Do You Need a Burn Permit in Florida?

For land clearing debris, yes. In Florida the permit is called a burn authorization, and it comes from the Florida Forest Service. You need it before you light the pile. The Forest Service lists land clearing and pile burning among the burns that need one.

The exception is a small yard waste pile. A pile under 8 feet across can burn without an authorization if it meets the state’s setbacks and hours. This guide is general information, not legal advice. The Florida Forest Service has the last word on your burn.

What counts as a land clearing pile and what counts as yard waste?

Yard waste is the plant material from regular yard work: grass clippings, brush, leaves, tree limbs and palm fronds. It can burn without an authorization if the pile is under 8 feet across. Light it after 9 a.m. Eastern Time (8 a.m. Central) and have it out one hour before sunset.

The yard waste pile must sit 25 feet from forests and 25 feet from your house. It must also sit 50 feet from paved public roads and 150 feet from other occupied buildings. Household garbage never goes on the pile. That includes paper products, treated lumber, plastics and tires.

Land clearing is its own category. The Forest Service ties it to building construction, roads, land development or mineral operations. It notes that many people call clearing palmetto and gallberry off their property land clearing. Tell the duty officer what the burn is for, and they can tell you which rules apply.

Size is the simple test. Any pile wider than 8 feet needs an authorization, with suppression equipment on hand. The way around the whole question is to leave no pile at all. Forestry mulching grinds brush and small trees in place with a mulching head, and the mulch stays on the ground.

How do you get a burn authorization in Florida?

Call your local Florida Forest Service office. Call after 4 p.m. the day before the burn, or on the day of the burn. You can make the whole request by phone, with no trip to the office.

Have the exact burn location ready. The Section/Township/Range on your deed helps the duty officer find it quickly. You will also give your address and the purpose of the burn. Each burner should use their own customer number, which is free from the local office.

These are the district offices for our area, from a Florida Forest Service handout:

• Jefferson, Leon and Wakulla counties: Tallahassee Forestry Center, (850) 681-5951.
• Madison and Taylor counties: Perry Forestry District, (850) 223-0751.

Online requests through the WebOBA system are open only to certified burners. Everyone else calls the field office.

What rules come with a Florida burn authorization?

The authorization is for one location only. If you burn somewhere else, you may be fined. State law in section 590.125 and Forest Service rule 5I-2.006 add these conditions:

• The landowner, or the landowner’s designee, gives specific consent.
• The authorization comes from the Florida Forest Service before the fire starts.
• The site has adequate firebreaks, plus enough people and equipment to contain the fire.
• The person named in the authorization, or a designee, stays until the fire is completed.
• The Forest Service must find air quality and fire danger favorable for safe burning.
• A non-certified pile burner gets an authorization for one day only.
• The burn must be completed by one hour before sunset.

Setbacks depend on the kind of pile. A residential land clearing pile sits 300 feet from any occupied building and 100 feet from any roadway. It also sits 50 feet from wildlands, brush or combustible structures. A non-residential land clearing pile needs 1,000 feet from any occupied building.

The Forest Service handout adds that land clearing piles must be dry and attended at all times. Florida also allows an air curtain incinerator for land clearing debris. It must sit at least 300 feet from any occupied building.

What does a burn ban mean for a pile burn?

A burn ban stops outdoor burning in that city or county, often during extreme drought. The Forest Service says some local governments may not allow any burning at all. Local rules can add to the state rules.

The Forest Service posts a county burn ban map on its Current Wildfire Information page, built from the bans counties report to it. Counties are not required to tell it when a ban starts or ends, though. To know for sure, call your city or county fire department before you light anything.

Even with no ban, the Forest Service must find air quality and fire danger favorable first. Escaped debris burning is one of the leading causes of wildfires in Florida. Burning is one piece of the paperwork on a clearing job. Our land clearing permit guide covers the county, wetland and tortoise rules.

Do you need a burn permit in Georgia?

For land clearing, yes. The Georgia Forestry Commission says land clearing burns and vegetative storm debris need a notification or a burn permit. Call 1-800-GA-TREES (428-7337) or apply online. Permits are good only for the day they are issued.

Hand piled leaves and limbs are the exception. Since July 1, 2021, Georgia requires no permit for hand piled natural vegetation. Keep that fire 25 feet from woodlands and 50 feet from structures. Burn between sunrise and sunset, with a responsible person on site until it is out.

Debris from machine clearing falls under the Georgia EPD land clearing burn rules. Some counties may require an air curtain destructor. Debris cannot be hauled to another site to be burned. That matters if your land sits across the line in Thomas, Grady or Brooks County.

Which piles need an authorization?

How do you skip the burn pile?

There are two ways to skip the burn. Mulch the brush where it stands, so no pile ever forms. Or load the debris and haul it off the property.

We do not burn. On our jobs, a mulching head on the skid steer or the excavator turns brush into mulch in place. Stumps and other material that is not mulched leave on our dump truck and dump trailer through debris removal.

On a homesite, lot clearing ends with the debris loaded and hauled away. After a storm, downed limbs and trees go the same way through storm cleanup. For a free estimate on mulching brush in place, call or text (850) 815-0054.