1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Prescribed Burning Act”.

2. As used in this section, the following terms mean:

Terms Used In Missouri Laws 537.354

  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
  • person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
  • Property: includes real and personal property. See Missouri Laws 1.020

(1) “Agent of an owner of land”, any person who has permission from a landowner to participate in a prescribed burning on the landowner’s property;

(2) “Certified prescribed burn manager”, a person who successfully completes a prescribed burn certification program approved by the Missouri department of conservation;

(3) “Prescribed burn plan”, a written plan that is in a format approved by the Missouri department of conservation establishing the conditions and methods to perform a prescribed burning;

(4) “Prescribed burning”, the planned and controlled application of fire to existing vegetative fuels in order to accomplish one or more specific land management objectives including, but not limited to, vegetative fuel reduction, silvicultural treatments, wildlife habitat improvement, and management of grassland and other plant communities.

3. No owner of land or agent of an owner of land shall be liable for damage, injury, or loss caused by a prescribed burning or the resulting smoke of a prescribed burning unless the owner of land or agent of an owner of land is proven to be negligent.

4. No certified prescribed burn manager shall be liable for damage, injury, or loss caused by a prescribed burning or the resulting smoke of a prescribed burning conducted under a prescribed burn plan unless the certified prescribed burn manager is proven to be negligent.

5. The provisions of subsections 3 and 4 of this section shall not apply to any damage, injury, or loss caused by a prescribed burning or the resulting smoke from a prescribed burning to any of the following:

(1) Property, lands, rights-of-way, or easements owned by a public utility or municipally owned utility;

(2) Property, lands, rights-of-way, or easements owned by a rural electric cooperative organized or operating under the provisions of chapter 394, or any corporation organized on a nonprofit or cooperative basis as described in subsection 1 of section 394.200, or any electrical corporation operating under a cooperative business plan as described in subsection 2 of section 393.110; or

(3) Property, lands, rights-of-way, or easements appurtenant or incidental to lands controlled by any railroad.

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