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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC 27711 

JUN 19 2008 

OFFICE OF 

AIR QUALITY PLANNING 

AND STANDARDS 

Dan Johnson 

Executive Director 

WESTAR 

500 Union Street 

Seattle, Wt*ington 98101 

son: 

Thank you for your letter of April 29, 2008, in which you urged the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update and develop regulations relating to a 

variety of wood combustion devices. You expressed concern that current federal 

regulations are out of date and target limited types of wood burning sources, leaving a 

number of devices unregulated and contributing to high ambient concentrations of fine 

particles in many communities across the country. 

We share your concern about wood smoke emissions and have started a review of 

the technical information that would be needed to revise the New Source Performance 

Standards (NSPS) for residential wood heaters. 

As you know, EPA has worked for the past few years to address emissions from 

wood burning sources by supplementing the NSPS for residential wood heaters with 

strongly supported voluntary measures. We have worked with states, communities and 

industry to create the Great American Woodstove Changeout Program to provide 

incentives to replace older woodstoves with cleaner-burning technology. Since 2005, we 

have worked with over 30 communities to replace nearly 7,500 old wood stoves and 

fireplaces . This has resulted in a reduction of more than 200 tons of fine particle 

emissions per year and an estimated $50 million per year of health benefits. 

We also have worked with the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use 

Management (NESCAUM) to develop a voluntary program which has facilitated the 

development of cleaner burning outdoor wood heaters faster than we could by developing 

a federal regulation. To date, 19 manufacturers have signed agreements to develop much 

cleaner units. Eight units have already been tested by EPA-accredited test laboratories to 

qualify at the Phase 1 emission level (70 percent cleaner), and two additional models 

have already qualified at the Phase 2 emission level (90 percent cleaner). We also 

Intemet Address (URL) " http ://www .epa .gov 

Recycled/Recyclable . Printed with Vegetable Oil Based Inks on Recycled Paper (Minimum 25% Postconsumer) 
supported NESCAUM's development of a model rule that states can adopt to address 

emissions from these units. Several states have already adopted rules and many are in the 

midst of the regulatory development process. 

We are working with industry on a similar partnership targeting low-mass 

fireplaces which will result in the manufacture of much cleaner fireplaces and should 

yield substantial reductions of wood smoke emissions. In addition, we are working with 

the industry and others to develop a burn smart campaign that will target new owners as 

well as existing owners of wood-burning devices. We believe that an education campaign 

promoting proper burn techniques can bring about significant improvements in air 

quality. 

Your letter indicated a concern with small wood boilers being marketed to schools 

and hospitals and asked that we direct resources towards gathering technical information. 

We have started gathering such information to the extent our resources allow. We have a 

meeting with the U.S . Forest Service from July 22-24 in Washington, D.C . to share 

technical information about wood burning in small boilers, such as those used in schools. 

We welcome your participation . Please contact Karen Blanchard at (919) 541-5503 or 

blanchard.karen&epa.gov for additional information. 

We are examining all options available to us to reduce wood smoke emissions, 

both regulatory and non-regulatory. We look forward to continuing to work with you in 

our efforts to comprehensively address wood smoke emissions. 

Stephen D: P 

Director 

Office of Air Quality Planning 

and Standards 

cc : Rob Brenner 

Gregory A. Green 
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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC 27711 

JUN 19 7_008 

OFFICE OF 

AIR QUALITY PLANNING 

AND STANDARDS 

Arthur Marin 

Executive Director 

NESCAUM 

101 Merrimac Street, l Oth Floor 

Boston, Massachusetts 02114 

n: 

Thank you for your letter of April 29, 2008, in which you urged the U.S . 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to update and develop regulations relating to a 

variety of wood combustion devices. You expressed concern that current federal 

regulations are out of date and target limited types of wood burning sources, leaving a 

number of devices unregulated and contributing to high ambient concentrations of fine 

particles in many communities across the country. 

We share your concern about wood smoke emissions and have started a review of 

the technical information that would be needed to revise the New Source Performance 

Standards (NSPS) for residential wood heaters. 

As you know, EPA has worked for the past few years to address emissions from 

wood burning sources by supplementing the NSPS for residential wood heaters with 

strongly supported voluntary measures . We have worked with states, communities and 

industry to create the Great American Woodstove Changeout Program to provide 

incentives to replace older woodstoves with cleaner-burning technology. Since 2005, we 

have worked with over 30 communities to replace nearly 7,500 old wood stoves and 

fireplaces . This has resulted in a reduction of more than 200 tons of fine particle 

emissions per year and an estimated $50 million per year of health benefits. 

We appreciate working with you and others at the Northeast States for 

Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) to develop a voluntary program which 

has facilitated the development of cleaner burning outdoor wood heaters faster than we 

could by developing a federal regulation. To date, 19 manufacturers have signed 

agreements to develop much cleaner units. Eight units have already been tested by EPAaccredited test laboratories to qualify at the Phase 1 emission level (70 percent cleaner), 

and two additional models have already qualified at the Phase 2 emission level 

Internet Address (URL) " http ://www.epa .gov 

Recycled/Recyclable . Printed with Vegetable Oil Based Inks on Recycled Paper (Minimum 25% Postconsumer) 
(90 percent cleaner) . We also supported NESCAUM's development of a model rule that 

states can adopt to address emissions from these units. Several states have already 

adopted rules and many are in the midst of the regulatory development process . 

We are working with industry on a similar partnership targeting low-mass 

fireplaces which will result in the manufacture of much cleaner fireplaces and should 

yield substantial reductions of wood smoke emissions . In addition, we are working with 

the industry and others to develop a burn smart campaign that will target new owners as 

well as existing owners of wood-burning devices. We believe that an education campaign 

promoting proper burn techniques can bring about significant improvements in air 

quality. . 

Your letter indicated a concern with small wood boilers being marketed to schools 

and hospitals and asked that we direct resources towards gathering technical information. 

We have started gathering such information to the extent our resources allow. We have a 

meeting with the U.S . Forest Service from July 22-24 in Washington, D.C . to share 

technical information about wood burning in small boilers, such as those used in schools. 

We welcome your participation . Please contact Karen Blanchard at (919) 541-5503 or 

blanchard.karen(ckp a.Pov for additional information. 

We are examining all options available to us to reduce wood smoke emissions, 

both regulatory and non-regulatory. We look forward to continuing to work with you in 

our efforts to comprehensively address wood smoke emissions. 

Stephen D. Page 

Director 

Office of Air Quality Planning 

and Standards 

cc: Rob Brenner 

Gregory A. Green