The Environmental Protection Agency’s new emission limits on wood-burning stoves may not be an outright ban, but the regulations are restricting their use and making them more expensive.
And in the San Francisco Bay Area, not only will the regulations be enforced, but the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) has decided to go even further, banning all wood-burning heaters in new homes including even those certified by the EPA to be “low emission.”
Why wood-burning stoves? A Bay Area bureaucrat explained the reason for the ban. “We are serious about reducing the health risks associated with our residents’ exposure to wood smoke,” said Kristine Roselius, of the BAAQMD.
A blog called OfftheGridNews reports:
All 22 members of the district’s board of directors voted to amend regulations to bar the installation of wood-burning heaters in new homes starting November 1, 2016. The district consists of the nine counties that surround San Francisco Bay and includes: San Francisco County, Alameda County (Oakland), Contra Costa County, Napa County, Santa Clara County (San Jose), San Mateo County, Southwestern Solano County and Southern Sonoma County.
Not surprisingly, traditional fireplaces are already illegal in this area.
Homeowners whose wish to sell houses where the devices were installed prior to the ban must provide potential buyers with statements detailing the significant “health risks” associated with wood smoke.
Apparently, the statement need not contain any revelation on the danger of tyranny, however.
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