san francisco bans fireplaces

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germy01

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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.
 
isn't this the place that burns garbage to generate electricity?

What about cars, buses, diesel truck trailers, motorcycles & them dam blowers that blow there cr-p to the yard next door.

I would suggest coal but I think I heard some years back they banned the use of coal for heating.

Sure am glad I live in America and not San Francisco
 
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It could be worse out there and it be a total ban instead of just banning on certain days. We get burn ban days too but that is during the Summer drought to minimise the chances of grass fires.

Nice that they decided to exempt the people that rely on it for heating and not just comfort wood at least someone out there wasnt using their pants for a hat.
 
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." I'm glad Susie here isn't my neighbor - She sounds like a real bit*h.
 
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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." I'm glad Susie here isn't my neighbor - She sounds like a real bit*h.

The chief enforcement officer probably does too and is ready to tell her anything to get her to stop calling.
 
as wood becomes even more popular to burn, we can expect to see alot more "regulations" popping up here and there. in new york state, they're passing legislation, or trying to, for OWB's.

but, as more and more people install wood burning devices, complaints and regulations are sure to follow.

the one i'm waiting for is how wood is stored in a yard.
 
as wood becomes even more popular to burn, we can expect to see alot more "regulations" popping up here and there. in new york state, they're passing legislation, or trying to, for OWB's.

but, as more and more people install wood burning devices, complaints and regulations are sure to follow.

the one i'm waiting for is how wood is stored in a yard.

You mean like "To be considered a firewood stack, the wood stacks are to be no less than 12" off the ground." To the enforcement officer I lacked 8 inches of airspace from being in compliance. I averted his attention to a pile of firewood that has been rotting on the ground in a yard behind me. He asked if I knew who's that was. Sure it is Officer (name withheld) with the local P.D. , how much is his fine ?

The yard police stopped bothering me about mine and the cops is still rotting untouched.
 
So San Francisco is now supporting utilizing "buried carbon" fuel sources, opposed to fuel sources that utilize atmospheric carbon, in turn potentially adding to the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Interesting...I wonder what their stance on ethanol as an alternative fuel is?:confused:
 
what about "medical woodsmoke" inhaled to calm the nerves and escape in fragrant wafts, from city life? i'm not talking about those recreational woodburners who are just in it for a quick bit of heat with all their dirty belching chimneys polluting the pristine air of San Fran . . .please somebody think about the medical woodsmoke users.
 
Makes good sense to me.
Dan, I trust they have plans to ban human smoking and outdoor cooking as well? We are talking about a huge, concentrated population of both outdoor grills and human smokers--both of which, when combined, could easily cause more air pollution than fireplaces or woodstoves used for heating.

I wonder how many studies have actually been conducted? :confused:
 
camp fires and fires for cooking are exempt... have a wood cook stove with a large pot of beans/chili what ever slow cooking all winter...
 
Fires used outdoor for residential cooking won't be regulated

that was the last line in the post...
yeah interesting aint it?

also exemptions for people where it is their only source of heat or if they live in an area not served by natural gas or electricity....
So I guess you have electric you have to fire up electric heaters... and turn your electric meter into a fan. Oh and wasnt it Cal that had problems a few years back of not enough electricity and grid capacity?
 
You mean like "To be considered a firewood stack, the wood stacks are to be no less than 12" off the ground." To the enforcement officer I lacked 8 inches of airspace from being in compliance. I averted his attention to a pile of firewood that has been rotting on the ground in a yard behind me. He asked if I knew who's that was. Sure it is Officer (name withheld) with the local P.D. , how much is his fine ?

The yard police stopped bothering me about mine and the cops is still rotting untouched.
isnt that just wonderful--hypocrite cops--i got the same thing with a hypocrite cop in this town--love to catch him out of town--and out of unifom and jusrisdiction some day---
 
Eugene, Oregon has had a law like that for years now. Only invoked on stale air days, and when it is really smokey. Big fines for burning wood on those days. I live in a rural area of Clackamas County now and there are no wood burning bans that I am aware of here. Yet.

All of the SF bay area counties have had a wood burning appliance ban for 10+ years now. No new houses can have wood burning appliances, of ANY kind. Only pre-existing houses with fireplaces are grandfathered to have wood fires. Smoke is REALLY bad in the SF south bay area in winter. I had to run a HEPA filter when I lived there in winter for smoke, and ran it in summer for smog. Cough cough...
 
Oh and wasnt it Cal that had problems a few years back of not enough electricity and grid capacity?

California has a CRONIC problem with electricity, even now. Rolling blackouts are still common there, and this summer when I was staying with the ex-ex, she said that they have voluntary 'lights out' days at work on hots days in Milpitas because the A/C load is massive. I got more for my house when I sold it in the bay area becuse I was on the grid that the fire station was on, so there were no rolling balckouts.

But in the end? Heating does not use as much electricity as A/C and it is at night, when there is far less demand on the grid. Peak hour demand is the issue, in the worst in the afternoon when A/C demand is high and industrial demand is high, and domestic demand is high. So they do not care about winter heating... rolling blackouts were non-existant in winter there.
 
funny we don't hear anything about rolling blackouts anymore... ... but there is another thing in the power industry... isn't the fall/winter the time when power plants shut down for maintenance? I know here I am on what they call a 'peak shaving' program where they can start my generator and in turn I pay 25-30% less for electricity. they run my generator maybe 30-50 hours per year... last month I figured I saved approx $700 on electricity and burned maybe $35 in diesel... not too shabby. Our local electric co-op runs this program and ifthey can keep the peaks down we all win.
 
That sounds weird. Here in OR there is little co-gen at all. In Douglas County where I lived for 4 years, there were ZERO home on-grid electric producers. Lots of off grid stuff, but nothing on grid to date with the Douglas Co. Co-Op. A few people up here farther north in Oregon have their own large hydro systems. Last I saw they will take over 20 years ot pay for though.

In CA, they encourage people to have their own electric generating systems, but to be on grid, and get the PG&E and federal and state tax breaks, you have to match the system output to your own home electric use. So in other words, you cannot put in a giant PV system that is more than 150% of your own use. So in those cases, payback will be in 12-15 years.
 

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