Burn Permits

Backyard Burn Season ended on April 30, 2024 and will reopen on December 1, 2024

In addition to these MBARD Burn Permits, refer to CALFIRE or your local fire department for their permitting requirements.

Agricultural Burn Permits

Piles cleared from less than 10 acres of agricultural land or for land management

Apply for an Agricultural and Land Management Burn Permit from MBARD.

Prescribed Burn Permits

Piles cleared from 10 + acres of agricultural land management or for wildland vegetation management

Use the Prescribed Fire Information Reporting System (PFIRS). Apply for a Land Manager’s account HERE.

Broadcast burns of any size for agricultural land management or wildland vegetation management

Use the Prescribed Fire Information Reporting System (PFIRS). Apply for a Land Manager’s account HERE.

Backyard Burn Permits

Backyard Burning is the burning of green waste material by occupants of single- or two-family dwellings. The Backyard Burn Season begins on December 1st each year and continues through April 30 of the following year.

Brochure: Backyard Burning in Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties (excluding San Lorenzo Valley)
Brochure: Backyard Burning in San Lorenzo Valley

Applicable Rules and Regulations:

Rule 438: Open Outdoor Fires Title 17: Smoke Management Guidelines for Agricultural and Prescribed Burning Santa Cruz County Guidelines for Pile Burning

Burn Type Information

What are the Different Types of Burns?Trash Burning Ban Warming Fires Guidelines

For more information please contact:

Website Accessibility Policy

Monterey Bay Air Resources District is fully committed to providing accessible facilities, elements and channels of communication to all members of the public. As part of this commitment, Monterey Bay Air Resources District has a policy of providing an accessible website compatible with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) and commercial screen reading software. All features of the website are coded to allow individuals with vision and other impairments to understand and use the website to the same degree as someone without disabilities. We welcome feedback and can often resolve issues in a timely manner if they arise.

If you need any special assistance or accommodations:

Call us at (831) 647-9411

Ongoing Compliance Information

Compliance Officer

Monterey Bay Air Resources District has designated a compliance officer for website disability-related accommodations. The compliance officer has received training in website accessibility and updates the site in accordance with those best practices. Contact our accessibility officer to report an issue.

Compliance Procedures and Reports

In addition to testing with users with a wide range of disabilities and coding our website to WCAG standards, Monterey Bay Air Resources District regularly scans its website to ensure ongoing compliance, and makes timely changes to any inaccessible changes, if any are found.

Linked Documents and Third Parties

Please note that this site may link out to third-party websites, such as state or federal agencies, that do not have accessible content. This site may also include documents provided by third parties included in our agenda packets, for example. While we cannot control the accessibility of content provided by third parties, we are happy to assist any member of the public with reading and accessing content on our site.

See an opportunity for us to improve? Please contact our accessibility officer or call us at (831) 647-9411.

Report a Website Accessibility Issue

We are committed to your ability to access all content, and we will respond to all requests as soon as possible.

Burn Permits

In addition to these MBARD Burn Permits, refer to CALFIRE or your local fire department for their permitting requirements.

Agricultural Burn Permits

Piles cleared from less than 10 acres of agricultural land or for land management

Prescribed Burn Permits

Piles cleared from 10 + acres of agricultural land management or for wildland vegetation management

Broadcast burns of any size for agricultural land management or wildland vegetation management

Backyard Burn Permits

Backyard Burning is the burning of green waste material by occupants of single- or two-family dwellings. The Backyard Burn Season begins on December 1st each year and continues through April 30 of the following year.

For more information please contact:

Irene Miranda

Eddie Ballaron

Agricultural and Land Management Burn Permit Application

Prescribed Fire Information Reporting System

Burn Zone Locator

Fire District Locator

Pile Burn Emission Calculator