Stricter wood stove regulations coming, thanks in part to Oregon
WOOD REGS: The EPA has announced new wood stove regulations.
By Shelby Sebens | Northwest Watchdog
After legal pressure from environmental groups and seven states including Oregon, the Environmental Protection Agency is now proposing stricter standards for new woods stoves and heaters.
The EPA announced Friday it’s proposing updated standards to reduce air pollution by wood stoves and wood heaters, which are popular and prevalent in the Northwest, especially rural areas. The new regulations won’t go into effect until 2015 and will only impact new stoves and heaters.
In Oregon, homes with wood burning stoves that don’t meet performance standards under the Clean Air Act have to be removed before the property is sold. So the standards for what type of stove you can have in a house you sell will be going up. Oregon officials told Northwest Watchdog this is just what they were looking for.
“We are pleased EPA has performed its long-overdue review of wood stove emissions rules, which was indeed the purpose of the suit Oregon joined,” Michael Kron, acting communications director for the Oregon Department of Justice, told Northwest Watchdog.
Oregon officials argued the standards needed to be reviewed because they hadn’t been changed in more than two decades. The EPA is holding a 90-day public comment period and will hold a public hearing in Boston on Feb. 26.
The EPA will also for a five-year phasing in of the new standard for wood stove manufacturers, according to the agency’s website.
For detailed information on the standards, click here.
For information on how to comment on the wood stove and heater standards, click here.
Contact Shelby Sebens at Shelby@NorthwestWatchdog.org
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