NORTH END — A permanent land-clearing burn ban imposed this week could be a hindrance to developers and a boost for local recyclers.

Contractors and homeowners will no longer be allowed to burn debris from land clearing. That means they’ll be grinding wood refuse into sawdust on site, or hauling it to composting centers like “Emu Topsoil” in Poulsbo.

“We’re ready to take it,” Emu owner Ron Phillips said. “Bring it on.”

State law prohibits land-clearing burns unless there are no available alternatives for recycling, because wood smoke is a health hazard. The “Puget Sound Clean Air Agency” imposed the ban in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties in July 2008. Land-clearing burns were already prohibited within Kitsap cities and urban growth areas like Kingston and Silverdale.

But the Clean Air Agency held off on bringing the ban to unincorporated Kitsap County because there weren’t enough recycling companies, especially on the north end, to accommodate take the wood debris.

Emu Topsoil recently became a licensed commercial composting facility, which made the agency more comfortable moving forward with the ban, according to Jim Nolan, director of compliance for the Clean Air Agency. “Tucker Topsoil” on the Suquamish reservation can also process wood debris.

The ban will permanently prohibit outdoor burns larger than 10-foot by 10-foot and the fires can’t include stumps. Agricultural and forestry burns aren’t included in the ban, but still require permits.

North Kitsap developers frequently use fires for cleaning after clearing land.

North Kitsap Fire and Rescue issued 95 land-clear burn permits in 2008 and 39 in the first half of 2009.

But NKFR spokeswoman Michele Laboda said the new land-clearing burn rule hasn’t drawn much interest, perhaps because a seasonal burn ban is already in effect.

Eric Cleaver, part owner of Poulsbo’s Cleaver Construction, is wary of the new prohibition.

His business conducted a handful of clearing burns this spring. Whether the company hauls the debris away or brings a grinder to the job site, it will still cost more than burning, Cleaver said. And the extra cost will be passed on to homebuyers.

He also doesn’t believe the burn ban is necessary, especially in sparsely populated North Kitsap.

“It’s hard for me to see that there’s justification for it,” Cleaver said.

According to Nolan, the land-clearing burns are more of a health concern for nearby residents than the overall air quality of a region.

As for the cost of disposal, Nolan said many contractors in counties where the ban has been imposed prefer recycling over burning because it takes less time.

Nolan said much of the wood debris can be turned into marketable products like wood chips, which can help ease the cost of disposal.

Phillips said Emu will take stumps for free because it can grind them and resell them as sawdust.

With development slumping this year, the recycling business has been slow. Phillips thinks the new burn ban will send some business his way.

“I sure hope so,” he said.