Air officials huffing, puffing over fireplaces

Proposed BAAQM rule could stamp out hearths within 30 years|

To combat air pollution from wood-burning stoves and fireplaces, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is proposing a rule that would phase out burning wood 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.

Gov. 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 reduction goal in any North American government.

Houses designated as 'historic' in the Valley and in the surrounding area still use their original heating methods. Under the proposed new rules, any time a historic property changes hands, the selling owners would be responsible for a heating upgrade. Bay Area Air Quality Management officials haven't said whether the board will make exceptions for historic sites, or if the heating upgrade would disqualify houses from their historically preserved status.

Representing the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors at the Air Quality Management District, 3rd District 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 says. '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 adds that the Air Quality Management 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 that property values will rise, the added hassle of contracting for a costly fireplace renovation could dissuade owners from listing their houses.

Additionally, a large portion of the Sonoma community is comprised of retired seniors living off fixed incomes and pension benefits.

A retrofit of their heating systems could discourage homeowners from selling their homes.

Kathy Schmidt, a real estate agent 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 says. '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,' says 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.'

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