Current through Register Vol. 24-24, December 15, 2024
506.1 PURPOSE.
This Section establishes emission standards, certification
standards and procedures, curtailment rules, and fuel restrictions for solid
fuel burning devices in order to maintain compliance with the National Ambient
Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulates and to further the policy
of the NWCAA as stated in Section 102 of this Regulation.
506.2 DEFINITIONS.
Unless a different meaning is clearly required by context,
words and phrases used in this Section shall have the following meaning as
defined in Chapter 173-433-030 WAC:
ADEQUATE SOURCE OF HEAT - means a
permanently installed furnace or heating system, connected or disconnected from
its energy source, designed to maintain seventy degrees Fahrenheit at a point
three feet above the floor in all normally inhabited areas of a residence or
commercial establishment.
ANTIQUE WOOD STOVE - is a stove
manufactured before 1940 which has a current market value substantially greater
than a common wood stove manufactured during the same time period.
CERTIFIED - means a solid fuel-burning
device that meets emission performance standards when tested by an accredited
independent laboratory and labeled according to procedures specified by EPA in
the Code of Federal Regulation - Title 40 Part 60 Subpart AAA - Standards of
Performance for Residential Wood Heaters as amended through July 1, 1990; or a
solid fuel-burning device that has been determined by Ecology to meet emission
performance standards, pursuant to RCW 70.94.457.
COOKSTOVE - means a wood-fired
appliance designed primarily for cooking food and containing an integrally
built in oven, with an internal temperature indicator and oven rack, around
which the fire is vented, as well as a shaker grate, ash pan and an ash
clean-out below the firebox. Any device with a fan or heat channels used to
dissipate heat into the room shall not be considered a cookstove.
ECOLOGY - means the Washington State
Department of Ecology.
EPA - means the United States
Environmental Protection Agency.
SEASONED WOOD - means wood of any
species that has been sufficiently dried so as to contain twenty percent or
less moisture by weight.
SOLID FUEL BURNING DEVICE - means a
device that burns wood, coal, or any other non-gaseous or non-liquid fuels, and
includes wood stoves or any device burning any solid fuel except those
prohibited by WAC 173-433-120. This also includes devices used for aesthetic or
space-heating purposes in a private residence or commercial establishment,
which have a heat input of less than one million British thermal units per
hour.
SUBSTANTIALLY REMODELED - means any
alteration or restoration of a building exceeding sixty percent of the
appraised value of such building within a twelve-month period.
TREATED WOOD - means wood of any
species that has been chemically impregnated, painted, or similarly modified to
improve resistance to insects, weathering or deterioration.
WOOD STOVE - means a wood-fueled
appliance, other than a cookstove, capable of and intended for residential
space heating and domestic water heating that meets the criteria contained in
" 40 CFR 60 Subpart AAA - Standards of Performance for Residential Wood
Heaters". Any combination of parts, typically consisting of but not limited to,
doors, legs, flue pipe collars, brackets, bolts and other hardware, when
manufactured for the purpose of being assembled, with or without additional
owner supplied parts, into a wood stove, is considered a wood stove.
506.3 EMISSION PERFORMANCE
STANDARDS.
(A) Solid Fuel Burning Devices - A
person shall not advertise to sell, offer to sell, sell, bargain, exchange, or
give away any solid fuel burning device in Washington unless it has been
certified and labeled in accordance with procedures and criteria specified in
" 40 CFR 60 Subpart AAA - Standards of Performance for Residential Wood
Heaters", complies with WAC 173-433-100, and meets the following particulate
air contaminant emission standards:
(1) Two
and one-half grams per hour for catalytic wood stoves; and
(2) Four and one-half grams per hour for all
other solid fuel burning devices.
(B) Fireplaces. A person shall not advertise
to sell, offer to sell, sell, bargain, exchange, or give away a factory built
fireplace unless it has been tested in accordance with procedures and criteria
specified in WAC 51-50-31200. Particulate emission factors for factory-built
fireplaces shall not exceed 7.3 g/kg.
506.4 INSTALLATION OF SOLID FUEL HEATING
DEVICES.
(A) No new solid fuel burning device
shall be installed in new or existing buildings unless such device is either
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Phase II or US EPA certified to meet
current Washington State standards or a pellet stove either certified or exempt
from certification in accordance with CFR 40 Part 60 Subpart AAA -Standards of
Performance for Residential Wood Heaters. (RCW 70.94.455)
(B) No used solid fuel burning device shall
be installed in new or existing buildings unless such device has been certified
and labeled in accordance with either Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality Phase II or US EPA certification standard or is a pellet stove either
certified or exempt from certification by the US EPA in accordance with CFR 40
Part 60 Subpart AAA - Standards of Performance for Residential Wood Heaters.
(RCW 70.94.455)
(C) An adequate
source of heat other than a solid fuel burning device is required in all new
and substantially remodeled residential and commercial construction. The rule
shall apply to
(1) Areas designated by a
county to be an urban growth area under RCW 36.70A; and
(2) Areas designated by the EPA as being in
non-attainment for particulate matter. (RCW 70.94.455 and WAC
51-40-0510)
(D) After
January 1, 1997, no fireplace, except masonry fireplaces, shall be offered for
sale unless such fireplace meets the 1990 EPA standards for wood stoves or
equivalent standard established by the state building code council by rule in
accordance with 70.94.457 RCW.
506.5 OPACITY STANDARDS.
(A) Opacity level. A person shall not cause
or allow emission of a smoke plume from any solid fuel burning device to exceed
an average of twenty percent opacity for six consecutive minutes in any
one-hour period. This restriction does not apply during the starting of a new
fire for a period not to exceed twenty minutes in any four-hour
period.
(B) Test methods and
procedures. EPA reference method 9 - Visual Determination of Opacity of
Emissions from Stationary Sources shall be used to determine compliance with
this Section.
(C) Enforcement.
Smoke visible from a chimney, flue or exhaust duct in excess of the opacity
standard shall constitute prima facie evidence of unlawful operation of an
applicable solid fuel burning device. This Regulation will be enforced on a
complaint basis and through observations of inspectors certified to read
opacity. This presumption may be refuted by demonstration that the smoke was
not caused by an applicable solid fuel burning device.
506.6 PROHIBITED FUEL TYPES
(A) A person shall not burn any substance,
other than properly seasoned fuel-wood, in a solid fuel burning device (RCW 70.94.477).
(B) A person shall not
burn paper in a solid fuel burning device other than the amount of colorless
paper necessary to start a fire.
506.7 LIMITATIONS ON BURNING WOOD FOR HEAT
(A) Any person in a residence or commercial
establishment which has an adequate source of heat without burning wood shall:
(1) Not burn wood in any solid fuel burning
device whenever the department has determined under RCW 70.94.715 that any air
pollution episode exists in that area;
(2) Not burn wood in any solid fuel burning
device except those which are either Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
Phase II or US EPA certified or certified by Ecology under RCW 70.94.457(1) or
a pellet stove either certified or issued an exemption by the US EPA in
accordance with CFR 40 Part 60 Subpart AAA - Standards of Performance for
Residential Wood Heaters (RCW 70.94.455), in the geographical area and for the
period of time that a first stage of impaired air quality has been determined,
by NWCAA or any authority, for that area. A first stage of impaired air quality
is reached when:
(a) Fine particulates are at
an ambient level of thirty-five micrograms per cubic meter measured on a
twenty-four hour average; and
(b)
Forecasted meteorological conditions are not expected to allow levels of fine
particulates to decline below thirty-five (35) micrograms per cubic meter for a
period of forty-eight hours or more from the time that the fine particulates
are measured at the trigger level; and
(B) Not burn wood in any solid fuel burning
device in a geographical area and for the period of time that a second stage of
impaired air quality has been determined by NWCAA or any authority, for that
area. A second stage of impaired air quality is reached when:
(1) A first stage of impaired air quality has
been in force and not been sufficient to reduce the increasing fine particle
[particulate] pollution trend;
(2)
Fine particulates are at an ambient level of sixty micrograms (60) per cubic
meter measured on a twenty-four hour average; and
(3) Forecasted meteorological conditions are
not expected to allow levels of fine particulates to decline below sixty
micrograms (60) per cubic meter for a period of forty-eight hours or more from
the time that the fine particulates are measured at the trigger
level.
(C) Any person
responsible for a solid fuel burning device already in operation at the time
curtailment is declared under a stage of impaired air quality or an episode
shall extinguish that device by withholding new solid fuel for the duration of
the episode.
(D) Compliance with
the above solid fuel burning device curtailment rules may be enforced after a
time period of 3 hours has elapsed from the time the curtailment is declared.
Smoke visible from a chimney, flue or exhaust duct three hours from the time of
declaration of the curtailment shall constitute prima facie evidence of
unlawful operation of an applicable solid fuel burning device. This presumption
may be refuted by demonstration that smoke was not caused by an applicable
solid fuel burning device.
506.8 GENERAL EMISSION STANDARDS.
(A) Emissions detrimental to persons or
property. No person shall cause or permit the emission of any air contaminant
from any solid fuel burning device, in sufficient amounts and of such
characteristics and duration as is likely to be injurious or cause damage to
human health, plant or animal life, or property; or which unreasonably
interfere with enjoyment of life and property.
(B) Odors. Any person who shall cause or
allow the generation of any odor from any solid fuel burning device which may
interfere with any other property owner's use or enjoyment of his property must
use recognized good practice and procedures to reduce these odors to a
reasonable minimum.
506.9 EXEMPTIONS.
(A) The provisions of Section 506.7 shall not
apply to any person who possesses a valid written exemption approved by the
NWCAA. The NWCAA may allow written exemptions to any person who demonstrates
any of the following to the satisfaction of the NWCAA:
(1) An economic need to burn solid fuel for
residential space heating purposes by qualifying for energy assistance under
the low income energy assistance program.
(2) That his/her heating system, other than a
solid fuel heating device, is inoperable for reasons other than his/her own
actions.
(a) That there is no adequate source
of heat and the structure was constructed or substantially remodeled prior to
July 1, 1992.
(b) That there is no
adequate source of heat and the structure was constructed or substantially
remodeled after July 1, 1992 and is outside an urban growth area, as defined in
RCW 36.70A.
(B) Written exemptions shall be valid for a
period determined by the NWCAA and shall not exceed one year from the date of
approval.
