The provisions of 8 CAR § 40-502 shall not apply to the following activities:

1. (1) Fires used for the noncommercial cooking of food or for ceremonial or recreational purposes, including barbecues and outdoor fireplaces used in connection with any residence;

2. (2)

   1. (A) Open burning related to agricultural activities including, but not limited to, clearing previously uncultivated lands and burning of stubble and other debris on previously harvested fields.
   2. (B) Provided, however, that this exemption shall not be extended to the disposal, by open burning, of waste products generated by cotton gins or similar equipment used in a manufacturing process or to the disposal by open burning of fowls or animals;
3. (3) Controlled fires used for purposes of forest and wildlife management, provided that such fires are used and burned when winds are blowing away from populated areas which might be affected;
4. (4) Controlled fires used only for purposes of on-site land clearing operations;
5. (5) Smokeless flares or safety flares from the combustion of waste gases, provided that all other applicable provisions of this part are complied with;
6. (6) Open burning of the site or origin of waste hydrocarbon products from oil exploration, development, or production or from natural gas processing plants or from materials spilled or lost from pipeline breaks, where, because of the isolated location, such waste products cannot be reclaimed, recovered, or disposed of lawfully in any other manner;
7. (7) Fires set or authorized by any public officer, board, council, or commission when the fire is set or permission to burn is given in the performance of the duty of the officer for the purpose of weed abatement or the prevention or elimination of a fire hazard or fires set for the purposes of the instruction in methods of firefighting or for civil defense instructions;

8. (8)

   1. (A) Open burning incident to on-site clean-up operations resulting from transportation accidents where, because of the isolated location, the material to be burned cannot be reclaimed or recovered or where there is no other practical, safe, or lawful method of disposal.
   2. (B) Provided, however, that the Director of the Division of Environmental Quality shall be notified of the exact location, and the nature and quantities of materials to be burned prior to ignition, and provided, further, that such burning shall be conducted in accordance with the written approval of the director.
   3. (C) At his or her election, the director’s approval may be delivered by telephone, and confirmed thereafter in writing, in the case of an emergency; and
9. (9) Open burning of any material not elsewhere specifically prohibited or exempted in this subpart and for which there is no practical, safe, or lawful means of disposal, except that no person shall cause or permit such open burning without first obtaining a letter of authorization for open burning from the director in accordance with the provisions as set forth in 8 CAR § 40-505.