New rule bans burning wood some winter days
Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer
Thursday, July 10, 2008
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(07-09) 15:20 PDT San Francisco -- Burning wood in the Bay Area's 1 million stoves and fireplaces will be banned on winter days when health officials forecast dirty air, under a new rule adopted Wednesday.
Air-quality regulators voted unanimously to enact the first mandatory controls on indoor residential wood-burning in the region to reduce fine particles swirling in the air. The microscopic pollutants are linked to lung and heart disease.
Under the new regulation, parts of which go into effect immediately, it is against the law to use fireplaces or stoves burning wood, pressed logs or pellets on days determined unhealthy by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
The bans will apply from November to February and will be posted on the district's Web site and advertised as Check-Before-You-Burn Days in the same way that Spare the Air Days are now publicized.
Up to 20 days each winter could be subject to burning bans, based on past levels of airborne smoke. Inspectors will follow up on complaints and warn first-time offenders. Those who continue ignoring the ban are subject to fines up to $1,000 a day. Officials say they will likely impose much lower fines.
The ban had elicited hundreds of comments from the public, perhaps more than any other rule before the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
Strong opinions ranged from those who didn't think the government had the right to control activities in people's houses to those who begged the regulators to clamp down on smoky fires that blanket low-lying areas on foggy winter nights.
Some asked for exemptions for the use of pellet or government-certified stoves, and others wanted waivers in cases where wood provided the only heat. The latter exemption was granted for people who have no sources of heat other than wood-burning, or live in areas where natural gas or electricity is not available.
"We clarified the previously proposed regulation to allow for essential burning, which means for people who burn to stay warm in contrast to folks who burn for the ambience or entertainment," said Eric Pop, a district air-quality specialist who worked on the regulation.
Before the vote, the board heard additional testimony from doctors who treat asthmatics, people who have moved from areas where smoke hangs near the ground and others who compare wintertime smoke to the fallout of the wildfires now sweeping California.
Susan Goldsborough of Woodacre, who attended the meeting, particularly praised the part of the new rule that prohibits smoky chimneys year-round. "The chief enforcement officer pledged to me that the new regulations would be enforced, and that's our best chance to clean the air of wood smoke."
Vernon Huffman, manager of a ranch outside of San Anselmo, was disappointed in the final rule. He supported allowing the use of EPA-certified stoves during bad-air days. Offering that alternative as an incentive would ultimately improve air quality, he said.
The air reaches an unhealthy designation when there are large concentrations of fine particles of solids and liquid droplets measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter -one-seventieth the width of a human hair. They can penetrate deep into the lungs and even enter tissue and organs, ending up in the bloodstream. The federal government set a new standard in 2006, deeming air unhealthy if amounts of fine particles surpassed 35 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over 24 hours.
According to health officials, during the winter months and under certain weather conditions, wood-burning contributes up to one-third of total fine airborne particulate matter in the Bay Area and threatens health.
In recent years, studies have shown that mortality and hospital admissions related to lung and cardiovascular disease increase on days with high particulate air pollution. The EPA cites studies showing a link between exposure to particulates and increased respiratory symptoms, decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, irregular heartbeat and nonfatal heart attacks as well as development of chronic bronchitis.
Here are some provisions of the new rule:
-- Limits excessive visible emissions from wood-burning at all times.
-- Requires cleaner burning technology such as EPA-certified wood-burning devices, pellet stoves, low-mass fireplaces or masonry heaters in new construction or when the stoves are sold, resold or installed.
-- Prohibits the burning of garbage, plastics, chemically treated wood, waste petroleum products and other inappropriate materials.
-- Requires labeling and disclosure of the moisture content on wood sold for use within the nine-county district, including instructions on how to dry the wood if it has a moisture content greater than 20 percent by weight. Sellers of seasoned firewood must properly label it as seasoned.
Fires used outdoor for residential cooking won't be regulated.
The Bay Area's rules follow similar measures taken in the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento. The cities of Fremont, Gilroy, Los Gatos, Martinez, Mill Valley, Oakland, Rohnert Park, San Pablo and Union City have already cracked down.
Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer
Thursday, July 10, 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(07-09) 15:20 PDT San Francisco -- Burning wood in the Bay Area's 1 million stoves and fireplaces will be banned on winter days when health officials forecast dirty air, under a new rule adopted Wednesday.
Air-quality regulators voted unanimously to enact the first mandatory controls on indoor residential wood-burning in the region to reduce fine particles swirling in the air. The microscopic pollutants are linked to lung and heart disease.
Under the new regulation, parts of which go into effect immediately, it is against the law to use fireplaces or stoves burning wood, pressed logs or pellets on days determined unhealthy by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
The bans will apply from November to February and will be posted on the district's Web site and advertised as Check-Before-You-Burn Days in the same way that Spare the Air Days are now publicized.
Up to 20 days each winter could be subject to burning bans, based on past levels of airborne smoke. Inspectors will follow up on complaints and warn first-time offenders. Those who continue ignoring the ban are subject to fines up to $1,000 a day. Officials say they will likely impose much lower fines.
The ban had elicited hundreds of comments from the public, perhaps more than any other rule before the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
Strong opinions ranged from those who didn't think the government had the right to control activities in people's houses to those who begged the regulators to clamp down on smoky fires that blanket low-lying areas on foggy winter nights.
Some asked for exemptions for the use of pellet or government-certified stoves, and others wanted waivers in cases where wood provided the only heat. The latter exemption was granted for people who have no sources of heat other than wood-burning, or live in areas where natural gas or electricity is not available.
"We clarified the previously proposed regulation to allow for essential burning, which means for people who burn to stay warm in contrast to folks who burn for the ambience or entertainment," said Eric Pop, a district air-quality specialist who worked on the regulation.
Before the vote, the board heard additional testimony from doctors who treat asthmatics, people who have moved from areas where smoke hangs near the ground and others who compare wintertime smoke to the fallout of the wildfires now sweeping California.
Susan Goldsborough of Woodacre, who attended the meeting, particularly praised the part of the new rule that prohibits smoky chimneys year-round. "The chief enforcement officer pledged to me that the new regulations would be enforced, and that's our best chance to clean the air of wood smoke."
Vernon Huffman, manager of a ranch outside of San Anselmo, was disappointed in the final rule. He supported allowing the use of EPA-certified stoves during bad-air days. Offering that alternative as an incentive would ultimately improve air quality, he said.
The air reaches an unhealthy designation when there are large concentrations of fine particles of solids and liquid droplets measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter -one-seventieth the width of a human hair. They can penetrate deep into the lungs and even enter tissue and organs, ending up in the bloodstream. The federal government set a new standard in 2006, deeming air unhealthy if amounts of fine particles surpassed 35 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over 24 hours.
According to health officials, during the winter months and under certain weather conditions, wood-burning contributes up to one-third of total fine airborne particulate matter in the Bay Area and threatens health.
In recent years, studies have shown that mortality and hospital admissions related to lung and cardiovascular disease increase on days with high particulate air pollution. The EPA cites studies showing a link between exposure to particulates and increased respiratory symptoms, decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, irregular heartbeat and nonfatal heart attacks as well as development of chronic bronchitis.
Here are some provisions of the new rule:
-- Limits excessive visible emissions from wood-burning at all times.
-- Requires cleaner burning technology such as EPA-certified wood-burning devices, pellet stoves, low-mass fireplaces or masonry heaters in new construction or when the stoves are sold, resold or installed.
-- Prohibits the burning of garbage, plastics, chemically treated wood, waste petroleum products and other inappropriate materials.
-- Requires labeling and disclosure of the moisture content on wood sold for use within the nine-county district, including instructions on how to dry the wood if it has a moisture content greater than 20 percent by weight. Sellers of seasoned firewood must properly label it as seasoned.
Fires used outdoor for residential cooking won't be regulated.
The Bay Area's rules follow similar measures taken in the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento. The cities of Fremont, Gilroy, Los Gatos, Martinez, Mill Valley, Oakland, Rohnert Park, San Pablo and Union City have already cracked down.
My neighbors, who would have to be the ones to complain, ask me if I ever use my stove because they never see smoke.
