040.051 WOOD STOVE/FIREPLACE INSERT EMISSIONS

(Amended 9/23/98; Revised 6/19/02, Effective 1/1/03; Revised 2/23/06; Revised 8/22/13)

SECTION A – GENERAL

1. PURPOSE: To limit particulate matter emissions and other pollutants discharged into the ambient

air from solid fuel burning devices by:

a. Setting emission standards and certifying devices;

b. Requiring removal of devices that are not certified;

c. Restricting materials that can be burned; and

d. Limiting the number of devices that are not deemed low emitting.

2. APPLICABILITY: The provisions of this regulation apply to any:

a. Person that advertises, except when restrictions are noted, sells, offers to sell, or installs any 

wood stove within the Health District;

b. Person that completes, or allows the completion of any:

(1) escrow transaction; 

(2) title change on a residential property;

(3) title change on a commercial property that contains a solid fuel burning device.

c. Person that operates a solid fuel burning device within the Health District.

d. New installations of solid fuel burning devices within the Health District.

SECTION B – DEFINITIONS: For the purpose of this regulation, the following definitions shall apply.

1. Antique wood stove. Means a wood stove built before 1940 that has an ornate construction and a 

current market value substantially higher than a common wood stove manufactured in the same time 

period.

2. Certified. Means a solid fuel burning device has been certified in accordance with current standards 

adopted by the U.S. EPA, the State of Oregon, the State of Colorado and/or appears on the Washoe 

County District Health Department Official List of Certified Wood Stoves; Ref. 40 CFR, Part 60; 

Oregon Administrative Rules, Chapter 340, Division 21; Colorado Revised Statute, Regulation No. 4. 

(As noted also in Section 010.0255).

3. Certificate of Compliance. A permit issued for a specific location by the Control Officer for a solid fuel 

burning device deeming the device certified in accordance with this regulation.

4. Commercial Property. Means any structure used to conduct business including public or private 

offices, retail, industrial, institutional, or multi-unit residential having more than four dwelling units.
5. Cook Stove. Means a wood stove installed in the kitchen, which is primarily designed for cooking and 

has a stovetop and an oven. It may also be equipped with gas burners. This wood stove is exempt 

from the emission standards and requirements of Section 040.051. (As noted also in Section 

010.045).

6. Development. Is a group of multifamily dwelling structures built on a parcel of land with common 

amenities. Examples of a development include but are not limited to: condominiums, apartments, 

and townhouses. (Adopted 5/23/90). (As noted also in Section 010.047).

7. Fireplace. Means an open hearth or fire chamber or similarly prepared place in which a fire may be 

made and which is built in conjunction with a chimney. It may have doors, provided they are not 

designed with gaskets, air intake controls or other modifications, which create an air starved operating 

condition. Wood-burning devices initially classified, as a wood heater (As noted also in Section 

010.200) may not be modified to meet the fireplace definition. (Amended 11/16/94). (As noted also in 

Section 010.063).

8. Garbage. Means putrescible animal or vegetable waste. (As noted also in Section 010.072).

9. Low emitting. Devices that are considered low emitting include but are not limited to:

a. All propane or natural gas-fired devices;

b. pellet stoves;

c. Specific models of wood stoves or other solid fuel burning devices that meet a certified 

emission rate of 1.0 gram/hour or less of particulate matter; and 

d. Masonry Heaters that are certified by Colorado Revised Statute, Regulation 4.

10. Notice of Exemption (NOE). A form approved by the Control Officer, containing the notarized 

signatures of both the buyer and seller, attesting to the fact that the previously occupied residential or 

commercial property:

a. Does not have any Solid Fuel Burning Device;

b. Has a fireplace that does not have doors that are gasketed to make the device airtight; or 

c. Had an uncertified wood stove removed from the property prior to sale.

11. Pellet Stove. Means a solid fuel burning device designed to heat the interior of a building. It is a 

forced draft heater with an automatic feed which supplies appropriately sized feed material or 

compressed pellets of wood, or other biomass material to the firebox. (As noted also in Section 

010.117).

12. Removed or Removal. Means a solid fuel burning device is physically taken off the real property. 

Furthermore, the device must not be stored at any other location on the real property or elsewhere 

within the Health District without the approval of the Control Officer.

13. Residential Property. Means any structure used as a dwelling including mobile, manufactured, single 

and multifamily homes and/or land with outbuildings including but not limited to barns, sheds, and 

garages.
14. Seasoned Wood. Means firewood with a moisture content not exceeding 20%.

15. Smoke. Means small gas-borne particles resulting from incomplete combustion, consisting 

predominantly of carbon, ash, and other combustible material present in sufficient quantity to be 

observable or, as a suspension in gas of solid particles in sufficient quantity to be observable. (As

noted also in Section 010.136).

16. Solid Fuel Burning Device (device). Means a device that burns wood, or any other nongaseous or 

non-liquid fuels, and includes any device burning any solid fuel used for aesthetic or space-heating 

purposes including but not limited to a fireplace, wood stove, or pellet stove.

17. Stack or Chimney. Means any flue, conduit, or duct arranged to conduct any smoke, air contaminant 

or emission to the atmosphere. (As noted also in Section 010.140).

18. Treated Wood. Means wood of any species that has been chemically impregnated, painted, or 

similarly modified.

19. Uncertified. Means a wood stove that cannot be verified as meeting the certified standards and/or 

does not appear on the Washoe County District Health Department Official List of Certified/Exempt 

Wood Stoves. (As noted also in Section 010.145).

20. Waste Petroleum Products. Means hydrocarbon based or contaminated materials.

21. Wood Heater. Means an enclosed wood burning appliance capable of, and intended for space 

heating, domestic water heating or indoor cooking and has an air-to-fuel ratio of less than 35 to 1 in 

the low burn cycle. It also must have a usable firebox volume less than twenty (20) cubic feet, weigh 

less than 800 kilograms and have a minimum burn rate less than five (5) kilograms per hour. 

Appliances that are described as prefabricated fireplaces and are designed to accommodate doors or 

other accessories that would create the air starved operating conditions of a wood heater, must meet 

the emission standards if they meet the criteria in the above definition with those accessories in place. 

(As noted also in Section 010.200).

22. Wood Stove. For purposes of this regulation may be a:

a. wood heater;

b. pellet stove;

c. prefabricated zero clearance fireplace or a fireplace heat form with doors or other 

accessories which cause the fireplace to function as a wood heater; or

d. wood heater inserted in a fireplace.

Wood stoves do not include open masonry fireplaces, barbecue devices, portable firepits, gas–

fired fireplaces or cook stoves. (Revised 9/23/98) (As noted also in Section 010.205).

SECTION C – STANDARDS:
1. PARTICULATE MATTER EMISSION STANDARD: The particulate matter emission standard is 7.5 

grams or less of particulate matter per hour for a non-catalytic appliance or 4.1 grams or less of 

particulate matter per hour for a catalytic appliance. If the U.S. EPA adopts a wood stove/fireplace 

emission standard, which is more stringent, that emission standard supersedes the standard in this 

section and becomes effective on the date that the U.S. EPA standard becomes effective.

2. CERTIFICATION: A wood stove shall be considered certified for purposes of these regulations as 

defined in 040.051.B.2.

3. EXISTING DEVICES: 

a. Upon the transfer or conveyance of any residential or commercial property, currently 

installed or existing wood stove(s) that are uncertified must be removed or replaced with 

certified or low emitting device(s), prior to the completion of any:

(1) escrow transaction; and/or

(2) title change.

Rendering a device inoperable is not acceptable in lieu of removal.

b. The Control Officer on a case-by-case basis may approve an exemption from Section 

040.051.C.3.a for an Antique wood stove. Persons requesting the exemption must provide 

proof of antiquity. 

c. RENOVATION/REMODEL: If a residential or commercial property is undergoing a 

renovation/remodel or being rebuilt following a natural disaster, and not changing ownership, 

the existing wood stove(s) may be moved and re-installed, or the same type of fireplace(s) 

may be re-built. New or additional solid fuel burning devices are prohibited in accordance 

with the limitations set forth in 040.051.C.7 of this regulation.

4. VISIBLE EMISSIONS: No person may permit emissions from the stack or chimney of a solid fuel 

burning device to exceed an opacity greater than that shade designated as No. 2 on the 

Ringelmann Chart for a period or periods aggregating more than three (3) minutes in any one hour 

period. Emissions created during a fifteen (15) minute start-up period are exempt. 

5. PROHIBITED FUELS: A person shall not cause or allow any of the following materials to be 

burned in a solid fuel burning device:

a. asphaltic products;

b. books and magazines;

c. garbage;

d. paints;

e. colored/wrapping paper;

f. plastic;

g. rubber products;

h. treated wood;

i. waste petroleum products; 

j. fuel wood that is not seasoned;

k. coal; or 
l. any other material not intended by a manufacturer for use as a fuel in a solid fuel burning 

device.

6. CONDITIONS FOR SELLING WOOD: A person selling wood for use in a solid fuel burning device 

shall comply with the following:

a. Seasoned wood (wood with a moisture content of 20 percent or less) may be sold for 

immediate use in a wood burning device.

b. Wood with a moisture content of greater than 20 percent may be sold with a disclosure of 

the excessive moisture content and a recommended seasoning period to obtain a moisture 

content of 20 percent or less.

7. LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF SOLID FUEL BURNING DEVICES: 

a. New Installations: 

(i) For new installations, only certified woodstoves as defined in 040.051.B.2 may be 

installed on any residential or commercial property located within the Health 

District.

(ii) The number of certified wood stoves or fireplaces installed on any residential or 

commercial property for which a building or set-up permit is issued shall not 

exceed one on a minimum one acre parcel.

b. Existing Property: In dwelling units or commercial/public facilities existing on the effective 

date of this regulation, installation of additional solid fuel burning devices is prohibited.

c. The above limitations do not apply to devices that are defined as low emitting (Section B.8. 

of this regulation).

SECTION D – ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS:

1. No local government authority within the Health District may issue a building permit to any person to 

install an uncertified, or U.S. EPA exempt wood stove.

2. WOOD STOVE INSPECTORS: A person may be approved by the Control Officer to inspect and 

certify that wood stoves are currently, or have been in the past, certified per Section 040.051.

a. To obtain approval, an application must be submitted to the Control Officer. Approval will 

be issued upon satisfactory completion of all requirements set forth by the Control Officer 

and payment of the fee established by the Board of Health. Annual approval may be 

renewed upon meeting all the requirements of the Control Officer and payment of the 

renewal fee.

b. An approved inspector shall report the result of each inspection on a form provided by the 

Control Officer after the fee established by the Board of Health is paid. The approved 

inspector must indicate:

(1) Whether the residential property contains any solid fuel burning device;
(2) The number of wood stoves which are certified;

(3) The number of wood stoves which are not certified.

3. EXISTING WOOD STOVES AND CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP: Prior to the completion of any 

escrow transaction, and/or title change on any residential or commercial property, the current property 

owner must obtain either a Certificate of Compliance or a Notice of Exemption:

a. The Control Officer shall issue a Certificate of Compliance:

(1) Upon receipt of an inspection report from an approved Wood Stove Inspector that 

demonstrates the property contains allowable wood burning devices.

i. If the report indicates that a wood stove is uncertified, the wood stove 

must be removed from the property and re-inspection by an approved

Wood Stove Inspector is required.

(2) Within seven (7) working days after receipt of a completed inspection report from 

an approved Wood Stove Inspector.

i. If the Control Officer fails to act within the seven (7) working day period, 

any escrow transaction and/or title change that requires a Certificate of 

Compliance may be completed in lieu of issuance of said Certificate. 

b. A Notice of Exemption shall be submitted to the Control Officer within ten (10) working days 

after the close of escrow and/or title change, if:

(1) The residential property does not contain a wood stove.

(2) An uncertified woodstove has been removed from any residential or commercial 

property prior to the close of escrow and/or title change. The removal of any 

uncertified woodstove is subject to a verification inspection for a period not to 

exceed 30 days from the date of close of escrow.

The buyer and seller of any residential property shall observe any disclosure statements supplied by the real 

estate agents relating to the requirement under this regulation for the inspection of any wood stove.

SECTION E – COMPLIANCE AND RECORDS

1. DEALERS AFFIDAVIT OF SALE

a. A person who sells a wood stove within the Health District must report the sale to the 

Control Officer within thirty (30) days from the date of sale on the form provided by the 

Control Officer.

b. The form shall be provided by the Control Officer after the person pays the fee established 

by the Board of Health for that form.
c. Any person who fails to notify the Control Officer of the sale of a solid fuel burning device is 

subject to the penalties set forth in Section 020.040.

2. CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE: A Certificate of Compliance issued pursuant to this section:

a. Remains valid until the property is transferred or conveyed to a new owner or nine (9) 

months, whichever comes sooner.

b. Does not constitute a warranty or guarantee by the approved inspector or the Control 

Officer that the wood stove meets any other standards of operation, efficiency or safety, 

except the emission standards contained in these regulations.

3. FALSIFICATION OF INFORMATION: Any person who falsifies any information associated with a:

a. Wood Stove Inspection;

b. Certificate of Compliance; 

c. Notice of Exemption; or

d. Dealer’s Affidavit of Sale

is subject to the penalties set forth in Section 020.040, and may be subjected to the applicable 

penalties prescribed by law for perjury. The revocation of the Control Officer’s approval to conduct 

wood stove inspections or revocation of a Certificate of Compliance may also be a result.

4. VIOLATION OF VISIBLE EMISSIONS OR PROHIBITED FUELS STANDARDS: A person who 

violates Sections C.4, C.5 or C.6 of this regulation shall be issued a warning for the first violation, 

and shall be provided information on proper wood burning techniques. Subsequent violations would 

be subject to the penalties set forth in Section 020.040.

5. CURTAILMENT OF BURNING DURING POLLUTION ALERTS: If the concentrations of an air 

containment reach or are predicted to reach levels that constitute a Stage 1 alert as defined in 

Section 050.001.C, operation of any Solid Fuel Burning Device shall be suspended in accordance 

with the requirements of Section 050.001.C.