WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), after review and input from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), announced that wood stove manufacturers will be granted greater flexibility in complying with an update to the New Source Performance Standard for Residential Wood Heaters, a change which U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) has strongly advocated for in communications with agency and Administration officials.

“We all want cleaner air – especially at home, but the original EPA guidelines put too heavy a burden on manufacturers and would have had the unintended consequence of making new, cleaner stoves prohibitively expensive for consumers. It is critical – and only common sense – that this and every regulation is appropriately and effectively tailored to achieve only its intended end,” Senator King said. “That’s why I welcome these important changes and am glad the EPA is responding to the call of people like me who want to see cleaner stoves in peoples’ homes, not on showroom floors. While this is certainly progress, I remain concerned that we have more to do to ensure that cleaner wood stoves will remain affordable for consumers.”

Today’s announcement comes after Senator King wrote several letters, including one last month, to both the EPA and OMB expressing his concern that the proposal to curb emissions of particulate matter through aggressive target reductions would likely result in high compliance costs that would raise the price of new wood stoves and inadvertently dissuade consumers from upgrading away from older stoves. As the regulation developed, Senator King reiterated his concerns to Janet McCabe, the head of EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, and top officials at OMB including OMB Director Shaun Donovan, with whom he spoke last week.

In finalizing this regulation, the Administration has stated that wood stove manufacturers, such as Jøtul in Gorham, Maine, will have greater flexibility in complying with the EPA’s proposal thanks to an extended timeline for compliance with the regulation’s standards, as well as the removal of a requirement from the original proposal that would have mandated new and unworkable testing methods. The Administration has chosen to more gradually phase in the requirements by extending the deadline for compliance and reducing the stringency of the overall target, decisions that Senator King strongly supports. This will allow manufacturers to adjust their products to the new standards while allowing them to continue selling inventory in which they have already invested significant time and money. The final compliance target will also be slightly more workable. While these changes are welcome, Senator King remains concerned that the cost of compliance will still raise the cost of woodstoves.

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