2 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 1 city in Erie County, New York.
Verified from official government sources
Erie County Local Law 2-2025, "The Sky Lantern Prohibition Act," bans the sale, use, release, and dispatch of sky lanterns county-wide. The law was adopted by the Erie County Legislature on July 24, 2025 and signed by County Executive Mark Poloncarz on August 12, 2025. Sky lanterns are classified as unattended recreational fires that pose fire, livestock, and entrapment hazards.
Erie County has no separate county-level open-burning ordinance; outdoor burning across all of Erie County is governed by New York State regulation 6 NYCRR Part 215. A statewide residential brush-burning ban runs annually from March 16 through May 14. Outside the ban, on-site burning of small downed brush is allowed only in towns with population under 20,000 — which excludes most of Erie County's urbanized towns. Burning of household garbage is prohibited statewide year-round, and individual towns and villages within Erie County may impose stricter local burn bans.
6 NYCRR Part 215 (Open Fires) — NYSDEC
Open burning is regulated under Part 215. Part 215 describes the types of fires that are allowed and the materials that may be burned in an open fire. Towns, villages, cities, and counties can pass ordinances that are stricter than Part 215. The following types of open fires are allowed in NYS. All fires must consist of only charcoal or dry, clean, untreated, and unpainted wood. Campfires, smal...
1 cities in Erie County have their own fire regulations rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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