U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-3) filed legislation that would halt attempts by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to implement new regulations for residential wood burning heaters that would be devastating to the consumers who depend on them for an affordable source of heat and the small business owners and employees who depend on their manufacture to earn a living. 

The legislation, known as the Wood Stove Regulatory Relief Act, specifically would prevent the EPA from instituting costly proposed new standards for wood burning stoves and heating systems that would effectively prohibit the manufacture and sale of 85 percent of wood burning heaters currently on the market. The Census Bureau estimates that 2.4 million households, 12 percent of all homes, burn wood as their primary heating fuel. In the 3^rd Congressional District, wood burning stoves have been in households for decades and many of those families have limited access to other affordable heating fuels, particularly given the high price of propane this year and the increasingly harsh regulations on coal being proposed by the Obama Administration.

Nearly 90 percent of wood stove manufacturers are small businesses that employ hardworking Americans, including many in Missouri’s Third District. These small, typically rural businesses are under the greatest threat from these impending regulations.

“These proposed new wood stove rules by the EPA would be disastrous for small businesses, consumers, and the economy in rural Missouri, particularly at a time when the price of other heating fuels is skyrocketing. Unfortunately, this is yet another attempt by the EPA to prohibit Americans from using proven, abundant, and affordable sources of energy,” Luetkemeyer said. “The bottom line is that it is critical that we make a sincere effort to keep the EPA out of the home heating business.”

Luetkemeyer’s bill comes a month after he sent a letter expressing his concerns about the New Source Performance Standards for wood burning heaters to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.