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Northeast HVAC
News
EPA Finalizes New Residential Wood
Heater Standards.
EPA Finalizes Updates to Air Standards for Future Wood
Heaters/Phased-in updates will ensure a smooth transition to
cleaner and more efficient wood heaters.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is finalizing
standards to limit the amount of pollution that wood heaters,
which will be manufactured and sold in the future, can emit.
These standards, which were last updated in 1988, reflect the
significantly improved technology that is now available to make
a range of models cleaner burning and more efficient. Today’s
final rule will provide important health benefits to communities
across the country and will be phased in over a five-year
period, giving manufacturers time to adapt their product lines
to develop the best next-generation models to meet these new
standards. The final rule does not affect current heaters
already in use in homes today. It also does not replace state or
local requirements governing wood heater use. Instead, it
ensures that consumers buying wood heaters anywhere in the
United States in the future will be able to choose from
cleaner-burning models.
Wood heaters, which are used around the clock in some areas, can
increase particle pollution, sometimes called soot to levels
that pose serious health concerns. Particle pollution is linked
to a wide range of serious health effects, including heart
attacks, strokes and asthma attacks. People with heart, vascular
or lung disease, older adults and children are the most at risk
from particle pollution exposure. Smoke from wood heaters also
includes volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide and air
toxics. EPA’s updated standards will build on the work that
states and local communities have done to improve air quality in
these communities and are based on significant improvements in
technology.
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Emissions from new
models will be reduced by roughly two-thirds, improving air quality
and providing between $3.4 and $7.6 billion in public health
benefits. This means that for every dollar spent to bring cleaner
heaters to market, the American public will see between $74 and $165
in health benefits. Consumers purchasing new models will also
benefit from efficiency improvements, which means they will use less
wood to heat their homes. Consumers can play an important role in
cutting pollution by following the guidelines in their owner’s
manuals and following best burning practices available on EPA’s
website.
EPA conducted extensive public outreach as it developed the proposed
rule, seeking input from numerous wood heater manufacturers, state,
local and tribal governments, regional air quality agencies, and
citizen and environmental groups. The agency also participated in a
Small Business Advocacy Review Panel to seek input and advice as it
developed the proposed rule.
Based on public comment on the proposal and additional information
submitted to the agency, the agency’s final standards make a number
of important updates from the proposal including changes to provide
manufacturers the time and flexibility they need to ensure a smooth
transition to cleaner heaters. EPA is also updating the final
emissions limits to reflect changes the agency made to the emissions
test method requirements based on input received during the comment
period.
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to set new source performance
standards (NSPS) for categories of stationary sources of pollution
that cause, or significantly contribute to, air pollution that may
endanger public health or welfare. The agency’s final rule announced
today updates the 1988 standards for woodstoves and sets the
first-ever federal standards for hydronic heaters, wood-fired forced
air furnaces (also called warm-air furnaces), pellet stoves and a
previously unregulated type of woodstove called a single burn-rate
stove. These standards do not cover fireplaces, fire pits, pizza
ovens, barbecues or chimineas.
EPA received nearly 8,000 comments on the proposed rule and held one
public hearing.
For more information on FILTERSCAN WiFi, please visit
CleanAlert.com.
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