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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-CA link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Dear Wood Stove Friends<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>I have a comment on good authority (there really are authorities in this matter) that the ‘one death per day avoided’ is baseless conjecture. One consultant called the claim ‘plain fraud’, there being no real basis for making it (the claim). In other words you can claim what you want and no one can prove anything one way or the other because there is no data underlying them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>This is sort of related to the Pellet Stove competition discussed previously in that the rules the EPA envisages being implemented are being used as performance criteria. Something that has manufacturers up in arms is the test method applied because the test conditions are so different from typical conditions of use. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>A number of initiatives are on-going with respect to test methods. Some states have their own test methods and performance requirements which complicates things for manufacturers as they have to ‘tune the stove’ to the test methods, really not provide a low emissions, efficient user experience. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>We had just experienced on this list Kirk tuning his stove (making it less efficient) in order to ‘get a better number’ for an invalid metric. In the same manner, manufacturers create stoves that ‘test well’ by gaming every possible aspect of the test to get the best number they can. At the moment, the main cheat involves sustaining a char-burning phase for as long as possible as the emissions are rated ‘per minute’. As a char burning phase has zero PM2.5, the longer the char burn can be sustained, the smaller the resulting number when the total PM mass is divided by time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Regards<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>Crispin<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/04/23/bill-turns-thumbs-wood-stove-rules/26263837/">http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/04/23/bill-turns-thumbs-wood-stove-rules/26263837/</a><o:p></o:p></p><h1 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:25.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif;color:#333333'>Bill turns thumbs down on woodstove rules<o:p></o:p></span></h1><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:9.0pt'><a href="http://www.citizen-times.com/staff/30315/mark-barrett/"><span style='color:#4EC4FF;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=26 height=26 id="_x0000_i1027" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/914cf6455829fd061884e8ffe112c76efa794020/c=0-310-1380-1690&r=1024x1024&r=26&c=26x26/local/-/media/CarolinaGroup/Greenville/2014/11/11/635513259012350120-Mark-Barrett.jpg" alt="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/914cf6455829fd061884e8ffe112c76efa794020/c=0-310-1380-1690&r=1024x1024&r=26&c=26x26/local/-/media/CarolinaGroup/Greenville/2014/11/11/635513259012350120-Mark-Barrett.jpg"></span><span style='color:#4EC4FF;text-decoration:none'> Mark Barrett</span></a>, <a href="mailto:mbarrett@citizen-times.com">mbarrett@citizen-times.com</a></span></b><i><span style='font-size:9.0pt;color:#999999;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0cm'>6:05 p.m. EDT April 23, 2015</span></i><o:p></o:p></p><h2 style='margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:20.25pt'><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-weight:normal'>Rules on wood stoves are "a point where the EPA has really hopped on the crazy train for us in Western North Carolina," Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, told the Senate.<o:p></o:p></span></i></h2><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:16.8pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><img border=0 width=534 height=401 id="_x0000_i1026" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/ffe5082ad4365c05ae4313b21c56c3e4e9f9338d/c=110-0-1890-1335&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/Asheville/2015/04/23/B9317094675Z.1_20150423180040_000_G5BAJE8D1.1-0.jpg" alt="ralph hise in senate.jpg"></span><b><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Buy Photo</span></b><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:4.5pt;line-height:12.0pt;font-stretch:normal'><i><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#646464'>(Photo: Katie Bailey/<a href="mailto:bkbailey@citizen-times.com">bkbailey@citizen-times.com</a>)</span></i><b><span style='font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#646464'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:16.8pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>RALEIGH — North Carolina would not take part in a federal effort to more tightly regulate emissions from new woodstoves, a common source of heat in Western North Carolina, under a bill that passed the Senate Thursday.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>But, state regulators had not planned to participate anyway, said Tom Mather, a spokesman for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>Sen. Ralph Hise, a Mitchell County Republican who is one of three primary sponsors of the bill, told the Senate the rules are "a point where the EPA has really hopped on the crazy train for us in Western North Carolina."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>The state, he said, cannot "change the federal regulations, but we can not adopt them," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is implementing restrictions it estimates will reduce fine particle emissions from wood heaters by nearly 70 percent. It says that will mean an average of one fewer premature death per day and yield about $100 in public health benefits for every $1 of additional cost to manufacturers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>Among WNC counties, the percentage of homes heated by wood ranges from 4 percent in Buncombe County to 17.6 percent in Yancey County, with the rate falling somewhere between 5 and 11 percent in most counties in the region. New Buck Corp. makes the popular Buck Stove brand of wood-burning stoves in Spruce Pine.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:16.8pt'><a href="http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/03/08/new-epa-wood-stove-rules-concern-makers-users/24616847/"><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1990E5;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=300 height=300 id="_x0000_i1025" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/032a249344ff959d9f11b798965bf0766b2eff2c/c=340-0-1022-682/local/-/med" alt="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/032a249344ff959d9f11b798965bf0766b2eff2c/c=340-0-1022-682/local/-/media/2015/03/08/CarolinaGroup/Asheville/635614323307679771-MAIN-IMAGE-BuckStove-001.JPG"></span></a><span class=MsoHyperlink><span style='color:#1990E5;text-decoration:none'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:10.5pt;margin-bottom:0cm;margin-left:10.5pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:10.8pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#009BFF'><a href="http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/03/08/new-epa-wood-stove-rules-concern-makers-users/24616847/"><span style='color:#009BFF;text-decoration:none'>CITIZEN TIMES</span></a><span class=MsoHyperlink><span style='color:#009BFF;text-decoration:none'><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:10.5pt;margin-bottom:10.5pt;margin-left:10.5pt;line-height:14.4pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-family:"Futura Today Light",serif;color:#666666'><a href="http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/03/08/new-epa-wood-stove-rules-concern-makers-users/24616847/"><span style='color:#666666;text-decoration:none'>New EPA wood stove rules concern makers, users</span></a><span class=MsoHyperlink><span style='color:#666666;text-decoration:none'><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;line-height:16.8pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>Mather said state regulators "are not involved with wood heaters at all. ... We've never even looked into it. I'm not sure where this came from."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>The state enforces many rules the EPA adopts under an agreement with the federal agency. But Mather said in the case of woodstoves and similar devices, the EPA rules fall directly on makers of new stoves and the state is not involved. The rules do not apply to existing stoves.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>Dan Crawford, director of governmental relations for the N.C. League of Conservation Voters, also said the bill would have a limited impact.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>"A lot of us felt this bill was much ado about nothing," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>Another part of the bill would require that any new rules the state Environmental Management Commission adopts affecting woodstoves be approved by a three-fifths vote of that appointed body. It's unclear whether it might affect other types of emissions as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>"No longer is the state going to be on autopilot for putting in the state rules what the EPA is cramming down on us," the bill's lead sponsor, Sen. Chad Barefoot, R-Wake, said during Thursday's floor debate. Sen. Jim Davis, R-Macon, is also a primary sponsor.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>The bill passed 40-9 and will be sent to the House. Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, complained on the floor that some senators from urban areas had voted against the bill.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>Instead of visiting the mountains in the winter when people are burning wood to heat their homes, bill opponents "may want to wait until summer," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:11.25pt;margin-left:45.0pt;line-height:16.5pt;font-stretch:normal'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#333333'>Sen. Josh Stein, D-Wake, responded that he voted against the bill because, "We've got a very good rule review process" already to determine whether to adopt rules coming down from the EPA.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>