(a) No person or property owner shall cause or allow open burning in a restricted area except as provided in divisions (b) to (d) below, in Ohio R.C. 3704.11 and in compliance with § 1511.05 of this chapter.
(b) Open burning shall be allowed for the following purposes without notification to or permission from the state’s EPA:
(1) Heating tar, welding, acetylene torches, highway safety flares, heating for warmth of outdoor workers and strikers, smudge pots and similar occupational needs;
(2) Bonfires, campfires and outdoor fireplace equipment, whether for cooking food for human consumption, pleasure, religious, ceremonial, warmth, recreational, or similar purposes, if the following conditions are met:
A. They are fueled with clean seasoned firewood, natural gas, or equivalent, or any clean burning fuel with emissions that are equivalent to or lower than those created from the burning of seasoned firewood;
B. They are not used for waste disposal purposes; and
C. They shall have a total fuel area of three feet or less in diameter and two feet or less in height.
(3) Disposal of hazardous explosive materials, military munitions or explosive devices that require immediate action to prevent endangerment of human health, public safety, property or the environment and that are excluded from the requirement to obtain a hazardous waste permit pursuant to paragraph (D)(1)(d) of Rule 3745-50-45 of the Ohio Administrative Code;
(4) Recognized training in the use of fire extinguishers for commercial or industrial fire prevention; and
(5) Fires allowed by divisions (b)(1), (b)(2) and (b)(4) above shall not be used for waste disposal purposes and shall be of minimum size sufficient for their intended purpose; the fuel shall be chosen to minimize the generation and emission of air contaminants.
(c) Open burning shall be allowed for the following purposes with prior notification to the state’s EPA in accordance with § 1511.04(b):
(1) Prevention or control of disease or pests, with written or verbal verification to the state’s EPA from the local health department, cooperative extension service, state’s Department of Agriculture, or U.S. Department of Agriculture, that open burning is the only appropriate disposal method;
(2) Bonfires or campfires used for ceremonial purposes that do not meet the requirements of division (b)(2) above, provided the following conditions are met:
A. They have a total fuel area no greater than five feet in diameter by five feet in height and burn no longer than three hours;
B. They are not to be used for waste disposal purposes; and
C. They are fueled with clean seasoned firewood, natural gas or equivalent, or any clean burning fuel with emissions that are equivalent to or lower than those created from the burning of seasoned firewood.
(3) Disposal of agricultural waste generated on the premises if the following conditions are observed:
A. The fire is set only when atmospheric conditions will readily dissipate contaminants;
B. The fire does not create a visibility hazard on the roadways, railroad tracks, or air fields;
C. The fire is located at a point on the premises no less than 1,000 feet from any inhabited building not located on said premises;
D. The wastes are stacked and dried to provide the best practicable condition for efficient burning; and
E. No materials are burned which contain rubber, grease, asphalt or liquid petroleum products.
(d) Open burning shall be allowed for the following purposes upon receipt of written permission from the state’s EPA, in accordance with § 1511.04(a), provided that any conditions specified in the permission are followed:
(1) Disposal of ignitable or explosive materials where the state’s EPA determines that there is no practical alternate method of disposal, excluding those materials identified in division (b)(3) above;
(2) Instruction in methods of firefighting or for research in the control of fires as recognized by the State Fire Marshal Division of the state’s Department of Commerce and the guidelines set forth in the National Fire Protection Association’s (NAPA) publication 1403: “Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions, Chapter 4, Acquired Structures”, provided that the application required in § 1511.04(a)(1) is submitted by the commercial or public entity responsible for the instruction;
(3) In emergency or other extraordinary circumstances for any purpose determined to be necessary by the Director and performed as identified in the appendix to Rule 3745-19-03 of the Ohio Administrative Code. If deemed necessary, the open burning may be authorized with prior oral approval by the Director followed by the issuance of a written permission to open burn within seven working days of the oral approval;
(4) Recognized horticultural, silvicultural, range or wildlife management practices; and
(5) Fires and/or pyrotechnic effects, for purposes other than waste disposal, set as part of commercial film-making or video production activities for motion pictures and television.
(O.A.C. 3745-19-03)