Proposal would ban new wood-burning fireplaces-Southern California

San Jose Mercury News

Proposal to clean SoCal air would ban new wood-burning fireplaces
The Associated Press
Article Launched: 06/01/2007 05:36:22 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES- Wood-burning fireplaces would be banned in all new homes in much of Southern California under an anti-smog plan given initial approval by regional air quality regulators Friday.

The plan to help reduce harmful pollution and meet federal emissions standards also would bar wood-fueled blazes in all fireplaces on especially smoggy days.

The board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, meeting in Diamond Bar, approved a 2007 update of its regional anti-smog plan. In addition to regulating fireplaces, the wide-ranging plan seeks to reduce soot from diesel engines and to curb ozone smog levels in order to meet federal Clean Air Act standards by 2024.
Its measures involve commercial and residential developments, industrial facilities and such common equipment as restaurant charbroilers. The AQMD said the plan is expected to cost $2.3 billion annually, but benefits, mainly from reduced health effects, will amount to $14.6 billion annually.

The California Air Resources Board will consider the overall plan later this month. If it is approved it must then go to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval. Another AQMD vote is scheduled for September to finalize the fireplace regulations.

There are an estimated 1.9 million homes with fireplaces in Southern California out of about 5 million total housing units, regulators said. Air district staffers say a daily reduction of 192 tons of nitrogen oxides, an ingredient in harmful particulate pollution, is needed across the region to meet the federal requirements, and that 7 tons of that could come from restrictions on fireplaces.

The fireplace ban for new homes would cover Los Angeles, Orange and portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. There also could be about 20 days a year when the smog is so thick and the air so unhealthy that burning wood in all fireplaces would be prohibited, the AQMD estimated.

Regulators say unsafe levels of fine particulate pollution are responsible for 5,400 premature deaths and 2,400 hospitalizations a year in Southern California—leaving no target, including fireplaces, too small.

"Everyone must do their fair share to clean the air, from the largest business to the individual consumer," said Barry Wallerstein, the AQMD's executive officer. "Wallerstein said.