Outdoor wood boilers targeted

DEC formulating new rules

By FRITZ MAYER

NEW YORK STATE — Outdoor wood burning boilers have become increasingly popular in rural areas over the past 10 years or so, but proposed new regulations may price some rural residents out of the market.

The NY Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is formulating new rules regarding the boilers that are scheduled to go into use in April 2011. One provision requires new boilers to be located 100 feet or more from the nearest property boundary line, and to be equipped with a permanent smokestack extending a minimum of two feet above the peak of any roof structure located within 150 feet of the boiler and no less than 18 feet above ground level.

If a property owner happens to be near a building that is 35 feet tall, the smokestack will have to rise to 37 feet, and that can run into some serious money, according to Dean Norton, president of the New York Farm Bureau.

Norton, who held a conference call with reporters on June 1, said each four-foot section of the type of pipe needed to construct a smokestack sells for $200. So, it’s not hard to imagine it will cost more than $1,500 to bring some boilers into compliance, and that does not include the cost of guy wires or other stabilization devices.

There are roughly 10,000 outdoor wood boilers in NewYork, and the regulations proposed by the DEC would require those put into use before September 1, 2005 be replaced or otherwise put out of service by April 15, 2011. Moreover, boilers that have gone or will go into service by April 15, 2011 and that are not certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must be shut down by August 31, 2020. (A list of certified boilers, also called hydronic heaters, is available at www.epa.gov/burnwise/owhhlist.html )

Norton said the practical effect of these rules would be to force people to get new boilers while the old ones are still working. He drew an analogy using cars: “Say you own a Ford Explorer; New York State is telling you that Ford Explorer is illegal now, you have to buy a Honda Prius, and you have to pay for it,” he said.

Lori Severino, a DEC spokeswoman, said the proposed rules are meant to primarily improve air quality. According to the EPA, some of the older models of outdoor boilers produce 10 times as much pollution as indoor woodstoves. Severino also said the DEC has received an increasing number of complaints in recent years about the boilers causing health problems to neighbors who might have conditions such as asthma.

This point was mentioned by two reporters on the conference call with Norton. The reporters said complaints from neighbors in small hamlets in rural parts of the state have often come up in public meetings. Norton said most of the boilers in use in the state had never sparked a complaint.

Another concern for Norton was that the new rules will prohibit the use of the boilers from April 15 through October 15, which would leave those who use the boilers to create hot water out in the cold during six months of the year.

The proposed regulations can be accessed at the DEC web site, www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/51986.html . Public comments are being accepted until July 2, 2010. Residents may write to: John Barnes, P.E. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Air Resources, 625 Broadway, 2nd Floor Albany, New York 12233-3251, or emails may be sent to 247owb@gw.dec.state.ny.us.