Attorneys general in 10 states intend to sue the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the federal agency’s failure to update wood stove emission standards.
The states involved are Alaska, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.
This has allowed the continued sale of appliances that could worsen pollution, they said.
Programs that encourage people to trade in older stoves and other wood-burning appliances, such as forced-air furnaces, haven’t necessarily improved air quality, the states say.
“If newer wood heaters do not meet cleaner standards, then programs to change out old wood heaters may provide little health benefits at significant public cost,” the states wrote.
The states argued that the EPA’s current standards must be reviewed. They also cited a February report from the EPA’s own Office of Inspector General that describes the EPA’s residential wood heater program as ineffective and “puts human health and the environment at risk for exposure to dangerous fine-particulate-matter pollution.”
The agency supports programs aimed at replacing older, dirtier wood heaters with newer, cleaner models and distributed about $82 million in grants for residential exchanges between fiscal years 2015 and 2021, the report said.
Wood Smoke a Prime Polluter
“Wood smoke contributes 80 to 90 percent of the air quality problem in Fairbanks and North Pole,” Jason Brune, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, said in a statement.“This lawsuit is one way Alaska is making sure EPA holds itself to the same standard they are holding us,” he added.
This is the second time states have sued the EPA over its failure to audit residential wood stoves since 1988, when the agency first issued standards regulating their emissions.
In 2013, seven states and the Puget Sound Clear Air Agency sued the EPA for failing to update the wood stoves emissions standards from those set 25 years earlier.
New York City officials have come under fire in recent days for their proposal to curtail the use of wood- and coal-fired ovens that are used in many restaurants and pizzerias in the city.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection’s new proposal would require eateries using coal- and wood-fired ovens to cut carbon emissions by up to 75 percent.
The DEP’s new policy will require restaurants with wood or coal ovens to hire an architect or engineer to conduct a feasibility report about installing emission control devices to achieve the targets.