Fireplaces targeted for air pollution concerns

A new rule could require their removal when selling a house.|

To combat air pollution from wood-burning stoves and fireplaces, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is proposing a rule that would legislate fireplaces and strengthen existing ordinances in order to phase out wood burning for heat in the Bay Area.

Designed to eliminate every wood-burning fireplace within 30 years, the proposal, which will be submitted for vote early June, would have exemptions for households that only have wood as a heat source.

Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation April 29 that requires all counties in California to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 in what is considered the most aggressive carbon goal in any North American government.

Petaluma City Councilwoman Teresa Barrett, who serves on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, said the point of sale rule would not be enough to keep in step with Brown’s proposal, and the process of removing fireplaces when the house goes up for sale is a long term solution to an immediate problem.

“The Environmental Protection Agency and the Air District need to see eye to eye when it comes to fireplaces and stoves,” she said. “There are a lot of appliances that are wood-burning that conform to EPA standards, and this point of sale would punish people who’ve been doing the right thing when it comes to reducing emissions.”

Also serving the Air Quality District, Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane agrees that forcing residents to remove fireplaces at their expense is the wrong approach.

“The Air District is using the stick instead of the carrot,” she said. “I believe if we used more incentives, like the rebates residents received from the Water Agency for pulling out their lawns or installing low-flow toilets, we’d have a much faster response and better reception when it comes to air quality.”

Zane added the Air Quality District is enjoying a healthy reserve, and a $500,000 addition to their May budget for rebates wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Excluding the fees associated with installing new gas lines in houses, the average homeowner should expect to pay $5,000 to $6,000 to replace their fireplaces. In a housing market where homeowners speculate property values to rise, the added hassle of contracting a costly fireplace renovation could dissuade owners from listing their houses.

Kathy Schmidt, a Realtor for Coldwell Banker, lobbied with the North Bay Association of Realtors in Sacramento April 22 to protest the proposed regulation.

“We don’t think it’s a good idea,” she said. “It doesn’t provide incentives to homeowners, and it severely impacts seniors on fixed incomes who want to sell their homes. And in the big picture, there’s nine counties lumped into a conglomerated board. Those counties have individual needs and markets, different income ranges and populations to consider. Managing them all under one roof isn’t the best way to go about air quality.”

The Air District is willing to hear an alternate proposal to conform to Brown’s project, but stresses the number one concern is air quality.

“It’s obvious that air quality in the Bay Area has been declining for a long time,” said Air District public information officer Aaron Richardson. “We’ve been holding workshops in all the counties. We’re gathering information from all the residents. We don’t want to restrict wood burning for cooking, but we need to reduce those greenhouse levels by 40 percent somehow.”

Richardson added there are 1.4 million fireplaces in the Bay Area, and under the rule, all non-essential ones would be renovated to gas or electric or removed in 20 years.

“We all agree that air quality is the important issue,” Zane said. “But where we don’t agree is how to go about improving it. Right now, we’re not sure if eliminating our fireplaces is the right step.”

(Contact William Rohrs at william.rohrs@arguscourier.com.)

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