Illinois Burn Permit: Do You Need One and When
Illinois runs no burn permit for a homeowner: you may burn landscape waste on the ground where it grew, and household waste only if you live outside a town of 1,000 people and the mile around it, but everything else needs a free Illinois EPA permit or is illegal, and your village ordinance can still say no.
Do you need a burn permit in Illinois?
Not from the state
Illinois requires no state permit to burn yard debris, and the dates come from your town, county or fire district.
- Who issues it
- Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Air
- Issued by
- no permit for a homeowner burning their own landscape waste; Illinois EPA issues a mailed paper permit for firefighter training, air curtain destructors, prairie and ecological burns and disaster debris
- What it costs
- Free
- How long it lasts
- one year
Open burning is generally prohibited in Illinois unless there is a statutory exemption provided in the Environmental Protection Act (e.g., burning of landscape wastes upon the premises where it is produced) or unless there is an exemption provided for in the Illinois Pollution Control Board’s (Board) Part 237 rules.Open Burning Permits, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Where you get one
- Complete and submit the appropriate application form
- Mail the application to Illinois EPA, Bureau of Air
No permit is not the same as no rules. Illinois still sets what may go on the pile, how far it has to be from a building, and the conditions it may be lit in, and a local ordinance can be stricter than the state on every one of those. All of it is below.
When you may burn in Illinois
Statewide dates
The state sets no dates. Your town, county or fire district does.
Illinois names no burning season of its own: the state says only where and what you may burn, and the dates and hours, where any exist, come from the city, village or county ordinance.
- Who sets it
- Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Air
- Checked against
- Open Burning Permits, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Landscape wastes, including trees, tree trimmings, branches, stumps, brush, weeds, leaves, grass, shrubbery, and yard trimmings may be open burned upon the premises where it is produced or at sites provided and supervised by any unit of local government, except within any county having a population of more than 400,000.Open Burning Permits, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What you may and may not burn in Illinois
What the state names as burnable
- landscape waste
- trees
- tree trimmings
- branches
- stumps
- brush
- weeds
- leaves
- grass
- shrubbery
- yard trimmings
What it names as off the pile
- garbage (food, food scraps and diapers)
- construction/demolition debris
- tires
- materials containing asbestos
- commercial waste
- furniture
Open burning of garbage (i.e., food, food scraps and diapers), construction/demolition debris, tires, and materials containing asbestos is always prohibited.Open Burning Permits, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What Illinois asks of the weather and the site
Setbacks, wind limits and what has to be on hand. These are written into the rule rather than offered as advice.
- landscape waste burns only on the ground where it grew, or at a site the local government runs
- nowhere in a county of more than 400,000 people
- household waste only outside a municipality and the mile of country around it, once that municipality has 1,000 people or more
- the exemptions still carry weather and time of day limits and none of them licenses air pollution
Except for the burning of landscape waste, the exceptions authorized by the Board regulations are subject to the prohibition against air pollution. In addition, the exceptions provide for certain restrictions, including meteorological conditions and reasonable times/places and manner.Open Burning Permits, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What your town can add in Illinois
Counties, cities, villages and towns may be stricter than the state, may ban open burning outright, and may run permits of their own.
Note: State law does not override local prohibitions or limitations on open burning.Open Burning Permits, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Illinois burn permit questions
Burn permits in other states
Illinois rules read September 23, 2026 from Open Burning Permits, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Rules change, a county or town may be stricter than the state, and a burn ban issued today overrides a season that is otherwise open. Every state is on the burn permit hub.