EPA publishes updated NSPS Monaday

[smwilliamson]

as of May 15th, 2015 the new source protocol standard (NSPS) becomes law. 83 pages of changes. Most notably, it will be against the law for any person to sell any pellet stove not certified to the 1990 phase II standard. I need clarification but I assume this means all stoves currently taking the default 78% efficiency will become illegal to sell or transfer ownership of as of May 15th, 2015.

If this is true that's kinda a huge setback for Harman, Quadrafire, Englander and more. Then again. Who's gonna police it?

 

[smwilliamson]

Email me directly if you want a copy of the pdf

 

[smwilliamson]

Ok, exempt stoves are illegal to ship from mfg as of May 15th but can be sold retail through December 2015. Illegal to sell or transfer ownership of any exempt pellet stove after December 2015. So all you folks flipping used accentra inserts take notice. Only two Harman stoves not yet certified are the accentra freestanding and xxv. We'll see.

 

[camdids]

Just another liberal Law. First a Lawyer banning someone's Wood Stove, now a law banning Wood Pellet Stoves.

 

[smwilliamson]

Actually it's the clean air act of 1970 that was a republican

 

[camdids]

WoW. What a Government System. 45 years to Implement a Law. That's Democracy at its best. Don't get that problem with a communist government

 

[smwilliamson]

The communists really know how to fast track policy matters

 

[SidecarFlip]

A law that no one will heed.

 

[oldengineer]

The Harman XXV hasn't been certified? I had my stove installed in March 2009, got an announcement stating it was 80% efficient a short time later, and got a $1300 tax credit (30% of the installed cost) in addition to the big discount Harman was offering that year. Does this mean that the IRS is going to be after me?

 

[smwilliamson]

The Harman XXV hasn't been certified? I had my stove installed in March 2009, got an announcement stating it was 80% efficient a short time later, and got a $1300 tax credit (30% of the installed cost) in addition to the big discount Harman was offering that year. Does this mean that the IRS is going to be after me?

Probably, I'd call them first and tell them what you've done and maybe they will go easy on you

 

[Overfired]

The Harman XXV hasn't been certified? I had my stove installed in March 2009, got an announcement stating it was 80% efficient a short time later, and got a $1300 tax credit (30% of the installed cost) in addition to the big discount Harman was offering that year. Does this mean that the IRS is going to be after me?

You are fine. The tax credit had really lax standards in how that efficiency was certified. They essentially allowed manufacturers to self-certify their products using whatever testing methods they wanted. Very few pellet stoves have a EPA tested efficiency, but with the new regulations, that is going to change.

I actually just went to the HPBA Expo last week in Nashville, and most manufacturers (wood or pellet) aren't really concerned about the 2016 standards. All of the manufacturers are working on getting the new certifications and all should be ready in time (the testing laboratories are going into overdrive to meet demand.) The loophole stoves/furnaces/fireplaces will be gone, as they should be. Some older models will be discontinued, as they would have been soon anyway. Most models designed in the past 10 years already meet the 2016 standards, including the "EPA Exempt" pellet stoves. The most controversial part of the 2016 standards is that they apply to resale and not just manufacturing, unlike the previous set of standards.

With all that said, the hearth industry is actively preparing a major lawsuit against the 2020 standards. Those will either end up revised or delayed, without a doubt. Many state governments are also working against the 2020 standards as they are currently written.

 

[oldengineer]

Sounds like the pellet stove industry should start hiring automobile executives and lobbyists.