From: Renberg, Dan [mailto:Dan.Renberg@arentfox.com] 

Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2013 9:55 AM

To: Higgins, Cortney

Subject: Follow-up materials on wood-burning fireplaces and need for NSPS

Cortney – Thank you for leading the briefing that we and our client, Innovative Hearth Products, 

provided OIRA, CEQ, SBA, and EPA recently on the rationale for adding an NSPS for woodburning fireplaces to the proposed rule that OMB is reviewing. Attached as you and your 

colleagues requested are the materials we referred to in our briefing, including our letter to Janet 

McCabe, supporting letters from environmental organizations (private and public)(in the same 

PDF as the letter to Ms. McCabe, after the lengthy white paper written by our client), and links 

to the two studies that my colleague, Stan Abramson, mentioned. We were sorry that neither 

Shayna Strom nor Jim Laity ended up able to participate in the briefing and hope that you and 

they will consider meeting with Stan and me after you have had a chance to review the attached 

materials so that we can answer additional questions. (I attached the meeting sign-in for your 

convenience, since you said you would handle circulating the attachments you requested.)

 Time is of the essence in terms of including the NSPS for wood-burning fireplaces in the 

upcoming rulemaking that covers all other types of wood-burning appliances. Local 

governments feel they have no choice but to ban new wood-burning fireplaces entirely because 

the voluntary certification program that EPA launched a few years ago has not taken off in the 

marketplace. Where the market fails, it is appropriate for regulation to achieve the desired 

objective, namely preserving the ability of Americans to use wood to heat their homes while 

reducing the particulate and other emissions associated with this renewable fuel source. While 

wood smoke can represent a substantial amount of fine particulate pollution, you have now heard 

from Innovative Hearth Products that low cost, clean-burning technologies exist that make an 

outright ban completely unnecessary. EPA has already recognized these proven and affordable 

technologies as environmentally beneficial for reducing PM, CO, and VOCs by as much as 60-

80 percent. Further, a voluntary ASTM standard endorsed by EPA already exists, so it should 

not be very burdensome for your agency to convert it into an NSPS. Given how infrequently 

EPA publishes NSPS regulations, it is imperative to use the wood-burning appliance regulations 

OIRA is currently reviewing as the vehicle for fireplace regulations as well.

 As the attachment will show, EPA has received letters from leading environmental 

groups and state governmental organizations urging that air pollution regulations cover all woodburning appliances, including fireplaces. In addition, EPA’s own published reports have 

projected the health care cost of one ton of airborne PM 2.5 particulates is $360,000 and have 

also documented the cost for the technology proven to reduce one ton of particulates as only 

$9,500. Clearly, a regulation to reduce PM emissions from wood-burning fireplaces meets any 

rational cost-benefit analysis.

 We hope to continue working with you and EPA on this issue in the coming weeks.

Thank you again for agreeing to meet with us and our client recently.

 Best regards,

 Dan Renberg
Studies You Requested

MANE-VU Study -- We cited the statistic that most fireplaces are used for heating homes, not 

just for aesthetic purposes as some on EPA staff have asserted as a rationale for not promulgating 

an NSPS for wood-burning fireplaces. This study states that 90% of cordwood is burned for 

heating purposes (pages 2-3). The Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Visibility Union (MANE-VU) 

conducted a project dated July 2004, developing an air pollutant emissions inventory covering 11 

States and Washington, DC (DC). The States included Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, 

Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and 

Delaware. The objective of this project was to develop air pollutant emission estimates for 

residential wood combustion during the 2002-03 calendar years to assist regional and State 

planners in a variety of air pollution programs. Residential wood combustion data includes 

number of wood burning fireplaces and amount of wood burned by state. Source: 

http://www.marama.org/publications_folder/ResWoodCombustion/RWC_FinalReport_121906.p

df

University of California Science Center 2003 – On page 840, the study concludes that for 

wood-burning fireplaces, there is a 5 or 6 to 1 ratio of primary heating vs. aesthetic heating, 

which again contradicts the assertions by some EPA staff. Source: 

http://www.vtwoodsmoke.org/pdf/tian03.pdf

Dan Renberg

Partner

Arent Fox LLP | Attorneys at Law 

1717 K Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20036-5342

202.857.6386 DIRECT | 202.857.6395 FAX 

dan.renberg@arentfox.com | www.arentfox.com

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