(70 ILCS 705/8.20)

Sec. 8.20. Open burning.

(a) The board of trustees of any fire protection district incorporated under this Act may, by ordinance, require that the district be notified of open burning within the district before it takes place, but shall not require that a permit for open burning be obtained from the district. The district may not enforce an ordinance adopted under this Section within the corporate limits of a county with a population of 3,000,000 or more or a municipality with a population of 1,000,000 or more.

(b) The fire department of a fire protection district may extinguish any open burn that presents a clear, present, and unreasonable danger to persons or adjacent property or that presents an unreasonable risk because of wind, weather, or the types of combustibles. The unreasonable risk may include the height of flames, windblown embers, the creation of hazardous fumes, or an unattended fire. Fire departments may not unreasonably interfere with permitted and legal open burning.

(c) The fire protection district may provide that persons setting open burns on any agricultural land with an area of 50 acres or more may voluntarily comply with the provisions of an ordinance adopted under this Section.

(d) The fire chief or any other designated officer of a fire department of any fire protection district incorporated under this Act may, with the authorization of the board of trustees of the fire protection district, prohibit open burning within the district on an emergency basis, for a limited period of time, if (i) the atmospheric conditions or other circumstances create an unreasonable risk of fire because of wind, weather, or the types of combustibles and (ii) the resources of the fire department are not sufficient to control and suppress a fire resulting from one or more of the conditions or circumstances described in clause (i) of this subsection. For the purposes of this subsection, "open burning" includes, but is not limited to, the burning of landscape waste, agricultural waste, household trash, and garbage.

(e) The fire chief or any other designated officer of a fire department of any fire protection district incorporated under this Act may fix, charge, and collect fees associated with the fire department extinguishing an open burning that is prohibited under subsection (d) of this Section. The fee may be imposed against any person causing or engaging in the prohibited activity. The total amount collected for compensation of the fire protection district shall be assessed in accordance with both the rates provided in Section 11f(c) of this Act and the fire chief's determination of the cost of personnel and equipment utilized to extinguish the fire.

(f) This Section does not authorize the open burning of any waste. The open burning of waste is subject to the restrictions and prohibitions of the Environmental Protection Act and the rules and regulations adopted under its authority.

(Source: P.A. 97-488, eff. 1-1-12; 98-279, eff. 8-9-13; 98-756, eff. 7-16-14.)