Utah Burn Permit: Do You Need One and When
Utah lets you burn yard clippings, bushes and prunings inside two statewide windows, April 1 to May 31 and September 15 to October 31, with a winter window on top of that in attainment areas, but only on a permit you apply for online or by phone for each separate burn and that your county or city fire authority issues, and only on a day the clearing index is good enough for the application to go through.
Do you need a burn permit in Utah?
Yes, and the state issues it
Utah requires a state burning permit, and it runs more than one window a year, one of them Sep 15 to Oct 31.
- Who issues it
- Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality
- Issued by
- your county or municipal fire authority, on a statewide application you fill in online or by phone with the Division of Air Quality
- How long it lasts
- one burn, on the land named in the application, with the permit on site while you burn
An open burn permit application must be completed and a valid permit issued by the county or municipal fire authority prior to burning.Regulations for Residential Open Burning: Stationary Source Compliance, Utah Division of Air Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Where you get one
- Internet
- Telephone
Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality's permit system
When you may burn in Utah
Utah is one of the states where a pair of dates on its own gives the wrong answer. What follows is the rule in the agency's own words, with the shape of the season named above it.
More than one window
Utah opens two burn windows everywhere, April 1 to May 31 and September 15 to October 31, and adds a third from November 1 to March 31 in attainment areas only, and in every window the application will not open unless the clearing index is high enough that day.
There is a second window, April 1 through May 31: the spring window, and a third runs November 1 to March 31 in attainment areas.
- Who sets it
- Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality
- Checked against
- Regulations for Residential Open Burning: Stationary Source Compliance, Utah Division of Air Quality
Permits may be issued between April 1 – May 31 and September 15 – October 31 in Nonattainment and Maintenance Areas when the clearing index is 500 or higher.Regulations for Residential Open Burning: Stationary Source Compliance, Utah Division of Air Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Utah opens two burn windows everywhere, April 1 to May 31 and September 15 to October 31, and adds a third from November 1 to March 31 in attainment areas only, and in every window the application will not open unless the clearing index is high enough that day.
What you may and may not burn in Utah
What the state names as burnable
- clippings
- bushes
- plants
- prunings from trees
What it names as off the pile
- trash
- rubbish
- tires
- oil
Materials to be burned are thoroughly dry and no trash, rubbish, tires, or oil are included in the material to be burned, used to start fires, or used to keep fires burning.Regulations for Residential Open Burning: Stationary Source Compliance, Utah Division of Air Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What Utah 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.
- the clearing index has to be 500 or better in most cases, and 250 in an attainment area in winter
- dry the material first, and keep piles dry and free of dirt
- someone responsible stays with the fire the whole time
- tell the local fire department, and have a way to put it out on site or through them
- apply for each burn separately and keep the permit with you at the fire
- think about how close the smoke will get to houses, schools and parks
Open burns shall be supervised by a responsible person who shall notify the local fire department and have available, either on-site or by the local fire department, the means to suppress the burn.Regulations for Residential Open Burning: Stationary Source Compliance, Utah Division of Air Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What to check before you light in Utah
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 Utah it is published here.
the clearing index the National Weather Service issues for your area, which the permit application checks for you, and whether the division has called a mandatory no burn action
Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality
The Utah Division of Air Quality issues mandatory no burn actions when fine particulate pollution builds up to unhealthy levels during winter inversions.Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Division of Air Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
What your town can add in Utah
The application is the same everywhere, but your county or city fire authority can ask for more before it will issue, and some parts of the state do not allow open burning at all.
Though the application process is the same statewide, some county and municipal fire authorities require additional steps to be taken prior to issuing a valid open burn permit.Regulations for Residential Open Burning: Stationary Source Compliance, Utah Division of Air Quality, read September 23, 2026. Read it at the source
Utah burn permit questions
Utah rules read September 23, 2026 from Regulations for Residential Open Burning: Stationary Source Compliance, Utah Division of Air Quality. 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.