REGULATION OF WOOD HEATERS

Senate Bill 910 (Substitute S-1)

Sponsor:  Sen. Tom Casperson

House Committee:  Energy and Technology

Senate Committee:  Natural Resources, Environment and Great Lakes

Complete to 9-22-14

A SUMMARY OF SENATE BILL 910 AS PASSED BY THE SENATE 6-11-14

The bill would prohibit the DEQ from issuing a departmental rule limiting emissions from wood heaters used to heat homes or businesses and from enforcing any future federal regulation doing the same against manufacturers, distributors, or consumers of wood heaters.

Currently, the Department of Environmental Quality is required to promulgate rules that include, among other things, controlling or prohibiting air pollution and complying with the Clean Air Act.  Senate Bill 910 would amend the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA) to restrict the department's rule-making and enforcement authority.

The new Section 5514 would do the following:

v                 Prohibit the DEQ from promulgating a rule limiting emissions from wood heaters.

v                 Prohibit the DEQ from enforcing against a manufacturer, distributor, or consumer a federal regulation limiting emissions from wood heaters adopted after May 1, 2014.

v                 Define "wood heater" to mean a wood stove, pellet stove, wood-fired hydronic heater, wood burning forced-air furnace, or masonry wood heater designed for heating a home or business.

MCL 324.5512 and 324.5514 (proposed)

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

A proposed federal rule change, the first since 1988, was issued in January 2014 to set particulate matter emission limits for new wood burning heaters used in homes.  If adopted, the new standards would apply only to wood heaters manufactured after the proposed rules take effect and would include a phase-in period to provide time for manufacturers to comply.  The new standards would apply to adjustable-rate woodstoves, pellet stoves, wood-fired hydronic heaters (indoor and out-door wood-fired boilers), forced-air furnaces, masonry wood heaters, and a type of woodstove known as a single burn rate stove.  The rule change does not affect wood heaters currently in use, nor does it apply to fireplaces; new or existing heaters fueled solely by oil, gas, or coal; or outdoor fireplaces, fire pits, pizza ovens, or chimineas.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Senate Bill 910 would have no fiscal impact on the State of Michigan or on local units of government. 

                                                                                           Legislative Analyst:   Susan Stutzky

                                                                                                  Fiscal Analyst:   Viola Bay Wild

■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House staff for use by House members in their deliberations, and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.