Stanislaus County, CA Fire Regulations: Outdoor Burning (2026)
Outdoor burning rules in Stanislaus County, CA, also called the burn ban, open burning, or fire restriction ordinance, set when you can burn yard waste, debris, or run a recreational fire.
Key Facts
- Governing provision
- Fire Code § 307.2.2, added by County § 16.55.040(E)
- Permit issued by
- San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District
- Allowed burning
- Agricultural trimmings only, in lawful ag zones
- Misdemeanor penalty
- Up to $1,000 fine, 6 months jail
- Infraction penalty
- $250 first offense, $500 repeat within a year
Summary
Stanislaus County's Fire Code amendments flatly require a permit before anyone burns grass, weeds, agricultural trimmings or other combustibles in the unincorporated county. Added Section 307.2.2 of the California Fire Code routes that permit through the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District and limits any burning it allows to agricultural purposes on land where farming is a lawful use.
Section 307.2.2 is hereby added to the 2025 California Fire Code to read as follows: Permitted Open Burning. No person shall kindle, conduct, or maintain any burning of grass, weeds, agricultural trimmings, or other combustibles or authorize any such fire to be kindled, conducted, or maintained without a permit as required by the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District and in compliance with all safeguards pursuant thereto. Any such permitted burning shall be restricted to agricultural purposes and confined to areas of the County in which agricultural uses are lawful.
Full Breakdown
' That means a resident of the unincorporated county cannot obtain a burn permit for yard waste, brush clearing or debris disposal outside an agricultural context, the air district permit, and the county's own restriction on top of it, only cover farming-related burning such as clearing agricultural trimmings, and only where the underlying zoning allows agricultural uses in the first place. 040 also carries the county's general fire-code violation penalties, burning without the required air-district permit, or burning non-agricultural material under cover of one, exposes a person to the same misdemeanor or infraction penalties that apply to other fire-code violations countywide: up to a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail for a misdemeanor, or a graduated $250/$500 infraction fine for repeat violations within a year.
Violations & Fines
Open burning without the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District permit required by Section 307.2.2, or burning material that isn't agricultural trimmings restricted to lawful agricultural areas, violates Chapter 16.55 of the Stanislaus County Fire Code. Under the chapter's general penalty section, violators face prosecution as a misdemeanor, up to a $1,000 fine and six months in jail, or, at the district attorney's discretion, as an infraction with escalating fines.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I burn yard debris on my property in unincorporated Stanislaus County?
Who issues an open burning permit in Stanislaus County?
What happens if I burn without a permit in the unincorporated county?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Stanislaus County
How Stanislaus County compares: Cities with the Strictest Outdoor Burning Rules·California rules heatmap·Compare Stanislaus County to another location·View the California fire regulations overview
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