Now, the Environmental Protection Agency says they’re moving ahead with regulations that would significantly limit how much pollution your wood stove is allowed to put out. They’re citing health concerns caused by pollutants from wood stoves as the reason.   Some opponents to the new mandates, including Joanne Morrissette of West Springfield, argue the need to cut home heating costs is greater than the pollution issues. “Saving them money, you know everything costs so much and the economy is so bad right now, everybody is looking to cut costs somewhere and if that’s the way they can do it then why not,” Morrissette told 22News.

While EPA’s most recent regulations aren’t altogether new, their impacts will nonetheless be severe.  Whereas restrictions had previously banned wood-burning stoves that didn’t limit fine airborne particulate emissions to 15 micrograms per cubic meter of air, the change will impose a maximum 12 microgram limit. To put this amount in context, EPA estimates that secondhand tobacco smoke in a closed car can expose a person to 3,000-4,000 micrograms of particulates per cubic meter.   Most wood stoves that warm cabin and home residents from coast-to-coast can’t meet that standard. Older stoves that don’t cannot be traded in for updated types, but instead must be rendered inoperable, destroyed, or recycled as scrap metal.   The impacts of EPA’s ruling will affect many families. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2011 survey statistics, 2.4 million American housing units (12 percent of all homes) burned wood as their primary heating fuel, compared with 7 percent that depended upon fuel oil.   Local governments in some states have gone even further  than EPA, not only banning the sale of noncompliant stoves, but even their use as fireplaces. As a result, owners face fines for infractions. Puget Sound,Washington is one such location.   Montréal, Canada proposes to eliminate all fireplaces within its city limits.