BAAQMD Bans Wood-burning Fireplaces in Rural Areas

From George Bacich

As for fireplaces, at the latest BAAQMD "public information meeting" at the Napa Library people found out that they fully intend to go ahead with their fireplace ban, regardless of our opposition and regardless of the fact that banning fireplaces in new construction in rural Napa County will have no discernible affect on Bay Area Air Quality.

One of the BAAQMD bureaucrats declared smugly that they had been working for years to get cities and counties to enact the ban on themselves, and had mostly been successful, but that in Napa County there had never been enough votes. They are solving that problem now by doing it without a vote. So much for democracy. It's only valid when convenient, and easily sidestepped whenever the need arises. Bureaucracy always trumps democracy, and always serves its own end, which is empire building.

The proposed new regulation will prohibit the sale, transfer, or installation of any wood burning device that does not carry an EPA approved label (open fireplaces need not apply, because they cannot meet the standard). Sale or transfer of already-installed non-complying devices included in the sale of an existing home are exempt.

In addition, the regulation will prohibit the burning of any wood or solid fuel (including wood pellets) in any wood burning device, regardless of how clean and efficient it is (even the EPA approved ones) on "Spare the Air" nights. The only proposed exemptions to the burning ban are for people who have no other functioning heat source, those who do not have natural gas service to their property, or who do not have electrical service to their homes, or for anyone during gas or power delivery failures.

Currently, there is no exemption for people who need both heat sources to maintain decent temperatures. The prohibition on burning applies even if your alternate heat source is just a tiny gas or electric wall heater or a small heat pump in just one room. Fear not, though, for this burning ban applies only on the coldest 20 or so days each year.

The ordinance will also make it a crime punishable by fine to allow any visible smoke to escape from your chimney anytime for any more than 6 minutes per hour or for any more than 20 minutes for fire startup in any 4-hour period. Notice that there is no exemption to this prohibition, even if wood is your only heat source. The technical limit is 20% opacity on the Ringelmann chart, but they say that basically if you can see the smoke, it is over the 20% limit. They even have inspectors trained to take opacity readings at night as they patrol the neighborhoods all winter, not just on spare the air nights. They also claim they will not have to add any staff to properly police this ordinance, which goes to show what a mammoth bureaucracy the BAAQMD already is.

Other provisions include a mandatory warning label on every "container" of wood sold, including its moisture content and instructions for drying it if the moisture content exceeds 20%. Naturally, there is also a prohibition on burning any wood anytime that has more than 20% moisture content.

Welcome to tyranny. 1984 is late, but it finally got here. And I am not referring just to the rule, but also to the manner in which the rule is foisted off on us, "justified" by junk science. Naturally, it's all about saving the children with asthma. Never mind that much of the impacted area is sparsely settled, severely growth restricted, outside the problem air basins, and above the inversion. Never mind that the fireplace ban and the smoke opacity regulation apply even on days when smoke goes straight up or blows off to the north. Never mind that pollen is a far bigger problem to asthmatics than smoke. Rules is rules. And the bureaucrats know far better than you how to manage your life.

After a few more "information meetings" in other towns, BAAQMD staff will prepare their staff report and an EIR, then there will be a 30 day public comment period before the June or July hearing at which the regulation will be adopted. Here is the link to more info. http://www.baaqmd.gov/pln/ruledev/workshops.htm