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HPBA Statement in Response to AG Letter to EPA

The manufacturers that HPBA represents have made massive investments over the past three decades to develop the next generation of cleaner-burning wood stoves. As industry has long identified, one major challenge is how best to replicate (or even be predictive of) real-world conditions in a lab during the testing process. Over a two-year period, industry – with input from EPA, industry members, state air regulators, and other experts – has led the way in developing the first-of-its-kind cordwood test method, ASTM 3053. This test method was ultimately adopted as the first (and, for many years, the only) cordwood test method available for certification purposes. This method is believed to be the closest to real-world conditions.

The recent letter from the Attorneys General urging EPA to cease certifying appliances tested with ASTM 3053 is a naked political play to replace this consensus-based test method with a proprietary method – ironically, a method that liberally borrows from the ASTM method – developed by one state behind closed doors. Despite requests from industry and EPA, virtually no performance data has been made publicly available and the process did not allow for any industry involvement.

It appears to us that there is a concerted effort, led by NESCAUM and its allies, to make it impossible for the small businesses in our industry to continue to manufacture and sell wood-heating products. For many people, wood is the best way to heat their homes and efforts like this will ensure that old, non-certified stoves remain in use for years to come. The new Step 2 certified stoves are unquestionably cleaner than older stoves and should be available for homeowners who opt for wood heat.