{ "id": "R43489", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R43489", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 588841, "date": "2018-12-18", "retrieved": "2018-12-19T13:57:51.150913", "title": "EPA\u2019s Wood Stove / Wood Heater Regulations: Frequently Asked Questions", "summary": "On March 7, 2018, the House passed H.R. 1917, a bill that would delay for three years the implementation of more stringent emission standards for new residential wood heaters. The emission standards were promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2015, and are becoming effective through a two-step process. Step 1 standards took effect on May 15, 2015; unless delayed, more stringent Step 2 standards will become effective on May 15, 2020. EPA\u2019s 2015 rule revises standards for wood stoves and pellet stoves that were set in 1988, and establishes standards for other types of wood heaters, principally forced air furnaces and hydronic heaters, for the first time. \nAccording to EPA, smoke from wood heaters and fireplaces contributes \u201chundreds of thousands of tons\u201d of fine particles to the air each year, nationally accounting for nearly 25% of all area source air toxics cancer risks and 15% of noncancer respiratory effects. In many areas, in wintertime, wood heaters are the largest source of particulate air pollution. Until the implementation of this rule, however, many heater types were not subject to any federal emission standard.\nThe rule will only gradually reduce this pollution, because it only applies to new heaters (not those already in use) and it gives the industry a five-year grace period (until 2020) before its most stringent (Step 2) standards take effect. Nevertheless, EPA estimated that implementing the rule will eliminate 360 to 810 premature deaths annually in the 2015-2020 period as well as reduce hospital admissions and lost work days due to respiratory illness. EPA quantified these benefits at $3.4 billion to $7.6 billion per year during the 2015-2020 period, more than 70 times the agency\u2019s estimated annualized compliance cost to manufacturers, $46 million. \nTrade associations representing the affected industries and affected companies have mixed views of the 2015 standards. While generally supporting revision of the 1988 standards and the inclusion of additional heater types, some have expressed concern that the standards will impose too great a cost. Homeowners may continue to use current, highly polluting equipment, rather than buy more expensive replacements. In its analysis of the final rule, EPA estimated the vast majority of cost (88%) would be borne by the hydronic heater and forced air furnace segments of the industry. Specifically, EPA estimated compliance costs for hydronic heaters and forced-air furnaces will be about 17% of total sales revenues for the two product types. EPA did not estimate the effect of these costs on prices or output, but the agency\u2019s analysis does conclude that high unit compliance costs could lead to \u201cpotential nontrivial increases in market price to wood-burning appliance consumers and potential decreases in output.\u201d \nIn addition to cost issues, many commenters on the proposed rule expressed concerns regarding the process to be used in certifying compliance and the short period of time in which units available at the time of the rule\u2019s promulgation could be tested and certified. EPA addressed many of these comments in the final rule, making changes intended to ease the burden of certifying compliance. Industry representatives continue to express concern that there will not be enough time to develop new models, certify compliance, and meet lead-time requirements of product retailers for the Step 2 (2020) compliance deadline. Citing these concerns, EPA proposed in 2018 to add a two-year \u201csell-through\u201d period for new hydronic heaters and forced-air furnaces beyond the Step 2 deadline.\nThis report presents some of the most frequent questions raised concerning the rule, so as to provide basic background information about the final wood heater rule, its potential impacts, and stakeholder reactions to it.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43489", "sha1": "0e250b88ddcfa68aee69a7a345ca7f835250045d", "filename": "files/20181218_R43489_0e250b88ddcfa68aee69a7a345ca7f835250045d.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43489", "sha1": "2813e7d16904b7c27e751e369b894a9103d99978", "filename": "files/20181218_R43489_2813e7d16904b7c27e751e369b894a9103d99978.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4750, "name": "Air Quality" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 579181, "date": "2018-03-12", "retrieved": "2018-05-10T11:07:46.015111", "title": "EPA\u2019s Wood Stove / Wood Heater Regulations: Frequently Asked Questions", "summary": "On March 7, 2018, the House passed H.R. 1917, a bill that would delay for three years the implementation of more stringent emission standards for new residential wood heaters. The emission standards were promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2015, and are becoming effective through a two-step process. Step 1 standards took effect on May 15, 2015; unless delayed, more stringent Step 2 standards will become effective on May 15, 2020. EPA\u2019s action revises standards for wood stoves and pellet stoves that were set in 1988, and establishes standards for other types of wood heaters, principally forced air furnaces and hydronic heaters, for the first time. \nAccording to EPA, smoke from wood heaters and fireplaces contributes \u201chundreds of thousands of tons\u201d of fine particles to the air each year, nationally accounting for nearly 25% of all area source air toxics cancer risks and 15% of noncancer respiratory effects. In many areas, in wintertime, wood heaters are the largest source of particulate air pollution. Until the implementation of this rule, however, many heater types were not subject to any federal emission standard.\nThe rule will only gradually reduce this pollution, because it only applies to new heaters (not those already in use) and it gives the industry a five-year grace period (until 2020) before its most stringent (Step 2) standards take effect. Nevertheless, EPA estimated that implementing the rule will eliminate 360 to 810 premature deaths annually in the 2015-2020 period as well as reduce hospital admissions and lost work days due to respiratory illness. EPA quantified these benefits at $3.4 billion to $7.6 billion per year during the 2015-2020 period, more than 70 times the agency\u2019s estimated annualized compliance cost to manufacturers, $46 million. \nTrade associations representing the affected industries and affected companies have mixed views of the 2015 standards. While generally supporting revision of the 1988 standards and the inclusion of additional heater types, some have expressed concern that the standards will impose too great a cost. Homeowners may continue to use current, highly polluting equipment, rather than buy more expensive replacements. In its analysis of the final rule, EPA estimated the vast majority of cost (88%) would be borne by the hydronic heater and forced air furnace segments of the industry. Specifically, EPA estimated compliance costs for hydronic heaters and forced-air furnaces will be about 17% of total sales revenues for the two product types. EPA did not estimate the effect of these costs on prices or output, but the agency\u2019s analysis does conclude that high unit compliance costs could lead to \u201cpotential nontrivial increases in market price to wood-burning appliance consumers and potential decreases in output.\u201d \nIn addition to cost issues, many commenters on the proposed rule expressed concerns regarding the process to be used in certifying compliance and the short period of time in which units available at the time of the rule\u2019s promulgation could be tested and certified. EPA addressed many of these comments in the final rule, making changes intended to ease the burden of certifying compliance. Industry representatives continue to express concern that there will not be enough time to develop new models, certify compliance, and meet lead-time requirements of product retailers for the Step 2 (2020) compliance deadline.\nThis report presents some of the most frequent questions raised concerning the rule, so as to provide basic background information about the final wood heater rule, its potential impacts, and stakeholder reactions to it.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43489", "sha1": "5d82d05366e9da8ab87163ad46aa05600d4e40d5", "filename": "files/20180312_R43489_5d82d05366e9da8ab87163ad46aa05600d4e40d5.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43489", "sha1": "5e68f92194a38e9ec161f72ac69f58cbff2fc6c5", "filename": "files/20180312_R43489_5e68f92194a38e9ec161f72ac69f58cbff2fc6c5.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4750, "name": "Air Quality" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 430521, "date": "2014-04-29", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T23:01:38.970541", "title": "EPA\u2019s Proposed Wood Stove / Wood Heater Regulations: Frequently Asked Questions", "summary": "On January 3, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released proposed emission standards for new residential wood heaters, the most common of which are wood stoves, pellet stoves, hydronic heaters, and forced air furnaces. The proposal, which would revise standards for wood stoves and pellet stoves and establish standards for other types of wood heaters for the first time, appeared in the Federal Register on February 3. This began a public comment period that is scheduled to run until May 5, 2014. \nAccording to EPA, smoke from wood heaters contributes hundreds of thousands of tons of fine particles to the air throughout the country each year, accounting for nearly 25% of all area source air toxics cancer risks and 15% of non-cancer respiratory effects. In many areas, in wintertime, wood heaters are the largest source of particulate air pollution; yet many heater types are not currently subject to any federal emission standard. \nThe proposed rule would only gradually reduce this pollution, because it would apply only to new heaters (not those already in use) and it would give the industry a five-year grace period before its most stringent standards would take effect. Wood heaters can last for 40 years or more, so it will be decades before the full health benefits of the rule would be attained. \nNevertheless, the rule would eliminate an estimated 210 to 470 premature deaths annually in the 2014-2022 period, according to EPA, as well as reduce hospital admissions and lost work days due to respiratory illness. EPA quantifies these benefits at $1.8 billion to $4.2 billion per year during the 2014-2022 period, more than 100 times the agencys estimate of the annualized cost to manufacturers, $15.7 million. \nTrade associations representing the affected industries and companies in the industry have mixed views of the proposed standards. While supporting revision of the current standards and the inclusion of additional heater types, they express concern that the standards as proposed will impose too great a cost. Facing higher costs for new units, homeowners will continue to use current, highly polluting equipment, rather than replace it, the industry maintains. Many have also expressed concerns regarding the process to be used in certifying compliance and the short period of time in which currently available units could be tested and certified. \nThese concerns, as well as the widely acknowledged health effects, have generated substantial interest in the proposed rule in areas where wood stoves are used as heating sources, and Members of Congress from those areas have written EPA to express concerns regarding the proposed rules possible impacts. The subject has also been raised during hearings on EPAs FY2015 appropriation request, and legislation (H.R. 4407) has been introduced to place limits on EPAs authority to set the standards.\nThis report addresses some of the most frequent questions raised concerning the proposal, in order to provide basic information about EPAs action, its potential impacts, and industry and other reactions to the rule.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43489", "sha1": "9d50a0e480ca0c0047f036e9667b83ace1bf5f17", "filename": "files/20140429_R43489_9d50a0e480ca0c0047f036e9667b83ace1bf5f17.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43489", "sha1": "8c2c6e0cd2a65f71dfec5fe94ae52e7735e08996", "filename": "files/20140429_R43489_8c2c6e0cd2a65f71dfec5fe94ae52e7735e08996.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "Environmental Policy" ] }