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For Air Quality Program Officials
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EPA Resources for Air Quality RegulatorsHow-To Guide for Implementing a Wood Stove Changeout Campaign |
As an air quality program official, you know that in some parts of the United States, smoke from wood stoves and fireplaces is the largest source of outdoor air pollution from residential sources. During a typical wood heating season (especially nights and weekends), wood smoke can account for as much as 80% of the particulate matter (PM) emissions in a residential area, depending on usage patterns.
Residents in your area may simply not realize that burning wood inefficiently contributes to air pollution and endangers public health. Many jurisdictions are now seeking the appropriate mix of public education, incentives (rebates), and legal actions that will minimize PM emissions from wood burning stoves and fireplaces.
You can take advantage of the voluntary strategies outlined below to help communities under your responsibility reduce pollution from wood smoke.
- Public Education on Cleaner Burning Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
- Incentives for Changing to Cleaner Wood Burning Options
- Community Action - Laws and Ordinances
- State Action - Laws, Fees and Taxes
- 2008 Residential Wood Smoke Workshop
- 2008 National Tribal Environmental Conference Presentation (PDF) (22 pp, 202 KB)
The emissions reduced through changing out wood stoves could help your jurisdiction meet or maintain the PM NAAQS - something you may want to consider in your air quality planning. To help with this, EPA has developed a document entitled, "Guidance for Quantifying and Using Emission Reductions from Voluntary Wood Stove Changeout Programs in State Implementation Plans." (PDF, 22 pp, 202 KB) Using this guidance with the assistance of your EPA Regional Office could help your jurisdiction satisfy the requirements of the Clean Air Act.
Public Education on Cleaner Burning Wood Stoves and Fireplaces
A public information campaign to inform local residents about reducing wood smoke can include workshops, community newsletters, media releases, panel discussions and product demonstrations on the local cable access channel, community events at the beginning of the wood heating season, or a special Web site devoted to this topic.
EPA's Web site — Cleaner Burning Wood Stoves and Fireplaces — is a one-stop resource for consumers. Why not provide a link to it on every town, city, or county Web site within your jurisdiction?
EPA will publish a consumer factsheet in 2005, which you can tailor to local needs, or select language from to use in your pamphlets, handouts, newsletters, or newspaper articles.
Typical themes in a public outreach campaign to reduce wood smoke, which are described more fully on the main pages of this site, can include:
- Replace Stoves Manufactured before 1988. All wood stoves manufactured since 1988 must be EPA certified, which means they use 1/3 less wood than older stoves to produce the same heat. And EPA certified wood stoves emit 50% to 60% less air pollution. EPA certified stoves are easy to identify because they carry a special label and hang tag.
- Purchase only an EPA certified stove. Local residents in the market for a first wood stove should demand to see the EPA label.
- Upgrade a conventional fireplace with an EPA
certified fireplace insert. These function like certified wood stoves.
- Stop burning wood altogether. Where practical and/or available, some local residents can choose cleaner heating options such as natural gas.
- Change the way wood is burned. Residents can reduce the amount of pollution
produced by their wood stove or fireplace by changing how they burn wood. You can encourage
them, for example, to use clean, dry, seasoned hardwood in a wood stove because it generates
the most heat and the least pollution.
Burning small, hot fires produces more heat and less pollution than burning large smoldering fires.
- Properly maintain the wood stove or fireplace. Improperly maintained systems can
leak smoke into the home and cause the buildup of creosote, a combustible residue that can
fuel a chimney fire. EPA recommends that anyone who burns wood have the
chimney professionally
cleaned
each year to keep it in good working order.
- Weatherize the home. Insufficient insulation and gaps around doors and windows can make a home even colder in the winter. Sealing gaps and holes can cut down on heating needs from wood stoves.
Incentives for Changing to Cleaner Wood Burning Options
Through wood stove changeout campaigns, communities encourage wood stove users to turn in older stoves for recycling and to replace them with either EPA-certified wood stoves or non-wood burning equipment.
Wood stove changeout programs typically provide financial incentives to consumers in the form of rebates, usually 10% to 15% of the purchase price of the new stove.
The campaign costs, including advertising, are covered by a combination of government agencies, gas utilities, and wood stove manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.
If you are considering a local changeout program, learn from others' experiences by visiting the sites below.
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
Truckee, California
North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District (Del North, Humboldt, and Trinity counties, CA)
Northern California Changeout Case Study
Oregon and Washington Great Wood Stove Changeout
The Pacific Northwest Tribal Air Network Workshop (August 1-3, 2006) featured several presentations on programs and practices to reduce residential wood smoke.
A feasibility study
undertaken for the Clean Air Foundation provides details on changeout program development.
For information about the 2001 Great Wood Stove and Fireplace Changeout campaign in the Great Lakes area (including parts of Canada), visit http://www.woodstovechangeout.org/index.html and http://woodstovechangeout.org/index.php?id=48
Wood Stove Changeout Campaign - EPA is working with partners across the country to encourage homeowners to replace older wood stoves with newer, cleaner burning stoves. Learn more about these changeout campaigns and how they can improve air quality. Also, check for updates on changeout pilot programs in your area.
Community Action - Laws and Ordinances
Certain jurisdictions have established legal requirements to reduce wood smoke. For example, some communities have restrictions on installing wood burning appliances in new construction. The most common and least restrictive action is to limit wood stove and fireplace use at those times when air quality is threatened. The appropriate agency issues an alert, similar to the widespread Ozone Action Day alerts.Model legislative
language has been developed by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in California for communities wishing to take such action.
In 1998 the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, with stakeholder input, developed a model wood smoke ordinance for fireplaces and wood stoves as a guidance document for cities and counties that wish to regulate sources of particulate matter in their communities. The ordinance does not ban wood burning in fireplaces but seeks to take advantage of new, cleaner technologies that have been developed to effectively reduce wood smoke pollution.
This model ordinance template contains language pertaining to reduction of air pollution (PM10 is cited) by regulating the installation or replacement of wood burning appliances. This model ordinance covers all wood burning appliances:
- installed in new residences and commercial buildings
- being added to existing residences and commercial buildings
- that replace wood burning appliances in existing residences and commercial buildings.
Certain Bay area cities
have already adopted model ordinances.
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
Bans during “Spare the Air Tonight” advisories. Proposed new requirements for new construction (only pellet stoves, gas stoves, and EPA-certified wood stoves can be sold). Labeling required for firewood, firelogs, and wood pellets sold.
Additional links to similar programs:
Sacramento (CA) Metropolitan Air Quality Manangement District has started a "Check Before You Burn" program, which establishes four burn levels during the winter season. Residents must check to see on which days wood can be burned, and follow proper burning procedures.
Denver, CO
Mandatory bans on "red" advisory days during the annual high air pollution season,
with some exceptions.
Glendale,
AZ
User restrictions on high air pollution days.
Lagrande,
OR
Voluntary curtailment of wood stove use for heat based on daily advisories.
Puget Sound,
WA
Air-quality burn bans temporarily restrict some or all indoor and outdoor burning,
usually called when weather conditions are cold and still.
Santa Clara County and The City of Palo Alto,
CA
Burn bans: Stage 1, use only certified stoves; Stage 2, use wood stove
only if it's the primary heat source. Have banned the installation of new wood burning
stoves or fireplaces.
San Joaquin County, CA
Existing wood stoves must be replaced with an EPA certified wood stove when a home is sold. Only pellet stoves, gas stoves, and EPA-certified wood stoves can be sold. Wood burning limited on days when air pollution approaches unhealthy levels. Limits on the number of wood stoves or fireplaces that can be installed in new residential units.
Bernalillo County
(Albuquerque), NM
Winter Advisory/No Burn Program from October through
February restricting use of non-EPA certified fireplaces or stoves.
Yolo-Solano AQMD has initiated "Don't Light Tonight" - a voluntary program to encourage residents not to use wood stoves and fireplaces when air pollution approaches unhealthy levels. The district also encourages cleaner burning techniques and switching to cleaner burning technology.
For cities and counties not mentioned
above, find contact information for local air quality representatives.
State Action - Laws, Fees and Taxes
Washington
The State
of Washington has
established wood stove
emission performance standards that
are more stringent than the Federal Rule. In addition, the State of Washington
assesses a flat
fee on
the sale of every wood burning device to fund the education of citizens
about wood smoke health and air quality impacts and the
benefits of cleaner burning wood stoves.
Montana
The State of Montana offers
an Alternative Energy
Systems Credit against
income tax liability for the cost of purchasing and installing
an energy system in a Montana resident’s principal home that uses " .
. . a low emission wood or biomass combustion device such as
a pellet or wood stove."
Idaho
The State
of Idaho offers
taxpayers who buy new wood stoves, pellet stoves, or natural gas
or propane heating units for their residences
a tax
deduction to
replace old, uncertified wood stoves.
Colorado
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment posts
woodburning advisories on
its website.
During red advisories, mandatory residential burning restrictions
generally apply to everyone in the 7-county Denver-Boulder
metro area below 7,000
feet. There are exceptions for those who use Colorado
Phase III (Phase II EPA) certified
woodburning stoves, state-approved pellet stoves, approved
masonry heaters or those whose stoves or fireplaces are their
primary source of heat.
Utah
Utah has a “Red
Light, Green Light” program to
curtail wood burning along the Wasatch Front during winter inversions.
RED: No residential/commercial
burning. The Division of Air Quality staff inspect the valleys
for smoke coming from chimneys. The staff also investigate complaints
made to the
Division. Offenders are ticketed, and fines may be levied. First-time
offenders face a fine of $25; second-time offenders pay $50 to
$140; and third-time
offenders face fines from $150 to $299. YELLOW: reduce burning;
GREEN (clearing index high): burning allowed.
Prince Edward Island, Canada
Through their Residential Energy Assistance Program, the Canadian
province of Prince Edward Island offers
assistance
to low-income Islanders in
the form of a home energy efficiency upgrade, low interest
loans (maximum
$5,000 in Canadian dollars per household at 6% interest rate),
and a sales tax exemption on alternative heating systems such
as wood stoves, pellet
stoves, solar panels and geothermal units.
2008 Residential Wood Smoke Workshop
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the Adobe PDF files on this page. See EPA's PDF page for more information about getting and using the free Acrobat Reader.
- Significance of Residential Wood Smoke (PDF) (29pp, 521k) Amanda Aldridge, US EPA
- Low Mass Fireplaces Program Update (PDF) (8pp, 223k)
- Outdoor Wood-fired Hydronic Heaters (OWHH) Program Update (PDF) (24pp, 921k)
- CDC’s Role in Evaluating the Impact of Biomass Burning on Human Health (PDF) (30pp, 1.2 MB) Allison Stock, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Great American Woodstove Changeout & Burn Clean Campaign - Tools Available for Your Program (PDF) (15pp, 2.0 MB) Larry Brockman, US EPA
- The Great American Wood Stove Changeout - Funding Opportunities (PDF) (8pp, 76k) Larry Brockman, US EPA
- Introduction to Hearth Products and the Hearth Products Industry (PDF) (20pp, 483k) John Crouch, Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association
- Great American Wood Stove Changeout - EPA’s Past, Present and Future Efforts (PDF) (23pp, 1.3 MB) Larry Brockman, US EPA
- Washington State's Wood Stove Change-Out Program (PDF) (30pp, 319k) Julie Oliver, Washington State Department of Ecology