February 4, 2015
Phased-in updates will ensure a smooth transition to cleaner and more efficient wood heaters
WASHINGTON – 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. Continue reading EPA Finalizes Updates to Air Standards for Future Wood Heaters