EPA proposes regulations limiting particle pollution from new wood-fired stoves and furnaces

The Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to reduce the amount of particle pollution allowed from smokestacks of wood-powered residential furnaces is not going over well in rural areas, where some residents rely on wood-burning stoves for heat and hot water, David A. Lieb reports for The Associated Press. While the rule would exempt the 12 million Americans who already use wood stoves, it would affect anyone who adds one in the future. Many low-income people rely on the cheaper costs of wood as a fuel. (AP photo by L.G. Patterson)

"Some manufacturers contend the EPA’s proposed standards are so stringent that the higher production costs would either force them out of business or raise prices so high that many consumers could no longer afford their products," Lieb writes. Missouri lawmakers are fighting back with a bill that declares “All Missourians have a right to heat their homes and businesses using wood-burning furnaces, stoves, fireplaces and heaters.” Reg Kelly, the founder of Earth Outdoor Furnaces, told Missouri lawmakers, “There’s not a stove in the United States that can pass the test right now—this is the death knoll of any wood burning,”

A Missouri House committee "endorsed a revised measure that proposes to ban state environmental officials from regulating residential wood heaters unless authorized by the Legislature," AP reports. Other states have also weighed in on the issue—Washington and New York have already adopted stricter emission rules—while Utah Republican Gov. Gary Herbert "called for a winter ban on wood-burning in an attempt to improve air quality," and "the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has also proposed its own emission requirements." The EPA has scheduled a public hearing Wednesday in Boston. (Read more)