Oregon S.B. 109. Passed by your state legislators during the 2009 session, will go into effect on August 1st, 2010.
Why should you care?..
If your buying or selling a home that has primary or supplementary wood heat, anywhere in the state of Oregon, S.B. 109 requires that the seller of the home, not only remove the non certified wood stove or fireplace insert, but that the stove must be destroyed.
Afterward? The new certificate of destruction must be submitted to the DEQ.
Impact: There's no arguing that most have experienced the smoke filled, dank , still air on a Winter day In Eugene , Portland, or Springfield.
Winter low pressure can and does cause an inversion layer similar to smog. Sore lungs, burning eye's as well as the acrid smell of stale smoke fills the air in some Oregon neighborhoods.
While most in Eugene and Portland agree that it's important to promote as well as preserve clean air standards in the cities of Oregon, the new statute applies to all regions of the state, and many living outside of suburbia, don't understand the need to remove their existing woodstove or insert.
The general consensus: Insisting on the removal of all non-complient wood stoves or inserts in every home, garage, shop, or commercial building sold in the state of Oregon after 8/1/2010, will cost 100's of millions of dollars.
In a still... very depressed real estate market, this new hardship, imposed by well meaning legislators, financially burdens those engaged in a real estate transaction.
And in the end? The cost of compliance will be passed on to the home buyer.
The average cost of an E.P.A. Compliant, zero clearance wood stove and new metalbestos chimney, can easily reach $3,000. And then of course there is the haul-off and destruction of the older stove.
Older existing wood stoves, regardless of condition, can't be certified..
It's believed by many in the state, that the new regulation will have a minimum positive impact on air quality . And that the over-all reduction of carbon released into the atmosphere by the replacement woodstoves will be negligible.
Primary Gas or Electric heat : The alternative for the home seller, is to remove the wood stove and return to electric or gas as the home's only heat source.
It may be noted that while electricity and gas may introduce fewer hydrocarbon based particulates into the atmosphere, that fossil fuel generated electricity buy most accounts, takes a greater toll on the earth's atmosphere than the relatively few woodstoves through out Oregon.
In today's interview with Judy Huntington, a Principle Broker with Barnhart Associates R.E of Eugene, Judy informed me that to date, there are no exclusions to the new mandate.
Judy went on to say; " You can no longer remove the stove or insert, and simply leave it sitting in the Garage or Shop, It must be removed and destroyed"
Proof of that abatement must then be forwarded to the state. Judy, who sits on the Oregon Board of Realtors form committee, is currently working on a new compliance form.
To voice your concerns... Please email your legislator or Governor Ted Kulongoski.
Comments
An there you go.. Another regulation imposed on the general public by a legislator that does not have it's finger on the economic pulse of the constituency..
This is terrible news for the economic times we are facing in the Northwest. I am appauled this is being done.
Thank you Mr. McCants for shining a light on this hot subject. I will be addressing my concerns to our Governor, and passing this information along. There needs to be some fine tuning on this new legislation, or many will have there last bit of savings go up in smoke!
@Roberta Baxter Eugene,OR. Dogs Ex: terrible economy?, guess what, even during the good times 4% of americans are unemployed, so really no time is a good time.
@PRMREALTOR: "imposed on the general public" unless that is that you are part of the general public that enjoys clean air to breath and does not like that an individual can ruin a publicly own resource.
Dear Breath Clean Air.. Yeah.. we all want clean air. but to dump this mandate on 100,000's of homeowners, in this down economy is good legislation gone bad. Wood stove education makes far more sense. Wood mix, temperature, damper setting, chimney height, and yes, there is a wood stove catalytic converter that can be installed at the base of the chimney, directly above the wood stove that will greatly reduce emissions for a small percentage of what a new unit cost.. B.T.W,, One hell 0f a difference between 4% and 11-14% U.I.
Once again the media gets it wrong. First off, it's Senate bill 102..The Heat Smart for Clean Air Bill. Second, this will not affect 100,000's of thousands of Oregonians. The DEQ estimates there are 80,000 non-compliant wood stoves in Oregon. How many of those are in homes that will be sold in the coming years?? The law does not require that all non-compliant stoves be removed..only those in homes that will be sold.. The law does not require that a new stove be installed. If however, a homeowner whishes to replace an old stove with a new, clean burning, efficient model..there are federal and state take credits and rebates up to $1800!! For further information, not hyperbole from mis-informed media pundits see www.oregonfireplaces.com..
What is an uncertified wood stove? It's a stove that was manufactured pre-1986. It emits 7 to 10 times as much particulate matter as an EPA-certified stove. Who benefits from this law? Anyone who breaths air in Oregon... especially those with impaired lung capacity. Particulate matter from these stoves is drawn deep into the lungs and causes serious health problems. The stove only needs to be removed if the home is sold. When you sell your home, you remove the old, dirty-burning stove. The new owner has the option of replacing it with a new wood, gas or pellet stove. If you don't sell your home, you keep your old stove. By the way, venting from that era was designed to last about 20 years so replacement of the stove is a good opportunity to bring your venting up to modern safety standards.
This law will not effect 100 of thousands of Oregonians. ODEQ estimates there are about 80 thousand uncertified stoves in Oregon. Only a small percentage of those homes are going to be sold in the next few years. Uncertified stoves are over 25 years old and many present a fire safety hazard in addition to being dirty-burning and inefficient. Also, tax credits from both Oregon Dept. of Energy and the Fed. gov't are available to offset costs of a new woodstove.
Thanks to all that participated in this thread.. Your points are well taken. Breath well..
The EPA estimates that a single fireplace operating for an hour and burning 10 pounds of wood will generate 4,300 times more PAHs than 30 cigarettes. PAHs are carcinogenic.
Every pack of cigarettes sold in Oregon must have an Oregon tax stamp. ... The current tax rate is $1.18 per stamp for a pack of 20
$1.18 multiplied by 1.5 comes out to $1.77
$1.77 multiplied by 4,300 comes out to $7,611.00 per hour.
That right there is a considerable tax base and entirely reasonable under current policy.
Ok, you have the link to the wrong code. It should be sb0102
http://www.leg.state.or.us/09reg/measpdf/sb0100.dir/sb0102.en.pdf
It discusses home sales on page 5, amendments to (468A.505). I believe It only affects those homes in a PM10 nonattainment area. As far as I can tell, these are only Eugene and Oakridge.
It doesn't even seem to affect Portland or Medford.
http://www.epa.gov/oaqps001/greenbk/pncs.html
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/GEOENVIRONMENTAL/nonattainment_maintenanc...
Nor does it seem to affect the rural outlying areas (where it is legal to do backyard burning).
I'd have to say that I believe the impact of burning wood in older homes is over exaggerated. My guess that 90% of the homes with wood stoves inside the urban growth boundaries burn less than 1 cord / year.
Whether or not a home buyer wishes to sell their homes at any one time... should the government be messing with homeowner's most valuable asset. And, forcing them to remove legally installed appliances that are not found to pose a significant personal risk to themselves?
What if they only burn a fire on Christmas Day?
I'd have to ask what the attrition rate of these old appliances is. If say 2% are normally replaced a year, then over the next 50 years or so, most of them would be replaced anyway even without this law.
Isn't there already a law prohibiting people from burning with visible smoke on days with significant particulate matter problems?
I think that the better approach would be to have a voluntary trade-in program.
Get a building permit to replace an old stove.
Have a pre-inspection to verify qualifications.
Verifiably "recycle" the old stove.
Install a new stove and have it inspected.
Get a check for $2000 on the spot when the inspector does the final inspection.
No need to rule with an iron fist... People will do the upgrade if it is an issue, or if they find it to their best interest. Might as well sell the home with a fancy new stove!!!
Oops, read that wrong...
the PM10 definition was removed.
It now applies to all residential structures in Oregon.
See ORS 468A.505
http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/468a.html
Still, I think the best approach is to provide positive incentives for the changout.
Set it up as a single "rebate" that people can easily acquire.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!