The U.S. EPA has agreed to review, and if appropriate, update its new source performance standards (NSPS) for new residential wood heaters, and new residential hydronic heaters and forced-air furnaces under a consent decree filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 26. The consent decree is subject to court approval.&nbsp;The states of New York, Alaska, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and the Puget Sound Clean Energy Agency in September 2023 sued the EPA, alleging the agency had failed to perform certain non-discretionary actions duties under the Clean Air Act. Specifically, the EPA is required to review, and if appropriate, revise NSPS for residential wood heating appliances every eight years. The EPA <a href="https://biomassmagazine.com/articles/epa-finalizes-nsps-for-residential-wood-heaters-11513">most recently updated NSPS for residential wood heating appliances</a> in 2015. &nbsp;Under the proposed consent decree, the EPA would complete required reviews of NSPS for new residential wood heaters and by Dec. 15, 2026, either issue a proposed rule to revise those regulations or issue a proposed determination that no revision is needed. A final rule or determination would be issued no later than Dec. 15, 2027.&nbsp;With respect to the NSPS for new residential hydronic heaters and forced-air furnaces, the EPA would complete necessary reviews and by Dec. 15, 2027, either issue a proposed rule to revise those regulations or issue a proposed determination that no revision is necessary. A final rule or determination would be issued no later than Dec. 15, 2028.&nbsp;The proposed consent decree was subject to a <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/07/26/2024-16456/proposed-consent-decree-clean-air-act-citizen-suit">public comment period</a> that closed Aug. 26, 2024. The Hearth, Patio &amp; Barbecue Association is among the groups that filed comments on the proposed consent decree. In its comments, HPBA noted that the current NSPS didn’t take effect until May 15, 2020, “which means EPA is still several years away from any failure to undertake a nondiscretionary duty under Section 111, despite the state plaintiffs’ contrary claims.”&nbsp;“Absent an actual failure by EPA to perform its obligations under the statute, there is no need for EPA to lock itself into a more compressed review timeline through a judicially enforceable consent decree,” HBPA continued. &nbsp;“Unnecessarily rushing through a review or revision of the NSPS is especially ill-advised given that efforts to finalize new cord wood test methods remain ongoing at this time. As EPA recognizes in the proposed consent decree (at 3), those methods must be finalized before EPA undertakes any revisions to the NSPS. Test method development—and the development of a sufficiently robust data set to inform the promulgation of revised standards—must involve careful scientific and technical evaluation and robust stakeholder participation. Those efforts must not be constrained by unnecessary deadlines, such as the compressed review timelines in the proposed consent decree, or else the test methods and any eventual standards may not actually result in reliable or accurate certification of new residential wood heating devices. To that end, based on HPBA’s review of integrated duty cycle testing data that EPA has recently shared, it appears that there is still a massive amount of variability and thus, the method is not ready to be finalized, let alone codified as a federal reference method.”&nbsp;HPBA also stressed that the existing NSPS put several of its members out of business and has negatively impacted consumer choice by reducing the number of commercially available hydronic heaters and forced-air furnaces. Further increasing the stringency of the standards could make the market worse by either creating a monopoly or regulating forced-air furnaces out of existence, HPBA continued.&nbsp;“This would be the second time that EPA commits to rushing through revisions to the wood heater NSPS by entering into a consent decree with state plaintiffs,” HPBA added in its comments. “The same scenario played out in 2014-2015, and at the end of the day, all stakeholders had to bear the brunt of a hastily developed rule.”Additional information, including a copy of the proposed consent decree and public comments, can be found on the Regulations.gov website under docket <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/docket/EPA-HQ-OGC-2024-0300">EPA-HQ-OGC-2024-0300</a>.&nbsp;

2024-10-02 - EPA agrees to review NSPS for new residential wood heating appliances  (Biomass Magazine)

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The U.S. EPA has agreed to review, and if appropriate, update its NSPS for new residential wood heating appliances under a consent decree filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 26. 

EPA agrees to review NSPS for new residential wood heating appliances

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