Iowa Burn Permit: Do You Need One and When
Iowa runs no statewide burn permit and no burning season: state rule bans open burning outright and then exempts yard waste, backyard household waste and recreational fires, so the question that decides your pile is whether your city or county allows it, with Polk and Linn counties requiring their own permit and eleven named cities losing the exemptions entirely.
Do you need a burn permit in Iowa?
Not from the state
Iowa requires no state permit to burn yard debris, and the dates come from your town, county or fire district.
- Who issues it
- Iowa Department of Natural Resources
- Issued by
- no state permit; your city or county government office, and in Polk and Linn counties a local burning permit
This is not a complete list. Before burning, contact the DNR or your city or county government office. Local ordinances may be stricter than state rules. Polk and Linn counties require burning permits. Other local governments may also require permits.Open Burning, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Where you get one
- City or county government office
- DNR field office
No permit is not the same as no rules. Iowa 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 Iowa
Statewide dates
The state sets no dates. Your town, county or fire district does.
Iowa sets no statewide burning season. Open burning is prohibited by rule except for a listed set of exemptions such as landscape waste and backyard residential waste, and those exemptions fall away wherever a local ordinance says so.
- Who sets it
- Iowa Department of Natural Resources
- Checked against
- Iowa Administrative Code 567-23.2(455B), Open burning
23.2(1) Prohibition. No person shall allow, cause or permit open burning of combustible materials, except as provided in 23.2(2) and 23.2(3).Iowa Administrative Code 567-23.2(455B), Open burning, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What you may and may not burn in Iowa
What the state names as burnable
- landscape waste originating on the premises
- residential waste at dwellings of four-family units or less
- trees and tree trimmings
- open fires for cooking, heating, recreation and ceremonies
What it names as off the pile
- Rubber tires (Not even just one)
- Materials containing asbestos
- Asphalt
- Railroad ties
- Treated wood
- Dead animals
- Demolition debris
- Petroleum products
- Plastic
- Metals
- Carpet
- Furniture
Residential waste can be burned in the backyard of dwellings of four-family units or less in cities without ordinances prohibiting the action. Garbage, tires, trade wastes, and any locally recyclable goods or plastics are specifically excluded in the definition of "residential waste" and therefore cannot be burned.Open Burning, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What Iowa 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 from clearing, grubbing or construction must be burned at least one-fourth mile from any inhabited building other than the landowner's or tenant's
- rubber tires may not be used to start a landscape waste fire
- state rules prohibit burning anything that can be locally recycled
d. Landscape waste. The disposal by open burning of landscape waste originating on the premises. However, the burning of landscape waste produced in clearing, grubbing and construction operations shall be limited to areas located at least one-fourth mile from any building inhabited by other than the landowner or tenant conducting the open burning. Rubber tires shall not be used to ignite landscape waste.Iowa Administrative Code 567-23.2(455B), Open burning, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What to check before you light in Iowa
A permit or a season says you may burn in general. What says you may burn today is separate, it changes daily on a wind and humidity forecast, and it overrides a permit already in hand. In Iowa it is published here.
a county burn ban proclamation issued by the State Fire Marshal at the request of a local fire chief, city council or board of supervisors
The state fire marshal, during periods of extremely dry conditions or under other conditions when the state fire marshal finds open burning constitutes a danger to life or property, may prohibit open burning in an area of the state at the request of the chief of a local fire department, a city council or a board of supervisors and when an investigation supports the need for the prohibition.Iowa State Fire Marshal, read September 23, 2026
What your town can add in Iowa
Cities and counties may ban what the state exempts, and the state rule already names eleven cities where the landscape waste, residential waste and tree trimming exemptions do not apply at all.
The following exemptions apply unless prohibited by local ordinances or regulations, except that the exemptions for open burning of trees and tree trimming (23.2(3)“b”), landscape waste (23.2(3)“d”), residential waste (23.2(3)“f”), agricultural structures (23.2(3)“i”), and demolished buildings (23.2(3)“j”) are unavailable within the cities of Cedar Rapids, Marion, Hiawatha, Council Bluffs, Carter Lake, Des Moines, West Des Moines, Clive, Windsor Heights, Urbandale, and Pleasant Hill.Open Burning, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Iowa burn permit questions
Iowa rules read September 23, 2026 from Open Burning, Iowa Department of Natural Resources. 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.