unsafe.
(Ordinance 2012-02-06-014 adopted 2/6/12)
The fee for a “permit to burn” shall be paid before
the permit is issued. The fee for said permit shall be adopted separately
by city council.
(Ordinance 2012-02-06-014 adopted 2/6/12)
(a) Requester
must contact the city fire department prior to burning. The fire chief,
or his designee, shall inspect the burn site and materials to ensure
that no prohibited materials are included and that general requirements
are being followed.
(b) Burning
is permitted only when the wind direction and other meteorological
conditions are such that the smoke and other pollutants will not present
a hazard to any public road or have an effect on any building structure.
(c) If
at any time the burning causes or may tend to cause smoke to blow
onto or across a street, roadway, or highway, it is the responsibility
of the person initiating the burn to post flag persons on the affected
roads.
(d) Fires
must be kept downwind of, or at least 300 feet away, from any neighboring
structure.
(e) Burning
shall not commence when the surface wind speed is predicted to be
less than six miles per hour (6 mph or 5 knots) or greater than twenty-three
miles per hour (23 mph or 20 knots) during the burn period.
(f) Burning
shall not be conducted during periods of actual or predicted persistent
low-level atmospheric temperature inversions.
(g) Burning
may begin no earlier than one hour after sunrise and must end the
same day no later than one hour before sunset.
(h) A
responsible party must be present while the burn is active. Such persons
shall have a water hose connected to a reliable water supply or have
other fire-extinguishing equipment readily available for use.
(i) Any
residual fires and/or smoldering objects that continue to emit smoke
must be extinguished at the end of the burn.
(Ordinance 2012-02-06-014 adopted 2/6/12)
The authority to conduct outdoor burning under this article
does not exempt or excuse the requestor from complying with all other
applicable laws or ordinances, regulations, and orders of any governmental
entity having jurisdiction, even though the burning is otherwise conducted
in compliance with this article.
(Ordinance 2012-02-06-014 adopted 2/6/12)
Any person violating any portion or provision of this article
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction therefor,
shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $2,000.00. Each day a
violation occurs or continues shall be deemed a separate offense.
(Ordinance 2012-02-06-014 adopted 2/6/12)