EPA pollution rules seek to reduce wood heater emissions by two-thirds of current levels

Manufacturers of wood heaters—used largely in rural areas—will soon be required to reduce emissions by two-thirds of current levels, Tim Devaney reports for The Hill. The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday released pollution rules that "will make wood heaters more efficient while also protecting public health."

Rules will be phased in over five years, but the rules will not affect people who currently use wood heaters, Devaney writes. The rules "target newly-constructed wood heaters but do not apply to products like fireplaces, fire pits, pizza ovens or barbecues, the agency said." EPA said in a release that rules ensure "that consumers buying wood heaters anywhere in the United States in the future will be able to choose from cleaner-burning models.”

The rules "set the first-ever federal standards for hydronic heaters, wood-fired forced air furnaces, pellet stoves and a previously unregulated type of wood stove called a single burnrate stove," Erin Voegele reports for Bloomberg. "EPA estimates the rule will reduce fine particle and volatile organic compound emissions from heaters covered by the rule by nearly 70 percent, with carbon monoxide emissions reduced by 62 percent."