Public Act 098-0279
 
SB1417 EnrolledLRB098 07609 OMW 37681 b


  
    AN ACT concerning local government.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
    Section 5. The Fire Protection District Act is amended  by 
changing Section 8.20 as follows:
 



    (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. 
    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.)

 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.