Rhode Island General Laws

R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-23-18 (2026)

Regulation of burning in open fires

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section RI-LEGwebserver.rilegislature.gov JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) The director may, by rule or regulation, prohibit the burning of any material in an open fire by any person on premises operated as a public or semi-public refuse disposal facility or at other central refuse disposal sites. The director may also prohibit the burning of any material in an open fire by any person in connection with any salvage, industrial, commercial, or institutional operation.

(b) Nothing in this chapter shall interfere with the right and responsibility of cities and towns to adopt and enforce laws, ordinances, rules, or regulations prohibiting open fires, except as provided in subsection (a).

(c) It is the policy of the state that open fires shall be eliminated to the maximum extent possible. It is also the policy of the state that regulation of open fires shall be the responsibility of political subdivisions of the state. All cities and towns are empowered to prohibit open fires by ordinances or regulations except those open fires as described in subsection (a).

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 1 case, 1990–1990 · leading case: Rhode Island Cogeneration Assocs. v. City of East Providence, 728 F. Supp. 828 (D.R.I. 1990).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Rhode Island Cogeneration Assocs. v. City of East Providence, 728 F. Supp. 828 (D.R.I. 1990). · cites it 2× “28 Further, another section of the state Clean Air Act, entitled “Regulation of Burning in Open Fires,” R.I.Gen.Laws § 23-23-18, by implication shows that the Rhode Island Legislature intended to preempt the authority of cities and towns to regulate most kinds of air pollution.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.