States to sue EPA over ‘damaging’ environmental impact of residential wood-burning stoves

Ten states are suing the Biden administration for allowing consumers to continue buying and using wood-burning stoves, claiming the appliances are more damaging to the environment than what a previous assessment found.

A 60-day notice of intent submitted last week accused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of failing to review and ensure emissions standards for residential wood-burning stoves and, as a result, allowing the continued sale of appliances that could worsen pollution, attorneys general from the ten states wrote.

“If newer wood heaters do not meet cleaner standards, then programs to change out old wood heaters may provide little health benefits at significant public cost,” the letter read.

The states involved are Alaska, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency also joined the states in the lawsuit.

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Attorneys general from Alaska, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington accused the EPA of failing to review and ensure emissions standards of residential wood-burning stoves. (Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News via AP / AP Newsroom)

The states alleged that the EPA’s current standards are insufficient to ensure the safety of the environment and, even if they were, the agency’s testing and certification program is outdated and ineffective in ensuring those standards.

Fox News Digital reached out to the EPA for comment, but a response was not immediately received.

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In a report released in February, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General found the agency’s 2015 performance standards for residential wood heaters were flawed.

The EPA has “approved methods that lack clarity and allow too much flexibility,” the report revealed.

It continued: “As a result, certification tests may not be accurate, do not reflect real-world conditions, and may result in some wood heaters being certified for sale that emit too much particulate-matter pollution.”

A report released in February revealed the EPA’s Office of Inspector General found the agency’s 2015 performance standards for residential wood heaters were flawed. (Robert Alexander/Getty Images / Getty Images)

The states also said programs that encourage people to trade in older stoves and other wood-burning appliances have not necessarily improved air quality, which appears to fall in line with the IG report.

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The report showed the EPA supports programs aimed at replacing older, dirtier wood heaters with newer, cleaner models and distributed about $82 million in grants for residential exchanges between fiscal years 2015 and 2021.

“However, if the replacement models do not meet emission standards because of the reasons described above, millions of federal, state and local dollars could be wasted,” it said.

The EPA said it will take the concerns addressed in the report seriously and would take steps to address testing and certification issues, officials said in a response to a draft of the report.

The EPA distributed about $82 million in grants for residential exchanges between fiscal years 2015 and 2021, according to the February report. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Wood-fired heaters are still widely used throughout the country, including by about 39% of households in the Fairbanks North Star Borough in Alaska’s Interior, the report found.

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More than 3,000 wood-burning appliances were replaced in the region between 2010 and 2021 through a change-out program, but the report determined local residents “do not know whether wood heaters in their homes meet standards” and poor air quality continues to be a concern.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.