UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
REGION IX AIR DIVISION

Technical Support Document

for EPA’s Direct Final Rulemaking

for the California State Implementation Plan

Butte County Air Quality Management District
Rule 207 Wood Burning Devices

Prepared by: Rynda Kay

November 2012

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

RULE IDENTIFICATION

Agency: Butte County Quality Management District (BCAQMD)

SIP Approved Rule: There are no previous versions of this rule in the SIP

Superseded Submittals: There are no previous submittals of this rule

Subject of this TSD: Rule 207

- Wood Burning Devices Adopted

- December 4, 2008
Submitted

- April 25, 2012

RULE SUMMARY

Rule 207 is designed to minimize the impacts of smo ke and other air pollutants generated during
the use of wood burning devices within Butte County. The rule establishes the following requirements:

1. Retailers of wood burning devices must provide public awareness materials with the purchase of each wood burning device including information on operation/maintenance, size selection, fuel use, weatherization methods, fuel storage, and health benefits of low

emission devices.

2. No woo d burning device can be installed in a new or existing interior space, unless it is
District

- approved. A post

- installation inspection by a District official is required

.

3. All outdoor wood

- fired boilers installed within the District must be certified to meet EPA standards or equivalent standards as approved by the Control Officer.

4. No person shall advertise, sell, supply, or transfer ownership of a used wood burning
device , unless it has been deemed permanently inoperable or is a District

- approved device

.

5. Fuel for use in wood burning devices is restricted to firewood or other wood/plant

- based products designed and mark eted for this purpose.

6. Criteria for District

- approval of wood burning devices is clearly outlined.

7. Wood burning cook s toves, devices deemed of historical significance , and devices transferred via property sale are exempt from the requirements of this rule.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

- The following criteria were used to evaluate the submitted rule.

.

1. Enforceability

- The Bluebook ( Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations , EPA, May 25, 1988) and the Little Bluebook ( Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies, EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001) were used to help evalua te compliance with the CAA §110(a)(2)(A) requirement for enforceability.

2

. SIP Revisions

- CAA § 110(l) prohibits EPA from approving any SIP revision that would interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and reasonable further progress (RFP) or any other applicable requirement of the CAA. In addition, CAA § 193

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 prohibits the modifi cation of any SIP

- approved control requirement in effect before November 15, 1990, in a nonattainment area.

3. Rule Stringency

- Effective December 14, 2009, EPA designated Chico, California, a portion of Butte County, as nonattainment for the 2006 24

- Ho ur PM 2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). 40 C.F.R. § 81.305 (2010) ; 74 FR 58688, 58 705

- 58706 (November 13, 2009)

. F or this nonattainment area , a State Implementation Plan (SIP) submittal addressing implementation of all R easonably Available Control Measures (R ACM ) a s expeditiously as practicable, including R easonably Available Control Technology (R ACT ) for existing sources , was due December 14, 2012 . CAA § 172(b) & (c)(1), 74 FR at 58689. On October 30, 2012, EPA published a proposed determi nation that the Chico (Butte County) nonattainment area had attained the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS based on complete, quality

- assured, and certified ambient air monitoring data showing that
this area had monitored attainment of the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS based on the 2009

- 2011 monitoring period. See 77 FR 65651. If EPA finalizes the determination of attainment, the requirement for this area to submit an attainment demonstration, together with RACM, a reasonable further progress (RFP) plan, and conti ngency measures for failure to meet RFP and attainment deadlines would be suspended for as long as this area continues to attain the
2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS.

If EPA does not finalize the determination of attainment for the Chico nonatt a inment area,
the BCAQMD will need to adopt as RACM/RACT any potential PM 2.5 , SO 2 , or NO

x control measures that are reasonably available considering technological and economic feasibility and that would

, considered collectively, advance the attainment date by one year

or more in the Chico nonattainment area

. Id. For purposes of implementing the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS

, EPA recommends that states evaluate potential RACM/RACT control measures
for sources of direct PM 2.5 (including condensable PM ), SO 2 , and NO

x in the specific nonattainment area, consistent with the approach to evaluating RACM/RACT provided in EPA’s implementing regulations for the 1997 PM 2.5 NAAQS at 40 CFR part 51, subpart Z.
See Memorandum from Stephen D. Page, Director, EPA Office of Air Qua lity Planning and Standards to Regional Air Directors, Regions I

- X, “Implementation Guidance for the
2006 24

- Hour Fine Particle ( PM 2.5 ) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).”

If RACM/RACT is required, b ecause Rule 207 regulates direct PM 2.5 emissions from
residential wood

- burning devices

, the BCAQMD would need to consider whether RACM
for these emission sources could, in combination with other RACM

, advance attainment of
the 2006 PM 2.5 NAAQS in the area by a t least one year. Below, w e identify several
additional control options that are generally reasonably available (see “Additional Recommendations for the Next Rule Revision”)

.

EPA EVALUATION

1. Enforceability

- The rule requirements and applicability are clear, and the monitoring, recordkeeping, reporting and other provisions sufficiently ensure that affected sources and regulators can evaluate and determine compliance with Rule 207 consistently.

2

. SIP Revisions

- We propose to determine that our approval of the submitt ed rule would comply with CAA § 110(l) because the Butte County portion of the California SIP does not contain any control requirement for wood

- burning devices

, and our approval of Rule 207
into the SIP would neither alter any existing SIP requirement nor interfere with the on

going process for ensuring that requirements for RFP and attainment of the NAAQS are

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 met

. Section 193 of the Act does not apply to our proposed action because this is a new rule to the SIP and does not modify any SIP

- approved control requirement in effect before November 15, 1990, in a nonattainment area

.

3. Rule Stringency

- It is not clear at this time that further measures are needed to fulfill
RACM or other analo gous CAA requirements.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT RULE REVISION

The following revisions are not currently the basis for rule disapproval, but are recommended for
the next time the rule is amended. We believe many or all of these control options are reasonably available considering technological and economic feasibility based on the General Preamble, Appendix C2

-- Available Residential Wood Combustion Control Measures, 57 FR 18072 (April 28, 1992) , and successful implementation of a nalogous requirements in other areas.

 Establishing fuel moisture requirements : Many California district rules requir e tha t all
wood sold labelled as “ seasoned wood” meet specific moisture criteria (e.g., SMAQCD
Rule 417

, Section 303 and SJVAPCD Rule 4901 , Section 5.4 ) . Additionally, s everal
Districts have ban ned the use of unseasoned wood as fuel for wood burning devices (e.g., BAAQMD Rule 6

- 3 , Sections 6

- 3

- 305, 6

- 3

- 306

, 6

- 3

- 404 and PCAPCD Rule 225 , Section
305.1.11 ).

 Esta blishing a curtailment progr am: The District has a successful voluntary curtailment program in place and the city of Chico has passed an ordinance making this curtailment mandatory within city limits, both of which have likely contributed to recent reductions in PM 2.5 NAAQS violatio ns. These programs , however, have not been included in provisions approved into the Federally

- enforceable SIP. We recommend that the provisions detailing voluntary curtailment be included in the Rule and that, if necessary, the City of Chico ordinance be included in future EPA submissions.

 Establishing visible emissions l imitations : Many California District rules include a provision limiting visible emissions outside of fire start

- up to <20% opacity (e.g., BAAQMD Rule 6

- 3 , Section 6

- 3

- 302 and PCAPCD Rule 225

, Section 304.2 ) or other opacity measures (e.g., SMAQCD Rule 4 01, Section 301 )

.

 Requiring the replacement of non

- approved devices upon home sale (e.g., PCAPCD Rule
225 , Section 303 and SJVAPCD Rule 4901 , Section 5.2 )

.

We also note, a dditional approac hes that may be useful for reducing residential wood smoke are presented in the “Strategies for Reducing Residential Wood Smoke”, EPA Document # EPA

456/B

- 09

- 001, October 2009.

EPA ACTION

We propose to determine that BCAQMD Rule 207 fulfils the applicable CAA §110 requirements

. Therefore, under section 110(k) of the CAA, EPA staff recommend s full approval of BCAQMD
Rule 207.

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REFERENCES

1

. “Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations,” (a.k.a., Bluebook) EPA OAQP S, May 25, 1988 (web citation).
2

. “Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies,” (a.k.a., Little Bluebook), EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001 ( http://www.epa.gov/region09/air/sips/littlebluebook2001.pdf ).
3

. “Memorandum from Stephen D. Page, Director, EPA Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards to Regional Air Directors, Regions I

- X, “Implementation Guidance for the 2006
24

- Hour Fine Particle ( PM 2.5 ) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
4

. “Technical Information Document for Residential Wood Combustion Best Available Control Measures”, EPA

- 450/2

- 92

- 002, September 1992.
5. “ General Preamble ” , Appendix C2

-- Available Residentia l Wood Combustion Control Measures, 57 FR 18072, April 28, 1992

. 6

. “Strategies for Reducing Residential Wood Smoke”, EPA Document # EPA

- 456/B

- 09

- 001, October 2009.
7

. Sacramento Metropolitan AQMD Rule 417 ( October 26, 2006 )

. 8

. San Joaquin Valley Unifie d AQCD Rule 4901 ( October 16, 2008 )

. 9

. Bay Area AQMD Regulation 6, Rule 3 ( July 9, 2008 )

. 10

. Placer County APCD Rule 225 ( December 13, 2007 )

.