[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors
of the Township of Independence 9-16-1998 by Ord. No. 98-5. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Brush, weeds and other vegetation — See Ch. 220.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited
as the "Independence Township Open Burning Ordinance of 1998."
This chapter is enacted pursuant to Section
12 of the Air Pollution Control Act, as amended, 35 P.S. § 4012(a),
and Section 702, Clauses XXIX (Health), XXXII (Fire Prevention), XLI
(Ordinances), XLVII (Public Safety), and LXII (General Powers) of
the Second Class Township Code, 53 P.S. §§ 65729, 65732,
65741, 65747 and 65762.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See now 53 P.S. § 65101 et seq.
It is hereby declared to be the policy of Independence
Township as a matter of public health and safety to regulate fires
and open burning in Independence Township for the purposes of:
The following words, terms and phrases, when
used in this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise,
shall have the following meanings ascribed to them:
Any fire in an incinerator, fireplace or cooking grill or
other contained enclosure designated for outdoor cooking, or a fireproof
container.
The Fire Chief of Independence Township, the Independence
Township Code Enforcement Officer and the officers of the Pennsylvania
State Police shall be designated the authority to bring any and all
enforcement actions.
[Amended 5-16-2012; 5-21-2014]
All putrescible animal and vegetable matter resulting from
handling, preparation, cooking and consumption of food.
Any fire which is outside of an enclosed structure or building.
Any individual, partnership, association, syndicate, company,
firm, trust, corporation, department, bureau, agency, or other legal
or commercial entity recognized by law as the subject of rights and
duties.
An individual 18 years or older who is not under the influence
of drugs or alcohol or suffering from any other disability which would
impair his or her ability to properly supervise a fire.
The total width of any land reserved or dedicated for the
public use of vehicular or pedestrian traffic, interstates, freeways,
parkways, lanes, alleys, viaducts, sidewalks, marginal accessways
and any other ways used for vehicular and pedestrian traffic which
are dedicated to public use of residents in a land development or
subdivision.
Tree leaves, plant cuttings, brush and limbs of tress up
to four inches in diameter, and all products of, or made from wood.
A geographic area as defined in 25 Pa. Code § 121.1
which includes, among other political subdivisions, Independence.
Trunks of trees and limbs of trees exceeding four inches
in diameter, and all products of, or made of wood.
[Amended 5-16-2012; 5-21-2014]
The Independence Township Fire Chief, the Independence
Township Code Enforcement Officer, and the Officers of the Pennsylvania
State Police, shall have power and duty to enforce the provisions
of this chapter.
A.
Open fires prohibited. It shall be unlawful for any
person to burn, ignite, incinerate, maintain or permit to burn any
materials whatsoever of whatever nature in Independence Township without
complying with this chapter.
C.
Firefighter training. Nothing herein shall be construed
to prevent fire-fighting training by Independence Township designated
fire-fighting organizations.
The following types of fires are permitted subject
to the specific and general regulations contained herein:
A.
Wood and wood products. Burning of wood and wood products
is permitted subject to the following regulations:
(1)
Permit required for open burning to clear land. Any
landowner may obtain a permit for open burning of wood and wood products
and vegetation on a lot for the purpose of clearing land for agriculture
or construction. The application for a permit shall be made to Independence
Township, shall be substantially the same form as required by the
Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Air Quality Control,
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, shall include the location of the clearing
project the size to be cleared, the type of air curtain destructor
to be employed, description of the type and amount of waste to be
burned, the expected duration of the burning, the anticipated method
of residue disposal, the name of the person who will attend the fire
and be responsible to prevent the spread of fire or hazardous conditions
and shall be accompanied by a permit fee as established from time
to time by the supervisors of Independence Township. Independence
Township may impose such further conditions as it deems appropriate
for the control of air pollution and protecting buildings, housing,
property and well being of its citizens. Independence Township reserves
the right to rescind approval granted if a determination is made by
the Township that an air pollution problem exists.
B.
Vegetative matter. Open burning of vegetative matter, other than as regulated by Subsection A(1), is permitted without a permit subject to the limitations and regulations of § 133-9 and the following additional regulations:
(1)
The person desiring to burn a field for weed or brush
control shall first notify the Fire Department which serves the area
in which the fire shall occur.
The following types of fires, provided that
such fires are wood and wood products only, are exempted from the
regulations set forth in this chapter:
A.
Cooking fire. Fires solely for the cooking of food
for immediate consumption.
B.
Camp fires. Camp fires for warmth, fellowship, food
preparation or ceremonial purposes by bona fide groups of individuals
such as hunting camps or pubic organizations, and/or other organizations
such as, but not limited to, Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.
C.
Public duty. Fires set in the performance of public
duty by any fireman or public official purposes to protect public
health and safety.
A.
Public roads and property. No person shall set, start,
feed, permit to burn or maintain any fire upon any of the streets,
sidewalks alleys or public grounds of Independence Township, except
where a designated are has been set aside or reserved for this purpose
and an appropriate container has been provided to contain such fire.
B.
Safe distances.
(1)
It shall be unlawful to allow any fire, including
cooking, within an unsafe distance from any building or property line.
(2)
No fire shall be set, started, fed, permitted to burn
or maintained where such fire may endanger any building or property,
except where such building or property is used by the Fire Department
for training purposes.
(3)
Out-of-doors fires shall be permitted only upon private
property shall take place at least 20 feet from a building providing
that reasonable safeguards are maintained.
(4)
Nothing herein shall be deemed to prohibit indoor
cooking activities provided that reasonable safeguards are maintained.
(5)
Cooking grill may be less than 20 feet from a building
provided that reasonable safeguards are maintained.
C.
Control of burning and unattended fires.
(1)
No fire shall be allowed to burn unattended without
a responsible adult being present at all times and without readily
available fire-extinguishing apparatus.
(2)
No fire shall be permitted to burn whenever drought
or extreme weather conditions exist or when a ban on burning has been
placed into effect by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or other competent
government body. The Board of Supervisors may prohibit any and all
outdoor fires when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make
such fires hazardous.
(3)
No fire shall be set that results in uncontrolled
burning of vegetation (field fires).
(4)
Out-of-doors fires shall be confined in a noncombustible
container, such as a masonry fire place or metal container which is
covered with a wire screen of 1/2 inch or smaller mesh, or in other
suitable noncombustible container, except for fires of leaves, brush,
and/or natural, untreated wood which need not be confined to or covered
by a noncombustible container.
(5)
No masonry fireplace or metal container shall be larger
than a fifty-five-gallon drum.
D.
Extinguishing unsafe fires. It is a violation of this
chapter for a person to allow any fire to burn under adverse weather
conditions or unsupervised, or otherwise in an unsafe matter. Any
such fire may be extinguished by any enforcement officer, as defined
herein, and upon demand of said enforcement officer, the responsible
adult shall immediately extinguish the same.
E.
Hours/days.
(1)
No person shall burn or cause to burn any paper, boxes,
rubbish, leaves, or any other kind of substance, nor shall any person
or person set or maintain any uncontained fire, or burn or cause to
be burned an uncontained fire of any substance or material of any
kind, out of doors, anywhere in Independence Township between 9:00
p.m. and 8:00 a.m.
(2)
Contained fires shall not be permitted to burn or
smolder between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.
(3)
Recreational fires using natural, untreated wood and
containing a fuel source of no more than eight cubic feet are permitted
at any time so long as they comply with all other provisions of this
chapter.
(4)
There shall be no open burning on Sundays at any time
except in the agricultural zoning district or districts.
(5)
There shall be no open burning at any time on any
legally recognized holiday.
[Amended 9-15-2010 by Ord. No. 10-01]
F.
Unlawful substance.
(1)
Burning of construction debris, plastics, by-products
of manufacturing and processing operations, and wastes from commercial
operations is strictly prohibited.
(2)
No person shall burn or allow to burn any product
or material which creates noxious or objectionable emissions. These
products and materials include, but are not limited to, the following:
(3)
No person shall burn demolition waste, including standing
buildings, unless a permit has first been granted by the Department
of Environmental Protection.
(4)
No person shall use an open-burning operation as a
method of salvaging any product or material.
(5)
Nothing herein shall be construed to permit or encourage
the burning of a substance determined by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
or the United States Environmental Protection Agency to be a hazardous
substance; nor shall any fire be permitted to burn by a person if
such burning is in violation of the Air Pollution Control Act[1] or other legislation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
or the United States of America or any other competent body.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 4001 et seq.
(6)
No garbage or offal may be burned at any time either
indoors or out-of-doors.
(7)
Fires shall be used to burn only readily combustible
materials.
G.
Special circumstances. In the event that it is necessary
to have an uncontained fire of a size and/or at times other than permitted
under this chapter, special permission must be obtained in advance
from the Fire Chief of Independence Township or his designee or the
Code Enforcement Officer. In the event any fire company is required
to respond to a fire which violates the provisions of this chapter,
a service fee may be levied by the responding fire company.
[Amended 5-16-2012; 5-21-2014]
Any person who suffers or permits on the property controlled by such person, or who conducts, any open fire of any materials other than wood or wood products, vegetative matter or for weed or brush control, in violation of § 133-9 of this chapter, § 12(f) of the Air Pollution Control Act, Act of 1960, January 8, P.L. (1959) 2119, amended, 35 P.S. § 4012(h), as such now is or may in the future be amended, providing for prosecutions, costs, civil penalties, civil contempt, collection, lien, and assessment of civil penalties under other provisions of the Air Pollution Control Act.[1] Each day upon which a violation occurs shall constitute
a separate offense.
[1]
Editor's Note: So in original.
Any person who violates or permits a violation provisions of § 133-7 of this chapter shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a Magisterial District Judge under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $1,000, plus all costs of prosecution, including, but not limited to, attorneys' fees, and in default of payment thereof, shall be imprisoned for a term not to exceed 90 days. Each day or portion thereof that such violation continues or is permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense. All fines and penalties collected for the violation of this chapter shall be paid to the Township Treasurer.
