Document ID: EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0734-1677
Agency: epa
Document Type: Proposed Rule
Title: Performance Standards for New Residential Wood Heaters, New Residential Hydronic Heaters and Forced-Air Furnaces, and New Residential Masonry Heaters
Posted Date: 2014-07-01T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 126 (Tuesday, July 1, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37259-37261]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-15469]

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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 60

[EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0734; FRL-9913-22-OAR]
RIN 2060-AP93

Standards of Performance for New Residential Wood Heaters, New 
Residential Hydronic Heaters and Forced-Air Furnaces, and New 
Residential Masonry Heaters

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Proposed rule; Notice of Data Availability.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing this 
Notice of Data Availability (NODA) in support of the proposed rule 
titled, ``Standards of Performance for New Residential Wood Heaters, 
New Residential Hydronic Heaters and Forced-Air Furnaces, and New 
Residential Masonry Heaters'' that was published on February 3, 2014. 
Through this NODA, the EPA is making available to the public, and 
soliciting comment on, the specific additional information on 
residential wood heater testing and certification that has been added 
to the docket for the proposed rule. This comment period is limited to 
comments on the specific data added and issues that relate to this 
data; it is not an additional period to comment on other aspects of 
this proposed rule.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 31, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Comments. Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0734, by one of the following methods:
     www.regulations.gov: Follow the on-line instructions for 
submitting comments.
     Email: a-and-r-docket@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID No. 
EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0734.
     Fax: (202) 566-9744, Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-
2009-0734.
     Mail: United States (U.S.) Postal Service, send comments 
to EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building (Air Docket), Attention Docket 
ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0734, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
Mailcode: 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20004. 
Please include a total of two copies.
     Hand Delivery: EPA Docket Center, WJC West Building (Air 
Docket), Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 
Attention Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0734. Such deliveries are 
only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of operation, and 
special arrangements should be made for deliveries of boxed 
information.
    Instructions: All submissions must include the agency name and 
docket ID number (EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0734). The EPA's policy is that all 
comments received will be included in the public docket without change 
and may be made available online at www.regulations.gov, including any 
personal information provided, unless the comment includes information 
claimed to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit 
information that you consider to be CBI, or otherwise protected, 
through www.regulations.gov or email. Instead, clearly mark the 
portions of the information that you claim to be CBI and send or 
deliver only to the following address: Roberto Morales, OAQPS Document 
Control Officer (C404-02), Office of Air Quality Planning and 
Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle 
Park, North Carolina 27711, Attention Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-
0734. For CBI information on a disk or CD-ROM that you mail to the EPA, 
mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM as CBI and then identify 
electronically within the disk or CD-ROM the specific information that 
you claim as CBI. In addition to one complete version of the comment 
that includes information claimed as CBI, you must submit a copy of the 
comment that does not contain the portions of the information claimed 
as CBI for inclusion in the public docket. If you submit a disk or CD-
ROM that does not contain CBI, mark the outside of the disk or CD-ROM 
clearly that it does not contain CBI. Information not marked as CBI 
will be included in the public docket and the EPA's electronic public 
docket without prior notice. The portions of the information marked as 
CBI will not be disclosed except in accordance with procedures set 
forth in 40 CFR part 2.
    The EPA requests that you also submit a separate copy of your 
comments to the contact person identified below (see FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT). You should send to this person only a copy of the 
comment that does not contain the portions of information claimed as 
CBI or otherwise protected.
    The www.regulations.gov Web site is an ``anonymous access'' system, 
which means the EPA will not know your identity or contact information 
unless you provide it in the body of your comment. If you send an email 
comment directly to the EPA without going through www.regulations.gov, 
your email address will be automatically captured and included as part 
of the comment that is placed in the public docket and made available 
on the Internet. If you submit an electronic comment, the EPA 
recommends that you include your name and other contact information in 
the body of your comment and with any disk or CD-ROM you submit. If the 
EPA cannot read your comment due to technical difficulties and cannot 
contact you for clarification, the EPA may not be able to consider your 
comment. Electronic files should avoid the use of special characters, 
any form of encryption, and be free of any defects or viruses.
    Docket: The EPA has established a docket for this rulemaking under 
Docket ID Number EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0734. All documents in the docket are 
listed in the www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, 
some information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other 
material, such as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only 
in hard copy form. Publicly available docket materials are available 
either electronically in www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the EPA 
Docket Center, WJC West Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave. 
NW., Washington, DC. The Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. The 
telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 566-1744, and the 
telephone number for the Air Docket is (202) 566-1742. For additional 
information about the EPA's public docket, visit the EPA Docket Center 
homepage at www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Gil Wood, Office of Air Quality 
Planning and Standards, Outreach and Information Division, Community 
and Tribal Programs Group (C304-03), U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711; telephone number: 
(919) 541-5272; fax number: (919) 541-0242; email address: 
wood.gil@epa.gov.

[[Page 37260]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The information in this NODA is organized as 
follows:

I. Does this action apply to me?
II. What are the background and purpose of this NODA?

I. Does this action apply to me?

    The entities that are potentially affected by this NODA are listed 
in Table 1 below. This table is not intended to be exhaustive, but to 
provide a guide for readers regarding entities likely to be affected by 
this NODA.

                 Table 1--Potentially Regulated Entities
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                                                         Examples of
          Category               NAICS \a\ Code      regulated entities
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Residential Wood Heating....  333414--Heating       Manufacturers,
                               Equipment (except     owners and
                               Warm Air Furnaces)    operators of wood
                               Manufacturing.        heaters, pellet
                                                     heaters/stoves,
                                                     hydronic heaters,
                                                     and masonry
                                                     heaters.
                              333415--Air-          Manufacturers,
                               Conditioning and      owners and
                               Warm Air Heating      operators of forced-
                               Equipment and         air furnaces.
                               Commercial and
                               Industrial
                               Refrigeration
                               Equipment
                               Manufacturing.
                              238140--Masonry       Manufacturers,
                               Contractors.          owners, operators
                                                     and testers of
                                                     masonry heaters.
Testing Laboratories........  541380--Testing       Testers of wood
                               Laboratories          heaters, pellet
                               (except Medical,      heaters/stoves,
                               Veterinary).          hydronic heaters
                                                     and masonry
                                                     heaters.
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\a\ North American Industry Classification System.

II. What are the background and purpose of this NODA?

    On February 3, 2014, at 79 FR 6330, the EPA proposed to amend 
standards of performance for New Residential Wood Heaters and to add 
two new subparts: Standards of Performance for New Residential Hydronic 
Heaters and Forced-Air Furnaces and Standards of Performance for New 
Residential Masonry Heaters. The EPA is issuing this NODA in support of 
the proposed standards. Through this NODA, the EPA is making available 
to the public, and soliciting comment on, additional information on 
residential wood heater testing and certification that has been added 
to the docket for the proposed rule. Specifically, we are making 
available the following: (1) Additional details of certification 
testing (using crib wood) of wood stoves and pellet stoves certified by 
the EPA between January 1, 2010, and May 30, 2014; (2) details of cord 
wood testing by two manufacturers of their EPA-certified catalytic wood 
stoves; and (3) details of cord wood testing by Brookhaven National 
Laboratory (BNL), under contract to the EPA, of an EPA-certified 
noncatalytic wood stove.
    1. Additional Details of Certification Testing (using crib wood) of 
Wood Stoves and Pellet Stoves Certified by EPA between January 1, 2010 
and May 30, 2014. All EPA-certified wood heaters that are offered or 
advertised for sale in the United States are subject to the current 
(1988) New Source Performance Standard (NSPS) for New Residential Wood 
Heaters under the Clean Air Act (40 CFR part 60, subpart AAA). These 
EPA-certified appliances are required to meet the particulate emissions 
limit of 7.5 grams per hour (g/hr) for non-catalytic wood heaters and 
4.1 g/hr for catalytic wood heaters.\1\ The model line certifications 
are based primarily on testing of representative stoves by EPA-
accredited test laboratories according to EPA Method 28. Method 28 and 
the NSPS require testing for each of four burn rate categories. 
Category 4 is the maximum burn rate. Category 1 is the minimum burn 
rate. Categories 2 and 3 are in between. In the EPA's February 3, 2014, 
proposal, we proposed to update and strengthen the existing emission 
limits for these wood heaters over a 5-year period. One of the aspects 
of the proposal included requiring compliance for each of the 
individual burn rates rather than just the weighted average. These 
additional data supplement the previous data in the docket, which are 
for wood stoves certified prior to January 1, 2010.
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    \1\ Under state law, wood stoves offered for sale in the state 
of Washington must meet a particulate emissions limit of 4.5 g/hr 
for non-catalytic wood stoves and 2.5 g/hr for catalytic wood 
stoves.
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    As of May 30, 2014, the EPA has certified approximately 1,000 wood 
and pellet stove model lines that comply with the current NSPS. Summary 
information, including weighted emission averages, for these stoves is 
located at: http://www.epa.gov/Compliance/resources/publications/monitoring/caa/woodstoves/certifiedwood.pdf.
    From February 1988 to December 31, 2009, the EPA certified over 900 
wood stove model lines. Particulate matter emissions by burn rate for 
most of the stoves in production on December 31, 2009, were summarized 
by the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association (HPBA) in a database for 
the EPA and the EPA included it in the docket prior to the February 3, 
2014, proposal.
    Since December 31, 2009, the EPA has certified over 100 wood stove 
model lines that comply with the current NSPS. The EPA is announcing 
the availability of detailed emissions data for each of these model 
lines certified since December 31, 2009. Manufacturers and laboratories 
previously used all-encompassing CBI claims to restrict public access 
to these emission data. The EPA has gone through the official CBI 
process to release the emission data.
    The following data, for each model line certified since December 
31, 2009, are available in the docket for the proposed rule (http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0734):
     Year of certification;
     Average weighted emission rate;
     Device type (i.e., catalytic stove, non-catalytic stove, 
or pellet stove);
     EPA test method used (e.g., 5G or 5H); and
     Emission results for individual burn categories for all 
burn rates--Categories 1, 2, 3 and 4. In some cases, there are multiple 
test runs for some burn rate categories.
    The EPA asks for comments on these data and how they may influence 
the final rule.
    2. Details of Cord Wood Testing by Two Manufacturers of Their EPA-
certified Catalytic Wood Stoves. The EPA has received emissions test 
data from two catalytic wood stove manufacturers that show their EPA-
certified wood stoves tested using cord wood--and making no design 
changes to adjust for crib wood versus cord wood in the tests--have 
similar emissions as stoves tested using crib wood. That is, the test 
data for an EPA-

[[Page 37261]]

certified Woodstock Soapstone stove and two EPA-certified stoves 
produced by another manufacturer show particulate emission rates (g/hr) 
using cord wood that are equal to or less than the corresponding test 
data using crib wood for all burn rates. The EPA asks for comments on 
these data and how they may influence the final rule.
    3. Details of Cord Wood Testing by Brookhaven National Laboratory 
(BNL), under Contract to the EPA, of an EPA-certified Noncatalytic Wood 
Stove. Numerous comments on the February 3, 2014, proposal suggest that 
manufacturers tune their stoves to the EPA crib wood certification test 
method and that they would need to re-tune their stoves for the 
proposed Step 2 cord wood certification test method. We believe this is 
true and that manufacturers will soon adjust the combustion air flows, 
directions and proportions to better match the change in hydrocarbon 
volatilization rate due to the difference in surface area to volume 
ratio for crib wood versus cord wood. However, numerous non-catalytic 
stove manufacturers have indicated that they are waiting for the 
proposed NSPS revisions to become final before they undergo the expense 
of such testing. At this time, no manufacturer has submitted 
particulate matter emissions test data for non-catalytic wood stoves 
tuned to burn cord wood during tests similar to the EPA certification 
tests or the ASTM (formerly known as the American Society for Testing 
and Materials) draft cord wood test method.
    In June 2014, BNL (under an EPA contract) conducted new emissions 
testing of a popular non-catalytic EPA-certified wood stove using cord 
wood. Existing EPA certification test data for crib wood based on the 
current EPA Test Method 5G (http://www.epa.gov/ttnemc01/promgate/m-05g.pdf) were compared to the new test data for using cord wood (with 
no stove design changes). Use of existing crib wood data were used for 
the comparison in order to minimize the cost of the additional testing. 
We note that this raises the question whether new crib wood testing 
would have produced similar results as the previous crib wood testing. 
Also, we note that the new cord wood testing was conducted with Method 
5H, whereas the previous certification testing was conducted with 
Method 5G. The results of the test show:
    a. For a popular, current model non-catalytic stove that was not 
adjusted by the manufacturer for burning cord wood instead of crib wood 
during the certification test, the emission test results can be 
significantly higher than the crib emission test results. As discussed 
above, the proposed Step 2 reasonably anticipates that the 
manufacturers would adjust the combustion air flows, directions and 
proportions to better match the change in hydrocarbon volatilization 
rate due to the difference in surface area to volume ratio for cribs 
versus cord wood. However, that was not done for this new test series.
    b. Repeatability of cord wood test method results can sometimes be 
very good. For example, the results for three replicate tests for burn 
rate Category 4 (the maximum burn rate) were within 15 percent of each 
other.
    c. Higher moisture content of the fuel can increase particulate 
matter emissions.
    The complete BNL test report and summary have been added to the 
docket for the proposed rule at: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2009-0734. The EPA asks for comments on 
these data and how they may influence the final rule.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 60

    Environmental protection, Administrative practice and procedure, 
Air pollution control, Carbon monoxide, Hazardous substances, 
Intergovernmental relations, Particulate matter, Reporting and 
recordkeeping requirements.

    Dated: June 24, 2014.
Mary E. Henigin,
Acting Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.
[FR Doc. 2014-15469 Filed 6-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P