Background On Model Wood Smoke Ordinance
The Air District’s Wood-Burning Rule, which was passed in 2008, applies to the entire Bay Area Air District, and sets baseline requirements regarding wood burning throughout the Bay Area.
In addition, other cities and counties have adopted local wood smoke ordinances that may in some cases contain more stringent requirements. Many of these local ordinances were based on the Air District's Model Wood Smoke Ordinance (10 k PDF, 5 pgs), which was previously developed as a guidance document for cities and counties that wished to regulate sources of particulate matter in their communities. This old model ordinance did not ban wood burning in fireplaces but sought to take advantage of new, cleaner technologies that had been developed to effectively reduce wood smoke pollution.
When cities and counties in the Bay Area adopted the model wood smoke ordinance, it allowed the installation of
- Natural gas fireplaces which are the cleanest air quality option. Natural gas fireplaces generate a fraction of a gram of PM per hour.
- EPA certified wood heaters which meet EPA's particulate emission standard of 7.5 grams per hour. They incorporate combustion controls -- generally a secondary combustion zone, or use catalysts akin to the catalytic converters used in motor vehicles.
- Pellet-fueled wood heaters which burn cleaner because they control the mixing of fuel and air more tightly than conventional woodstoves. Emissions of virtually all pellet stoves are substantially lower than EPA standards.
The model ordinance also contained the following prohibitions:
- A prohibition on wood burning when the Air District issues a "Spare the Air Tonight" advisory. Spare the Air Tonight asks residents not to burn wood because of unhealthy levels of PM.
- A prohibition against using certain fuels, such as garbage and plastics, in a wood burning appliance.
When a city or county adopted the model wood smoke ordinance, enforcement took place through the permit process at local building departments. The ordinance required residents to provide documentation that the device to be installed is allowed by the ordinance.
Air District staff worked with health agencies and interested residents in the Bay Area to advocate for the adoption of the ordinance. As of April 2006, the ordinance had been adopted by 41 cities and eight of the nine Bay Area counties.
Air Quality Benefits of the Model Ordinance - Air District staff calculate that for every 1,000 new homes built in accordance with the provisions of the ordinance, three tons of PM10 are avoided each winter based on the assumption that:
- the average residence burns 0.28 cords of wood per winter season;
- 90 percent of the homes have wood burning fireplaces; and
- 38 percent of homeowners burn wood during the winter season.
There is also a corresponding decrease in carbon monoxide and toxic air contaminants generated by the burning of wood.
The wood smoke ordinance gave local communities better control over the quality of their lives, contributed to cleaner air, and reduced health costs. It also assisted local air districts in attaining and maintaining federal and state PM standards in a reasonable, cost-effective manner.