Minnesota Session Laws - 1993, Regular Session

  
    Laws of Minnesota 1993 

                        CHAPTER 328-S.F.No. 869 
           An act relating to natural resources; providing for 
          the prevention and suppression of wildfires in forest 
          areas; providing penalties; amending Minnesota 
          Statutes 1992, sections 88.01, subdivisions 2, 6, 8, 
          15, 23, and by adding subdivisions; 88.02; 88.03; 
          88.04; 88.041; 88.05; 88.06; 88.065; 88.067; 88.08; 
          88.09, subdivision 2; 88.10; 88.11, subdivision 2; 
          88.12; 88.14; 88.15; 88.16; 88.17, subdivision 1, and 
          by adding a subdivision; 88.18; 88.22; and 88.76; 
          proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
          chapter 88; repealing Minnesota Statutes 1992, 
          sections 88.17, subdivision 2; and 88.19; and Laws 
          1992, chapter 556, sections 10 and 11; and Minnesota 
          Rules, parts 7005.0705; 7005.0715; 7005.0725; 
          7005.0735; 7005.0745; 7005.0755; 7005.0765; 7005.0766; 
          7005.0767; 7005.0775; 7005.0785; 7005.0795; 7005.0796; 
          7005.0805; and 7005.0815. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.01, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [DIVISION.] "Division" or "the division" means 
the division of lands and forestry in the department of natural 
resources. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.01, 
subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 6.  [FOREST WILDFIRE AREAS.] Every county now or 
hereafter having within its boundaries any tract or area of 
1,000, or more, contiguous acres of standing or growing timber 
or of unbroken prairie land or of cutover timber land not 
cleared or otherwise denuded of combustible or inflammable 
growth trees, brush, grasslands, or other vegetative material 
where the potential for wildfire exists, is hereby declared to 
be a forest area; and every other county is hereby declared not 
to be such forest wildfire area. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.01, 
subdivision 8, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 8.  [BACKFIRE.] "Backfire" means a fire intentionally 
started ahead of, or in the path of, an approaching forest or 
prairie fire wildfire for the purpose of burning back 
toward that forest or prairie fire the wildfire so that when the 
two fires meet both will die for lack of fuel. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.01, 
subdivision 15, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 15.  [IMPROVEMENT.] "Improvement" includes any act or 
thing done, or which may be done, and any construction made or 
structure erected or which may be made or erected, and any 
removal from any land of trees, brush, stumps, or other debris, 
which reasonably tend to prevent or abate forest fires wildfires.
     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.01, 
subdivision 23, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 23.  [OPEN FIRE.] "Open fire" or "open burning" means 
a fire burning in matter, whether concentrated or dispersed, 
which is not contained within a fully enclosed firebox, 
structure or vehicle and from which the products of combustion 
are emitted directly to the open atmosphere without passing 
through a stack, duct or chimney. 
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.01, is amended 
by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 24.  [WILDFIRE.] "Wildfire" means a fire requiring 
suppression action, burning any forest, brush, grassland, 
cropland, or any other vegetative material. 
    Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.01, is amended 
by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 25.  [CAMPFIRE.] "Campfire" means a fire set for 
cooking, warming, or ceremonial purposes, which is not more than 
three feet in diameter by three feet high, and has had the 
ground five feet from the base of the fire cleared of all 
combustible material. 
    Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.01, is amended 
by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 26.  [SNOW-COVERED.] "Snow-covered" means that the 
ground has a continuous, unbroken cover of snow, to a depth of 
three inches or more, surrounding the immediate area of the fire 
sufficient to keep the fire from spreading. 
    Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.02, is amended 
to read: 
    88.02 [CITATION, FORESTRY WILDFIRE ACT.] 
    Sections 88.02 to 88.21 88.22 may be cited as the forestry 
wildfire act.  
    Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.03, is 
amended to read: 
    88.03 [CODIFICATION.] 
    Sections 88.03 to 88.21 88.22 shall be deemed and construed 
as a codification, revision, and expansion of, and as 
supplementary to, and taking the place of, the laws which 
existed at the time of the passage of Laws 1925, chapter 407, 
relating to forestry and to forest and prairie fires wildfires, 
including Laws 1911, chapter 125, and acts amendatory thereof 
and supplemental thereto; Laws 1913, chapter 159; Laws 1915, 
chapter 325; Extra Session Laws 1919, chapters 32 and 33, but 
without abridging or destroying any rights, obligations, 
liabilities, or penalties from, or under, any of such laws prior 
to the taking effect of Laws 1925, chapter 407.  Sections 88.03 
to 88.21 88.22 shall apply only to all the forest wildfire 
areas of this state.  In the prosecution of any civil or 
criminal prosecution action commenced under sections 88.03 to 
88.22, or proceeding thereunder, it shall not be necessary to 
prove that any county comes within the purview thereof is 
included in a wildfire area, but the contrary may be proven by 
any party to such action or proceeding.  
    Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.04, is 
amended to read: 
    88.04 [FIREBREAKS; PREVENTION OF FIRES.] 
    Subdivision 1.  The commissioner shall cooperate with the 
state highway authorities and with the supervising officers of 
the various towns and cities in the construction of firebreaks 
along section lines and public highways.  
    Subd. 2.  All cities in the state situated in any forest 
wildfire area are hereby authorized to clear off all combustible 
material and debris and create at least two good and sufficient 
firebreaks of not less than ten feet in width each, which shall 
completely encircle such municipalities at a distance of not 
less than 20 rods apart, between which backfires may be set or a 
stand made to fight forest fires wildfires in cases of emergency.
    Subd. 3.  All towns and cities shall take necessary 
precautions to prevent the starting and spreading of forest or 
prairie fires wildfires and to extinguish them.  They may levy a 
tax not more than 0.08059 percent of taxable market value 
annually.  The tax in any municipality shall not exceed $3,000 
in any year.  The tax when collected shall be known as the fire 
fund and kept separate from all other funds and used only to pay 
all necessary and incidental expenses incurred in enforcing the 
provisions of sections 88.03 to 88.21 88.22.  Up to $500 shall 
be expended in any one year from any such fire fund for the 
support of any municipal fire department.  No municipality shall 
make any levy for its fire fund at any time when the fund 
contains $5,000 or more, including cash on hand and uncollected 
taxes that are not delinquent.  
    Subd. 4.  In all towns constituted within any of the forest 
wildfire protection districts which may be established by the 
commissioner, the respective town and city officers and 
employees shall cooperate with, and be under the general 
supervision and direction of, the commissioner. 
    Sec. 12.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.041, is 
amended to read: 
    88.041 [INTERSTATE FOREST FIRE WILDFIRE PREVENTION AND 
SUPPRESSION AGREEMENTS.] 
    The commissioner may enter into agreements with other 
states, the Canadian or provincial governments to cooperatively 
prevent and suppress forest fires wildfires. 
    Sec. 13.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.05, is 
amended to read: 
    88.05 [ROADSIDES, CLEARING; FIREBREAKS.] 
    All highways, roads, and trails within forest wildfire 
areas are declared to be established firebreaks and for that 
purpose the state, through the department of natural resources, 
is authorized to clean up all dead and down timber, all 
underbrush, rotting logs, stumps, and all other inflammable 
combustible refuse and debris along each side of these highways, 
roads, and trails for a distance of 200 feet on each side from 
the center thereof, all of this material to be burned or 
disposed of under the supervision of a forestry forest officer 
in such manner as not to injure the growing timber.  
    All dead and usable timber taken out of these roadsides 
shall be piled for the immediate removal thereof by the owners 
of the land from which the same was removed.  
    Sec. 14.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.06, is 
amended to read: 
    88.06 [DEAD OR DOWN TIMBER; REMOVAL.] 
    The commissioner may permit, under the commissioner's 
direct supervision and control, any civilian conservation corps, 
works progress administration, or other state or federal relief 
agency actually engaged in the improvement and conservation of 
state trust fund lands within the boundaries of any state forest 
to clean up and remove all dead or down timber, underbrush, 
rotting logs, stumps, and all other inflammable combustible 
refuse and debris which is deemed to be a fire hazard, or the 
removal of any trees in forest stand improvement and cultural 
operations which is advisable in the interest of good forest 
management; and to use so much of these cuttings for firewood 
and other forest development needs while these camps are thus 
actively engaged in the improvement and care of these forests.  
    Sec. 15.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.065, is 
amended to read: 
    88.065 [EQUIPMENT FURNISHED.] 
    Subject to applicable provisions of state laws respecting 
purchases, the commissioner of natural resources may purchase 
for and furnish to any governmental subdivisions of the state 
authorized to engage in forest fire wildfire prevention or 
suppression materials or equipment therefor, and may transport, 
repair, and renovate forest fire wildfire prevention and 
suppression materials and equipment for governmental 
subdivisions of the state.  The commissioner may use any funds 
available for the purchase of forest fire wildfire prevention or 
suppression equipment or for its repair, transportation, and 
renovation under federal grants, if permitted by the terms 
thereof, or under state appropriations, unless otherwise 
expressly provided.  Except as otherwise authorized or permitted 
by federal or state laws or regulations, the governmental 
subdivision receiving any such materials or services shall 
reimburse the state for the cost.  All moneys received in 
reimbursement shall be credited to the fund from which the 
purchase, transportation, repair, or renovation was made, and 
are hereby reappropriated annually and shall be available for 
the same purpose as the original appropriation.  
    Sec. 16.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.067, is 
amended to read: 
    88.067 [TRAINING OF LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS.] 
    The commissioner may make grants for training of volunteer 
fire departments in techniques of fire control that will enable 
them to assist the state more effectively in controlling forest 
fires wildfires.  The commissioner may require a local match for 
any grant.  Training shall be provided to the extent practicable 
in coordination with other public agencies with training and 
educational responsibilities.  
    Sec. 17.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.08, is 
amended to read: 
    88.08 [FOREST FIRE WILDFIRE PROTECTION DISTRICTS.] 
    The commissioner may create and establish forest fire 
wildfire protection districts, including all lands of both state 
and private ownership, upon which there is a probability 
of forest and brush fires wildfires starting, and establish 
forest officers over these districts.  All such forest 
protection wildfire districts heretofore established and now in 
existence are hereby continued until and unless hereafter 
abolished by the commissioner.  
    Sec. 18.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.09, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [PURCHASE, LEASE, OR CONDEMNATION.] The 
commissioner may on behalf of the state, where no suitable state 
lands are available, purchase, lease or acquire easements on 
small tracts or parcels of lands, not exceeding 40 acres in 
area, or costing more than $1500 for any single tract, to be 
used as locations for fire lookout towers, warehouses, or other 
buildings of any kind, or as locations for firebreaks, or for 
any other use which the commissioner may deem suitable; also 
acquire by condemnation any tract of land, not exceeding 40 
acres, for these purposes; also acquire, by gift, purchase, or 
condemnation, any easement or right of way that may be necessary 
to provide access to any tract of land so acquired.  
    Sec. 19.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.10, is 
amended to read: 
    88.10 [FIGHTING FOREST FIRES WILDFIRES, PERFORMANCE OF 
DUTY, AUTHORITY OF STATE FOREST OFFICERS.] 
    Subdivision 1.  Under the direction of the commissioner, 
forest officers are charged with preventing and extinguishing 
forest fires wildfires in their respective districts and the 
performance of such other duties as may be required by the 
commissioner. They may arrest without warrant any person found 
violating any provisions of sections 88.03 to 88.22, take the 
person before a court of competent jurisdiction in the county 
charging the person so arrested, and the person so charged shall 
be arraigned and given a hearing on the complaint. The forest 
officers shall not be liable in civil action for trespass 
committed in the discharge of their duties.  All authorized 
state forest officers, including rangers, guards, township fire 
wardens, conservation officers, smoke chasers, fire supervisors 
or individuals legally employed as firefighters, may in the 
performance of their duties of fire fighting go onto the 
property of any person, company, or corporation and in so doing 
may set backfires, dig or plow trenches, cut timber for clearing 
fire lines, dig water holes, remove fence wires to provide 
access to the fire or carry on all other customary activities 
necessary for the fighting of forest, prairie or brush 
fires wildfires without incurring a liability to anyone, except 
for damages arising out of willful or gross negligence. 
    Subd. 2.  Any forest officer may serve any warrant for the 
arrest of any person violating any provision of sections 88.03 
to 88.22 and for that purpose all forest officers are hereby 
vested with the same powers as constables or other similar 
officers of the courts issuing such warrants. 
    Sec. 20.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.11, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  Any able-bodied person so summoned who refuses or 
neglects or otherwise fails to assist in extinguishing such fire 
or who fails to make all reasonable efforts to that end, until 
released by the summoning state employee, shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor and punished by a fine of not less than $10 and not 
more than $50 and the costs of prosecution, or by imprisonment 
in the county jail for not less than 10, nor more than 30, 
days.  The forest officer shall have power to commandeer, for 
the time being, equipment, tools, appliances, or other property 
in the possession of any person either summoned to assist in 
extinguishing the fire or in the vicinity thereof, and to use, 
and to require the persons summoned to use, the commandeered 
property in the fighting and extinguishing of the fire.  The 
owner of any property so commandeered shall be promptly paid 
just compensation for the use thereof and all damages done to 
the commandeered property while in this use by the forest 
officer from any money available for these expenses under 
sections 88.03 to 88.21 88.22.  
    Sec. 21.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.12, is 
amended to read: 
    88.12 [COMPENSATION OF FIGHTERS OF FOREST FIRES WILDFIRES; 
EMERGENCY EXPENSES.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [LIMITATION.] The compensation and expenses 
of persons temporarily employed in emergencies in suppression or 
control of forest fires wildfires shall be fixed by the 
commissioner of natural resources or an authorized agent and 
paid as provided by law.  Such compensation shall not exceed the 
maximum rate for comparable labor established as provided by law 
or rules, but shall not be subject to any minimum rate so 
established.  The commissioner is authorized to draw and 
expend from money appropriated for the purposes of sections 
88.03 to 88.21 88.22 a reasonable sum, not to exceed $5,000 at 
any one time, and through forestry officers or other authorized 
agent be used in paying emergency expenses, including just 
compensation for services rendered by persons summoned and for 
private property used, damaged, or appropriated under sections 
88.03 to 88.21 88.22.  The commissioner of finance is authorized 
to draw a warrant for this sum when duly approved by the 
commissioner.  The commissioner or agent in charge shall take 
proper subvouchers or receipts from all persons to whom these 
moneys are paid, and after these subvouchers have been approved 
they shall be filed with the commissioner of finance.  
Authorized funds as herein provided at any time shall be 
deposited, subject to withdrawal or disbursement by check or 
otherwise for the purposes herein prescribed, in a bank 
authorized and bonded to receive state deposits; and the bond of 
this bank to the state shall cover and include this deposit.  
    Subd. 2.  [CONTRACTS FOR SERVICES FOR FORESTRY OR FIRE 
WILDFIRE PREVENTION WORK; COMMISSIONS TO PERSONS EMPLOYED.] The 
commissioner is hereby authorized and empowered to contract for 
or accept the services of any and all persons whose aid is 
available, temporarily or otherwise, in forestry or fire 
wildfire prevention work, either gratuitously or for 
compensation not in excess of the limits provided by law with 
respect to the employment of labor by the commissioner.  The 
commissioner may issue a commission, or other written evidence 
of authority, to any such person whose services are so arranged 
for; and may thereby empower such person to act, temporarily or 
otherwise, as fire warden, or in any other capacity, with such 
powers and duties as may be specified in the commission or other 
written evidence of authority, but not in excess of the powers 
conferred by law on forest officers.  
    Sec. 22.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.14, is 
amended to read: 
    88.14 [DISPOSAL OF SLASHINGS AND DEBRIS.] 
    Subdivision 1.  Where and whenever in the judgment of the 
commissioner or any forest officer there is or may be danger of 
starting and spreading of fires wildfires from slashings and 
debris from the cutting of timber of any kind and for any 
purpose, or from any accumulation of sawdust, shavings, chips, 
bark, edgings, slabs, or other inflammable combustible refuse 
from the manufacture of lumber or other timber products the 
commissioner, or forest officer, shall order the person by or 
for whom the timber or timber products have been or are being 
cut or manufactured to dispose of such slashings, debris, or 
refuse as the state employee may direct.  Where conditions do 
not permit the burning of the slashings, debris, or refuse over 
the entire area so covered, the commissioner may require such 
person to dispose of the same in such a way as to establish a 
safe fire line around the area requiring such protection, the 
fire line to be of a width and character satisfactory to the 
commissioner, or otherwise to dispose of the same so as to 
eliminate the fire wildfires hazard therefrom.  
    Subd. 2.  When any person who has been directed by the 
commissioner, or forest officers to dispose of such slashings, 
debris, or refuse fails to comply with these directions the 
person shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor; and, on 
conviction thereof, punished by a fine of not less than $25, and 
not exceeding $100, and costs of prosecution; or by imprisonment 
in the county jail for not less than ten and not exceeding 90 
days, and each day during which the failure to comply with the 
requirements of the commissioner continues shall be deemed a 
separate and distinct violation of sections 88.02 to 88.21; but 
any number of these offenses may be prosecuted as separate 
counts of one charge or information.  
    Subd. 3.  When any such slashings, debris, or refuse are 
not disposed of or are left unattended for a period exceeding 30 
days, contrary to the instructions of the commissioner, or 
forest officer, the commissioner, or any forest officer or fire 
warden, may go upon the premises with as many workers as may be 
necessary and burn or otherwise dispose of the same and the 
expense thereof shall be a lien upon the land on which they are 
situated and upon all contiguous lands of the same owner, and 
also upon all logs and other timber products cut or manufactured 
upon all these lands.  This lien shall have the same effect and 
may be enforced in the same manner as a judgment in favor of the 
state for money.  An itemized statement verified by the oath of 
the commissioner, or forest officer, of the amount of the costs 
and expenses incurred in burning or otherwise disposing of these 
slashings, debris, or refuse shall be filed, within 90 days from 
the time the disposal thereof is completed, in the office of the 
county recorder of county in which the timber or timber products 
were cut or manufactured; and the amount of the lien shall be a 
valid claim that may be collected in a civil action from the 
person who cut or manufactured the wood, timber, or timber 
products from which the slashings, debris, or refuse were 
produced.  Any moneys so collected shall be paid into the state 
treasury and credited to the general fund.  
    Subd. 4.  Any person who cuts or fells trees or bushes of 
any kind in clearing land for any roadbed or right-of-way for 
any railroad, highway, or trail shall, in the manner and at the 
time as above prescribed, burn the slashings and properly 
dispose of all combustible material, except fuel and 
merchantable timber, which shall be promptly removed.  
    Subd. 5.  Any person who cuts or fells trees or bushes of 
any kind in clearing land for any purpose is hereby prohibited 
from setting fire to any slashings, brush, roots, or excavated 
stumps or other combustible material on such land and letting 
the fire run; but the same must be disposed of pursuant to the 
rules or directions of the commissioner.  
    Subd. 6.  Any contractor who enters into a contract for the 
construction of a public road or other work, which involves the 
cutting or grubbing of woods, standing timber, or brush, shall 
pile in the middle of the right of way all the slashings and 
debris so cut or grubbed therefrom and burn and properly dispose 
of such slashings and debris without damage to adjoining timber 
or woods, which burning shall be done in a manner and at a time 
satisfactory to the commissioner.  The foregoing provisions 
shall not prevent the leaving of such trees along roads as will 
be useful for ornamental and shade purposes and which will not 
interfere with travel.  
    Subd. 7.  Every contract made by or on behalf of any 
municipality or political subdivision of this state which 
involves the cutting of any timber on the right of way of a 
public highway shall provide in terms for compliance with the 
foregoing provisions, but the failure to include this provision 
in the contract shall not relieve the contractor from the duty 
to burn and dispose of these slashings.  
    Subd. 8.  In all cases not herein provided for, where 
timber is cut in, upon, or adjoining any forest land and no 
specific directions are given by the commissioner, or forest 
officer, for the disposal of slashings and debris resulting 
therefrom, all such slashings and debris within 200 feet of any 
adjoining timber land or any public highway, railroad, portage, 
or lake shore, shall nevertheless be piled in separate and 
compact piles ready for burning, which piling shall be done be 
properly disposed of by the person by or for whom the timber was 
cut within 15 days after such timber was cut and such person 
shall thereafter make such further disposition of such slashings 
and debris as the commissioner, or forest officer, may direct.  
    Subd. 9.  No sawdust, shavings, chips, bark, edgings, 
slabs, or other inflammable combustible refuse from the 
manufacture of lumber or other timber products that the 
commissioner or an agent of the commissioner determines to be a 
wildfire hazard shall be made or deposited upon any public 
highway, portage, railroad, or lake shore, or within 100 feet 
thereof.  
    Sec. 23.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.15, is 
amended to read: 
    88.15 [CAMP FIRES CAMPFIRES.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [EXTINGUISHMENT.] Any road overseer or 
assistant of a road overseer or other local officer having 
charge of any highway, or any state trooper, forest officer, 
conservation officer, or other peace officer who finds that any 
person has left a camp fire campfire burning in the officer's 
district shall take measures to extinguish the same fire and 
take prompt measures to prosecute action against the person who 
so left the fire or persons responsible for leaving the campfire 
burning.  
    Subd. 2.  [NOT TO BE LEFT BURNING.] Every person who when 
the ground is not covered with snow starts a fire in the 
vicinity of forest or prairie land campfire shall exercise every 
reasonable precaution to prevent the fire campfire from 
spreading and shall before lighting the same campfire clear the 
ground of all branches, brushwood, dry leaves, and other 
combustible material within a radius of five feet from the fire, 
and keep the fire under immediate personal supervision and 
control at all times, and carefully extinguish the fire before 
quitting the place base of the campfire. The person lighting the 
campfire shall remain with the campfire at all times and shall 
before leaving the site completely extinguish the campfire.  
    Sec. 24.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.16, is 
amended to read: 
    88.16 [STARTING FIRES; CAMPFIRES; INCINERATORS; BURNING BAN 
BURNERS; FAILURE TO REPORT A FIRE.] 
    Subdivision 1.  Except as provided in subdivision 2, and 
section 88.17, it shall be unlawful, when the ground is not snow 
covered, in any place where there are standing or growing native 
coniferous trees, or in areas of ground from which natural 
coniferous trees have been cut, or where there are slashings of 
such trees, or native brush, timber, slashings thereof, or 
excavated stumps, or where there is peat or peat roots excavated 
or growing, to start or have any open fire without the written 
permission of the commissioner or other authorized, a forest 
officer, or an authorized fire warden. 
    Subd. 2.  No permit is required for the following open 
fires: 
    (a) A cooking or warming fire contained in a fireplace, 
firering, charcoal grill, portable gas or liquid fueled camp 
stove or other similar container or device designed for the 
purpose of cooking or heating, or if the area within a radius of 
five feet of the fire is reasonably clear of all combustible 
material.  A fire started when the ground is snow-covered. 
    (b) The burning of grass, leaves, rubbish, garbage, 
branches, and similar combustible material in an approved 
incinerator.  An approved incinerator shall be constructed of 
fire resistant material, have a capacity of at least three 
bushels, be maintained with a minimum burning capacity of at 
least two bushels, and have a cover which is closed when in use 
and openings in the top or sides of one inch maximum diameter.  
No combustible material shall be nearer than three feet to the 
burner or incinerator when in use.  A campfire. 
    (c) A fire contained in a charcoal grill, camp stove, or 
other device designed for the purpose of cooking or heating. 
    (d) A fire to burn dried vegetative materials and other 
materials allowed by Minnesota statutes or official state rules 
and regulations in a burner of a design which has been approved 
by the commissioner and with which there is no combustible 
material within five feet of the base of the burner and is in 
use only between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. of the 
following day, when the ground is not snow-covered. 
    Subd. 3.  The occupant of any premises property upon which 
any unauthorized fire is burning in the vicinity of forest 
lands, whether the fire was started by the occupant or 
otherwise, shall promptly report the fire to the commissioner, 
or to the nearest forest officer or fire warden nearest forestry 
office, fire department, or other proper authority.  Failure to 
make this report shall be deemed a violation of sections 88.03 
to 88.22 a misdemeanor and the occupant of the premises shall be 
deemed prima facie guilty of negligence if the unreported fire 
spreads from the premises to the property or causes damage, 
loss, or injury of the state or any person to another person, 
that person's property, or the state. 
    Sec. 25.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.17, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  Permission A permit to set start a fire 
to any grass, stubble, peat, brush, raking of leaves, rubbish, 
garbage, branches, slashings or woods for the purpose of 
cleanup, clearing and improving land or preventing other fire 
shall burn vegetative materials and other materials allowed by 
Minnesota Statutes or official state rules and regulations may 
be given whenever the same may be safely burned, upon such 
reasonable conditions and restrictions as the commissioner may 
prescribe, to prevent same from spreading and getting beyond 
control by the commissioner or the commissioner's agent.  This 
permission shall be in the form of a written permit signed by a 
regular forest officer, fire warden, authorized Minnesota 
pollution control agent, or some other suitable person to be 
designated authorized by the forest officer, as or town fire 
warden, these permits to be on forms furnished by the 
commissioner.  Any person setting any fire or burning anything 
under such permit shall keep and shall set the time and 
conditions by which the fire may be started and burned.  The 
permit shall also specifically list the materials that may be 
burned.  The permittee must have the permit in immediate 
possession while so engaged on their person and shall produce 
and exhibit the permit for inspection when requested to any do 
so by a forest officer, when requested to do so. town fire 
warden, conservation officer, or other peace officer.  The 
permittee shall remain with the fire at all times and before 
leaving the site shall completely extinguish the fire.  A person 
shall not start or cause a fire to be started on any land that 
is not owned or under their legal control without the written 
permission of the owner, lessee, or an agent of the owner or 
lessee of the land.  Violating or exceeding the permit 
conditions shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be cause for 
the permit to be revoked. 
    Sec. 26.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.17, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 3.  [SPECIAL PERMITS.] The following special permits 
are required at all times, including when the ground is 
snow-covered: 
    (a) [FIRE TRAINING.] A permit to start a fire for the 
instruction and training of firefighters, including liquid fuels 
training, may be given by the commissioner or agent of the 
commissioner.  Except for owners or operators conducting fire 
training in specialized industrial settings pursuant to 
applicable federal, state, or local standards, owners or 
operators conducting open burning for the purpose of instruction 
and training of firefighters with regard to structures must 
follow the techniques described in a document entitled:  
Structural Burn Training Procedures for the Minnesota Technical 
College System. 
    (b) [PERMANENT TREE AND BRUSH OPEN BURNING SITES.] A permit 
for the operation of a permanent tree and brush burning site, 
may be given by the commissioner or agent of the commissioner.  
Applicants for a permanent open burning site permit shall submit 
a complete application on a form provided by the commissioner.  
Existing permanent tree and brush open burning sites must submit 
for a permit within 90 days of the passage of this statute for a 
burning permit.  New site applications must be submitted at 
least 90 days before the date of the proposed operation of the 
permanent open burning site.  The application must be submitted 
to the commissioner and must contain: 
    (1) the name, address, and telephone number of all owners 
of the site proposed for use as the permanent open burning site; 
    (2) if the operator for the proposed permanent open burning 
site is different from the owner, the name, address, and 
telephone number of the operator; 
    (3) a general description of the materials to be burned, 
including the source and estimated quantity; and 
    (4) a topographic or similarly detailed map of the site and 
surrounding area within a one mile circumference showing all 
structures that might be affected by the operation of the site. 
    Only trees, tree trimmings, or brush that cannot be 
disposed of by an alternative method such as chipping, 
composting, or other method, shall be permitted to be burned at 
a permanent open burning site.  A permanent tree and brush open 
burning site must be located so as not to create a nuisance or 
endanger water quality. 
    Sec. 27.  [88.171] [OPEN BURNING PROHIBITIONS.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [CONTINUAL.] Open burning prohibitions 
specified in this section are in effect at all times of the year.
    Subd. 2.  [PROHIBITED MATERIALS.] No person shall conduct, 
cause, or permit open burning of oils, rubber, plastics, 
chemically treated materials, or other materials which produce 
excessive or noxious smoke including, but not limited to, tires, 
railroad ties, chemically treated lumber, composite shingles, 
tar paper, insulation, composition board, sheetrock, wiring, 
paint, or paint filters. 
    Subd. 3.  [HAZARDOUS WASTES.] No person shall conduct, 
cause, or permit open burning of hazardous waste as defined in 
section 116.06, subdivision 11, and applicable commissioner's 
rules. 
    Subd. 4.  [INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE.] No person shall 
conduct, cause, or permit open burning of solid waste generated 
from an industrial or manufacturing process or from a service or 
commercial structure. 
    Subd. 5.  [DEMOLITION DEBRIS.] No person shall conduct, 
cause, or permit open burning of burnable building material 
generated from demolition of commercial or institutional 
structures.  A farm building is not a commercial structure. 
    Subd. 6.  [SALVAGE OPERATIONS.] No person shall conduct, 
cause, or permit salvage operations by open burning. 
    Subd. 7.  [MOTOR VEHICLES.] No person shall conduct, cause, 
or permit the processing of motor vehicles by open burning. 
    Subd. 8.  [GARBAGE.] (a) No person shall conduct, cause, or 
permit open burning of discarded material resulting from the 
handling, processing, storage, preparation, serving, or 
consumption of food, unless specifically allowed under section 
17.135.  
     (b) A county may allow a resident to conduct open burning 
of material described in paragraph (a) that is generated from 
the resident's household if the county board by resolution 
determines that regularly scheduled pickup of the material is 
not reasonably available to the resident. 
    Subd. 9.  [BURNING BAN.] No person shall conduct, cause, or 
permit open burning during a burning ban put into effect by a 
local authority, county, or a state department or agency.  
    Subd. 10.  [SMOLDERING FIRES.] Fires must not be allowed to 
smolder with no flame present, except when conducted for the 
purpose of managing forests, prairies, or wildlife habitats. 
    Sec. 28.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.18, is 
amended to read: 
    88.18 [FIRE WARDENS.] 
    The commissioner may appoint supervisors, constables, and 
clerks of towns, mayors of cities, and presidents or presiding 
officers of city councils local government officials, authorized 
Minnesota pollution control agents, fire chiefs, or other 
responsible persons to be fire wardens for in their respective 
districts; and they shall do all things reasonably necessary to 
protect the property of such municipalities from fire and to 
extinguish the same.  
    Sec. 29.  [88.195] [PENALTIES.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [FAILURE TO EXTINGUISH A FIRE.] Any person 
who starts and fails to control or extinguish the fire, whether 
on owned property or on the property of another, before the fire 
endangers or causes damage to the property of another person or 
the state is guilty of a misdemeanor. 
    Subd. 2.  [FAILURE TO CONTROL A PERMIT FIRE.] Any person 
who has a burning permit and fails to keep the permitted fire 
contained within the area described on the burning permit or who 
fails to keep the fire restricted to the materials specifically 
listed on the burning permit is guilty of a misdemeanor. 
    Subd. 3.  [CARELESS OR NEGLIGENT ACTS.] Any person who 
carelessly or negligently starts a fire that endangers or causes 
damage to the property of another person or the state is guilty 
of a misdemeanor. 
    Subd. 4.  [CARELESS OR NEGLIGENT ACTS.] Any person who 
participates in an act involving careless or negligent use of 
motor vehicles, other internal combustion engines, firearms with 
tracers or combustible wads, fireworks, smoking materials, 
electric fences, torches, flares, or other burning or smoldering 
substances whereby a fire is started and is not immediately 
extinguished before the fire endangers or causes damage to the 
property of another person or the state is guilty of a 
misdemeanor. 
    Subd. 5.  [INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.] Any person who 
operates a vehicle in a wildfire area when the ground is not 
snow-covered with an open exhaust cut-out, without a muffler, 
without a catalytic converter if required, or without a spark 
arrestor on the exhaust pipe; or any person who operates a 
tractor, chainsaw, or other internal combustion engine not 
equipped to prevent fires is guilty of a misdemeanor. 
    Sec. 30.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.22, is 
amended to read: 
    88.22 [FOREST FIRE WILDFIRE PREVENTION; CLOSING FOREST 
ROADS AND TRAILS; PROHIBITING OPEN FIRES AND SMOKING; REGULATING 
PRIVATE AND PUBLIC DUMPING AREAS PROHIBITIONS, BANNING; 
PENALTIES.] 
    Subdivision 1.  (a) [ROAD CLOSURE.] When the commissioner 
of natural resources shall determine that conditions conducive 
to forest fire wildfire hazards exist in the forest wildfire 
areas of the state and that the presence of persons in 
the forest wildlife areas tends to aggravate forest 
fire wildfire hazards, render forest trails impassable by 
driving thereon during wet seasons and hampers the effective 
enforcement of state timber trespass and game laws, the 
commissioner may by written order, close any road or trail 
leading into any land used for any conservation purposes, to all 
modes of travel except that considered essential such as 
residents traveling to and from their homes or in other cases to 
be determined by the authorized forest officers assigned to 
guard the area.  
    (b) [BURNING BAN.] The commissioner may also, upon such 
determination, by written order, suspend the issuance of permits 
for open fires, revoke or suspend the operation of a permit 
previously issued and, to the extent the commissioner deems 
necessary, prohibit the building of all or some kinds of open 
fires in all or any part of a forest wildfire area regardless of 
whether a permit is otherwise required; and the commissioner 
also may, by written order, prohibit smoking except at places of 
habitation or automobiles or other enclosed vehicles properly 
equipped with an efficient ash tray. 
    Subd. 2.  The commissioner may close any public or private 
dumping area, by posting such area as closed to dumping, 
whenever the commissioner deems it necessary for the prevention 
of forest fires wildfires.  Thereafter no person shall deposit 
refuse of any kind within or adjacent to such closed area, or 
along the road leading thereto. 
    The commissioner shall establish such minimum standards 
governing public and private dumping areas as the commissioner 
deems necessary for the prevention of forest fires wildfires. 
    Subd. 3.  Any violations of this section shall constitute 
is a misdemeanor. 
    Sec. 31.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 88.76, is 
amended to read: 
    88.76 [REWARDS.] 
    Upon conviction of any person for violating any of the 
provisions of sections 88.03 to 88.22, the director may pay, 
from any money placed at the director's disposal under those 
sections, a reward of not more than $100 $1,000 to the person or 
persons giving the information leading to such conviction. 
    Sec. 32.  [REPEALER.] 
    (a) Minnesota Statutes 1992, sections 88.17, subdivision 2; 
and 88.19; and Laws 1992, chapter 556, sections 10 and 11, are 
repealed. 
    (b) Minnesota Rules, parts 7005.0705; 7005.0715; 7005.0725; 
7005.0735; 7005.0745; 7005.0755; 7005.0765; 7005.0766; 
7005.0767; 7005.0775; 7005.0785; 7005.0795; 7005.0796; 
7005.0805; and 7005.0815, are repealed. 
    Presented to the governor May 17, 1993 
    Signed by the governor May 20, 1993, 2:10 p.m.