Air quality managment board bans wood-burning fireplaces
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (KTVU) -- The Bay Area Air Quality Management Board voted unanimously to impose a ban on wood-burning fireplaces and devices in all new home construction, effective November 1, 2016.
It's the first in the nation and the new rules also impose new restrictions on current homeowners who burn wood on spare the air days.
The new rules affect people within the District's that spans nine Bay Area counties. Some say the new rules will help bring cleaner air, others say the regulations go too far and are not fair.
In San Rafael at the Creative Energy store, David Kasten's family has seen many changes since they got into the fireplace business 30 years ago.
Kasten says new wood-burning fire devices have come a long way.
"You can take that piece of wood, put it in there for 11 hours and heat your home, 2,000 square feet," Kasten said, pointing to a new EPA-certified wood fireplace insert.
Kasten spoke out at the BAAQM Board meeting Wednesday morning. He opposed the Board's unanimous vote to ban wood-burning devices in new homes and impose more restrictions on people who currently use wood-burning stoves and fireplaces.
"The people in the rural areas that do not have natural gas and they have to pay for propane. they still want to burn wood. And the wood-burning technology has increased to where they are almost as clean as gas," Kasten said.
The district estimates some 19,000 Bay Area homes use wood for heat.It says wood fires account for nearly 40 percent of pollution during winter months.
The district's ruling would ban even new, cleaner burning EPA-certified wood stoves from new homes.
It's a move the district says will help improve air quality and people's health.
"It's trying to limit fine particulate matter that's released into the air that people breathe straight into their lungs and goes straight into their bloodstream and affects their health," said Bay Area Air Quality Management Enforcement Director Wayne Kino.
In some areas of Marin County such as Woodacre, hundreds of residents rely on wood as a primary source of heat. Those people and others will no longer get exemptions on Spare the Air days.
Instead, they will face the same ban on burning that other residents do and would be required to convert to gas, propane, electricity, or an EPA-certified wood-burning device that would be registered with the district.
The Board also voted to require rental units to have an alternate form of heat that does not burn wood.
Some residents say the Bay Area needs to change with the times and they support the stricter regulations on new construction.
"I live in a house that's 100 years old. It's got two wood-burning fireplaces, but new ones. No. Change happens," said Steven Perelson of Mill Valley.
The district plans to open a $3 million fund in early 2016 to help people convert wood-burning fireplaces and devices to cleaner gas or modern EPA-certified technology.