New standards for wood stoves proposed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency would tighten allowable emissions for new stoves sold in 2015 and again in 2019. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports newly manufactured stoves would have to cut maximum fine particulate emissions by more than a third next year and by 80 percent in five years. Fairbanks and North Pole have struggled to meet air pollution standards and households burning wood are blamed for much of the pollution problem. A non-catalytic wood stove currently meets EPA certification if it produces less than 7.5 grams of particulate per hour. The proposed EPA regulations would cut that down to 4.5 grams in 2015 and 1.3 grams per hour in 2019. The EPA will take public comment on the proposed standards.
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