HPBA Urges Senate Action to Give Wood Stove Manufacturers Time to Meet EPA Emissions Standards
Statement from the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association in response to S. 1857, a bill that will set the effective compliance date of New Source Performance Standards for residential wood heaters, hydronic heaters and forced-air furnaces as May 15, 2023.
“Since 2014, HPBA has stood with the wood stove industry, maintaining that Step 2 of the New Source Performance Standards does not give manufacturers enough time to design and test products that meet the required standards by the May 15, 2020 enforcement deadline.
In 2015, the EPA announced the two-step New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), a rule stating that manufacturers of wood stove heaters must comply with new particulate matter emission standards by May 2015 and a second set of standards by May 2020. Many manufacturers were able to comply with Step 1 of the rule, but Step 2, which has a hard cut-off date without retail sell-through, does not provide the time necessary to design, test, and manufacture products that meet the requirements.
To be clear, the industry strongly supports federal emission standards for new residential wood heaters. However, the EPA did not give manufacturers enough time to reach an extremely difficult target. For consumers, this means higher prices and fewer heating options. Consumers in rural areas across America, who rely heavily on wood stoves for heating, will be the most affected.
With fewer and more expensive home heating options, price-sensitive consumers will not be able to replace their existing appliance with a newer EPA-certified model. Households looking to cut heating costs will be unable to afford what was once an affordable and sustainable home heating option.
The House has passed legislation that will delay the Step 2 (2020) standard’s deadline by three years, until May 15, 2023. The Senate has the opportunity to pass S. 1857, a bill which will give manufacturers the time the industry needs to meet these standards.”