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 wood

burning 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 le ngthy 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 reques ted.)

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 abilit y 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 Innov ative 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 m uch 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 w ood

- 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 wood

burning 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 th is issue in the coming weeks. Thank you again for agreeing to meet with us and our client recently.

Best regards,

Dan RenbergStudies You Requested

MANE

- VU Study

-- We cited the statistic that most fireplaces are used for heati ng 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/Nort heast 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, N ew 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. aestheti c 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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