02 NCAC 60B .0201. BURNING PERMITS FOR FOREST FIRE PREVENTION: CANCELLATION

(a)  Burning permits may be cancelled when it is determined that hazardous forest fire conditions exist or when an air pollution episode exists.  The cancellation may be for all or any part of the state.  The boundaries of the area affected by the cancellation will be county lines or other well known geographic features such as major highways.

(b)  During certain times of the year, weather and man's activity combine to create generalized hazardous forest fire conditions.  Land clearing during these times creates an additional and specific fire hazard resulting from the long duration of land clearing burning during rapidly drying and changing weather conditions.  When the director determines that these conditions exist, a partial ban on special permits may be declared on the counties where permits are required at all times.  During the period of a partial ban on special permits, an authorized forest ranger may cancel or refuse to issue a special permit for individual land clearing burning that constitutes a specific fire hazard.  He also may extinguish fires already burning that constitute a danger to adjoining woodlands.

(c)  When the director determines that hazardous forest fire conditions exist in any area under the protection of the department, he may cancel all burning permits and prohibit the starting of fires capable of spreading to protected woodlands regardless of the distance to such woodland.  This prohibition of burning applies for all hours of the day while the permit cancellation is in effect.

(d)  An air pollution episode may be declared by competent authority designated by the Environmental Management Commission. An episode may be declared by the division of air quality in Raleigh for all or any part of the state or by one of the regional air quality control boards for the area under the control of that local board.  Conditions governing the two classes of declarations are as follows:

(1)           When an air pollution episode is declared from Raleigh, all burning permits are cancelled by the Director of Forest Resources for the area affected by the episode.

(2)           When an air pollution episode is declared by one of the local air quality boards, the burning permits are cancelled by the local county forest rangers for the counties affected.

 

History Note:        Authority G.S. 106-22; 106-944; 143B‑10;

Eff. February 1, 1976;

Amended Eff. October 2, 1978;

Readopted Eff. November 6, 1980;

Amended Eff. August 1, 1982;

Transferred from 15A NCAC 09C .0203 Eff. May 1, 2012.