Private talks yield consensus on key issues in EPA wood heater regulations

In July, three men met in Canada for sensitive, private meetings to see if they could reach agreement on key sections of the proposed EPA wood heater regulations.  Two represented regional air quality agencies and one represented the wood stove and boiler industry.  They were able to compromise on many issues, but were too far apart to reach any agreement on many others.  More than a month later, after consulting with their members, they flew to Washington and presented their consensus positions to EPA Acting Assistant Administrator Janet McCabe.

The three individuals were Arthur Marin of the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management

Arthur Marin, Executive Director of
NESCAUM.

(NESCAUM), Dan Johnson of Western States Air Resources Council (WESTAR) and Jack Goldman of the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (HPBA).  The meeting arose from efforts by the air agencies and it was agreed that only the principals of each institution would take part in the face-to-face meetings as they were under a tight timeline and needed to keep the discussions high-level. 

The EPA was not part of these discussions nor present, and is under no obligation to adopt any of the consensus positions. However, it is expected that the agency is likely to adopt many of them.

Most of the areas of agreement were around sell-through, grandfathering, certification extension and cordwood testing timelines.  There was no mention of emission levels in the document.  The EPA posted the three-page consensus document in the official record.

Jack Goldman, CEO of HPBA

The positions reflect an effort by the three institutions to reach consensus but do not necessarily reflect the positions of all the groups' members.  Some manufacturers feel that the HPBA has not represented them aggressively enough, and the consensus positions deal with each technology very differently.  For example, the consensus position is toughest on outdoor boilers as it does not recommend any grandfathering or sell-through of unqualified boilers.  The position on exempt wood stoves is more lenient: a one-year sell-through.  Even more lenient is the position on unregulated indoor warm air furnaces, which would get a one-year extension for manufacturing and an additional sell-through year, for a total of two years.

Janet McCabe, EPA Acting Assistant
Administrator of the Office of
Air and Radiation

The other major area of agreement is that the switch to cordwood testing for certification should happen, but it is not feasible to implement immediately.  Both sides agree that the EPA should move in that direction but a clearly defined test procedure and a more robust database of cordwood testing is needed.  However, the consensus paper is silent on the drawn out ASTM cord wood fueling protocol process and instead proposes that a cordwood protocol be developed by a working group established by the EPA under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). This would be the protocol used to build the database of emissions from cordwood testing.  It is unclear if this protocol could capture start-up emissions, or how it would better represent real world emission profiles in consumers' homes.

The consensus positions made no mention of pellet stoves, hangtags or many other contentious issues.  Often, issues were not mentioned in the document because they were not included in the discussions.  For example, the issue of consumer hangtags, which industry opposed in their comments, was reportedly not raised by either side.

Another very significant consensus position is that all boilers that are certified by New York (and tested by EPA methods)  on the effective date of the rule should have their certifications extended for five years.  This may mean that manufacturers will not have to undergo the time and expense of retesting any of their existing units for a five year period and instead focus their efforts on redesigning cleaner stoves.  Virtually all the exempt and unregulated pellet stoves are already going through the certification process and many wood stoves are using the "K list" to get new five year certifications.  These new certifications and "freshening up" of existing ones would have given most stoves certifications up to four years into the new rule.

Possibly the biggest concession by the air agencies is the agreement to allow warm air furnaces to essentially remain unregulated for another year.  This would allow many small manufacturers of outdoor wood furnaces to continue making and selling their units even through they may have no capacity or intention of meeting EPA regulations.  However, the EPA has reportedly already told key stakeholders that they have no legal basis under the Clean Air Act Section 111 for Step 1 emission standards to be delayed beyond the effective date of the rule.

If the EPA adopts these recommendations, it would provide relief to most manufacturers and retailers.  However, the EPA could still set Phase 2 standards, which would take effect in 2020, as low as 1.3 grams per hour for wood and pellet stoves.  Many observers believe that the EPA is not likely to require such a low emission level and some in industry say they would be relieved if the EPA settled at 3 grams per hour.

The key positions of agreement are outlined below. These recommendations, if any are adopted by the EPA, would start on the effective date of the regulation, which will likely be in May of 2015:

1. Woodstoves:

a)    Unregulated and exempt stoves cannot be manufactured.

b)    Retail sales of all exempt and certified stoves (up to 7.5 g/hr for non-cat stoves) cam continue for one year.

c)    Certification of stoves that meet Sept 1 levels (proposed at 4.5 g/hr) will be extended for five years or until Step 2 emissions standards take effect.

2. Hydronic Heaters (indoor and outdoor):

a)    Only New York certified heaters may be manufactured.

b)   Retail sales of boilers that are not EPA Phase 2 qualified – and approved by New York – are not allowed. (New York requires a thorough regulatory review process for certification.)

c)    Models tested to EPA's voluntary program and certified by New York will be deemed certified for five years.

3. Warm Air Furnaces:

a)    Provide a 1-year extension to continue manufacturing unregulated furnaces.

b)   Retail sales may be allowed for one year beyond the effective date.

4. Cord wood:

a)    The transition to cord wood testing to certify new heaters should be implemented for Step 2 but will require a robust database and EPA approved method.

5. Oversight of Labs:

a)    Labs will provide 30 days notice of testing to states to allow for federal and state access to witness emission testing.

b)   All certification data related to emissions should be publicly available.

c)    Provide states with partial delegation of authority over some enforcement and compliance issues and prohibit them from action on other issues.

The above summary does not capture all the detail and nuance of these five areas of consensus.  Please refer to the original “Consensus Positions” for exact language that was agreed upon by HPBA, NESCAUM and WESTAR.

"We commend NESCAUM, WESTAR and HPBA for undertaking this important effort and for their willingness to all make substantial compromises," said John Ackerly, President of the Alliance for Green Heat.  "We urge the EPA to adopt these recommendations in the NSPS and to provide the enforcement to quickly close any loopholes that may emerge after implementation," Ackerly continued.

The consensus positions may give manufacturers and retailers more certainty about what they can build and distribute in the months leading up to the promulgation.  It is also possible that the EPA has provided some assurance to industry about the likelihood of some of these provisions.  The EPA may have already decided some of what was contained in the Consensus Position paper.  For example, it is reported that the EPA had decided not to use cordwood for certification testing in 2015 months before the meetings between industry and air agencies. 

It is likely that most major decisions on the NSPS have already been made or are close to final as the final draft of the NSPS will be submitted to the Office of Budget and Management in October.  Even the recommendations in the Consensus paper were late for consideration by the EPA.

This consensus paper may not make litigation less likely, but it may reduce the number of issues that are likely to be litigated.  Longer sell-through periods, for example, compared to the very short ones in the proposed NSPS, will decrease economic impacts on many small businesses, making the small business issue more difficult to litigate.  Further, this effort between air agencies and the industry trade group that had been key protagonists throughout much of the debate around the proposal suggest a more collaborative relationship can be forged among these parties to help implement a new NSPS.

NESCAUM is an association of the 8 northeastern states, including New Jersey, New York and the New England States.  On NSPS issues, Maine is not being represented by NESCAUM and is taking more pro-industry positions.  WESTAR now represents 15 states, from Alaska to New Mexico.  Those states represent an even wider range of the political spectrum than those in NESCAUM, but none have made the open break with their association that Maine has.  

EPA Lists Efficiencies of Certified Boilers from 39% to 88%

Updated: Nov. 2016

In April 2014, when the EPA began posting efficiencies for outdoor wood and pellet boilers, there were only 40 units.  The average outdoor wood boiler was 63% efficient, and the average pellet boiler was 74% efficient and the most efficient of all was 82% efficient.

Since the spring of 2014, the EPA implemented emissions standards for outdoor and indoor boilers, otherwise known as hydronic heaters, and the number of units and their efficiencies have risen dramatically.  As of November of 2016, there are 131 certified units and half the list, 61 units, have efficiencies higher than 82%, the highest of any unit in 2014.

The rapid rise in efficiencies and lowering of particulate matter emissions is evidence that the new EPA regulations have had significant positive impact on boiler technology.  However, the move came at time of low oil and gas prices, and warmer than average winters which has depressed the market for boilers.  And, while the prices of many indoor pellet boilers remained stable, the regulations raised the prices of domestic outdoor cord wood boilers that had to be redesigned to meet the new standards.

The rapid rise of highly efficient boilers is mainly the result of indoor, imported pellet boilers joining the EPA list. The main industry association representing outdoor wood boilers, HPBA, fought against test methods that would allow indoor boilers and furnaces to be listed here, but efforts from New York state and elsewhere prevailed.

The lowest listed efficiency is Marway Welding’s Phase 2 – 200 at 39%.  Another outdoor boiler has 47% efficiency. In all, there are 19 units that are 65% efficient or lower.  All of the units that are over 80% are pellet units, and of the 19 units at 65% or lower, all but 2 are cordwood. Unlike stoves, where pellet stoves are often less efficient than wood stoves, the generalization that pellet boilers are more efficient than wood ones is true.

The posting of these efficiency numbers was welcomed by the Alliance for Green Heat who has long advocated for consumers having access to reliable efficiency data.  The listing of reliable efficiencies makes hydronic heaters the first class of wood heating appliances to provide efficiencies to the general public for all of the certified units.  It will take years for the public to get reliable efficiencies on most wood and pellet stoves, as most manufacturers have been unwilling to share that information with the public until it is required by law to do so. 

The saga to provide consumers with such data has taken many twists and turns.  In 2011, the EPA removed efficiency numbers from their list for boilers that were in the 90% range after state regulators questioned their accuracy.  Industry continued to advertise outrageously high efficiencies, even after the EPA sent letters to the companies asking them to desist. Scott Nichols, who sells European indoor boilers that were previously not part of the EPA voluntary program, is one of few to write about these issues that have faced EPA and the boiler industry.



Unregulated outdoor boilers plague many states and provinces and public funds have been used in Vermont and Connecticut to pay people to give up these boilers.  The need to retire these boilers is the greatest in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, but public opinion and legislatures in those states have protected the outdoor boiler industry.  The province of British Columbia announced some of the strictest policies, requiring certified outdoor boilers to be set back 40 meters (131 feet) from property lines and then banning the use of uncertified units after 2026 if they are not 80 meters from the property line.