2012 -- H 7633 SUBSTITUTE A AS AMENDED

=======

LC00867/SUB A/4

=======

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2012

____________

A N A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - OUTDOOR WOOD-FIRED HYDRONIC

HEATERS

     Introduced By: Representatives Flaherty, Chippendale, McNamara, Ruggiero, and Handy

     Date Introduced: February 16, 2012

     Referred To: House Environment and Natural Resources

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

1-1

     SECTION 1. Title 23 of the General Laws entitled "HEALTH AND SAFETY" is hereby

1-2

amended by adding thereto the following chapter:

1-3

     CHAPTER 23.7

1-4

OUTDOOR WOOD-FIRED HYDRONIC HEATERS

1-5

     23-23.7-1. Purpose. -- The general assembly hereby finds and declares that outdoor

1-6

wood-fired hydronic heaters, also known as outdoor wood-burning boilers or outdoor wood

1-7

boilers may be recognized as a source of air pollution. Emissions from outdoor wood heaters that

1-8

are a result of improper use or maintenance may have adverse health effects. The purpose of this

1-9

chapter is to protect the public health, safety and welfare while maintaining homeowners’ rights

1-10

to choose to heat their homes with a safe, economical, and ecologically plentiful fuel source.

1-11

     23-23.7-2. Definitions. – The following words when used in this chapter shall have the

1-12

following meaning:

1-13

     (1) "Clean wood" means wood that has not been painted, stained, coated, preserved, or

1-14

treated with chemicals, including, but not limited to, copper chromium arsenate, creosote, and

1-15

pentachlorophenol. This definition does not include construction or demolition debris as defined

1-16

in subdivision 23-18.9-7(4).

1-17

     (2) “DEM Director” means the director of the department of environmental management

1-18

or designee.

2-19

     (3) “DOH Director” means the director of the department of health, or designee.

2-20

     (4) “EPA” means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

2-21

     (5) “Municipality” means a city or town. Municipality shall not mean village, or fire

2-22

district.

2-23

     (6) “Outdoor wood-fired hydronic heater”, or “OHH” means a device:

2-24

     (i) Designed to burn wood or other solid fuels;

2-25

     (ii) That the manufacturer specifies for outdoor installation or in structures not normally

2-26

occupied by humans; and

2-27

     (iii) That heats building space and/or water through distribution through pipes of a fluid,

2-28

typically water or a mixture of water and antifreeze, heated by the device.

2-29

     (7) "Phase 2 outdoor wood-fired hydronic heater" means an outdoor wood-fired hydronic

2-30

heater that has been certified or qualified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as

2-31

meeting a particulate matter emission limit of 0.32 pounds per million British Thermal Units

2-32

(BTUs) output and is labeled accordingly with an EPA label.

2-33

     (8) “Person” means any individual, partnership, firm or co-partnership, association,

2-34

company, trust, corporation, department, bureau, agency, private or municipal authority, or any

2-35

political subdivision of the state, the United States and or political subdivisions thereof, or any

2-36

other entity recognized by law as subject to rights and duties.

2-37

     23-23.7-3. Use or installation prohibited. -- (a) Effective upon passage, no person may

2-38

use, allow to be used or install an OHH on property of a lot size less than one half (1/2) of one

2-39

acre, or twenty-one thousand seven hundred eighty (21,780) square feet unless the subject lot is

2-40

surrounded on all sides by state-owned management property, conservation-owned property or

2-41

other property as to be deemed unbuildable.

2-42

     (b) No person shall sell, offer for sale – be it public or private sale – or install an OHH

2-43

that is not a Phase 2 OHH for use in Rhode Island.

2-44

     23-23.7-4. Setback and stack height requirements. -- No person shall install an OHH

2-45

unless it: (1) Is installed at least fifty feet (50’) from the nearest property line and seventy-five

2-46

feet (75’) from the nearest occupied building of an abutting owner; and

2-47

     (2) Is set back from the building it services in accordance to any manufacturer’s

2-48

recommendations and;

2-49

     (3) Has a permanently attached stack that is at least two feet (2’) higher than the height of

2-50

all occupied structures that are located within one-hundred fifty (150’) feet of the OHH.

2-51

     23-23.7-5. Manner of installation. -- No person shall install an OHH unless he or she

2-52

first obtains all required permits from the appropriate authority for all mechanical, electrical and

2-53

plumbing elements of the installation and these installations are approved and signed by said

3-1

authority upon completion of the installation.

3-2

     23-23.7-6. Permitted fuels. -- (a) No fuel except the following shall be burned in a

3-3

outdoor wood-fired hydronic heater:

3-4

     (1) Clean wood;

3-5

     (2) Wood pellets made from clean wood;

3-6

     (3) Home heating oil, natural gas, or propane that complies with all applicable sulfur

3-7

limits and is used as a starter or supplemental fuel for a dual-fired outdoor wood-fired hydronic

3-8

heater;

3-9

     (4) Any other fuel approved by the DEM director pursuant to duly-promulgated

3-10

regulations.

3-11

     (b) Outdoor wood-fired hydronic heaters specifically designed to burn wood pellet fuel

3-12

with metered fuel and air feed and controlled combustion engineering that are operated according

3-13

to manufacturer's specifications and that burn only wood pellet fuel shall be exempt from the

3-14

provisions of this chapter.

3-15

     23-23.7-7. Limitations on allowable fuels. – No person shall cause or allow any material

3-16

to be burned in an OHH heater forbidden in section 23-23.7-6.

3-17

     23-23.7-8. Municipal ordinances. -- Cities and towns shall have the authority and duty

3-18

to enact and enforce ordinances that regulate the installation and use of OHH devices. Such

3-19

ordinances shall establish setbacks and stack heights that are suitable to zoning and planning

3-20

guidelines of said municipalities that are equal to, or more stringent than those set forth in this

3-21

chapter.

3-22

     23-23.7-9. Nuisance clause. -- If the owner or operator of an outdoor wood-fired

3-23

hydronic heater as defined in this chapter operates the OHH in a manner which causes a nuisance

3-24

or is injurious to the public health, the municipality may, in writing, order that the use of the

3-25

OHH shall be discontinued until the cause of the nuisance has been rectified in the prescribed

3-26

manner indicated by the written order. The DEM director, and DOH director shall provide

3-27

technical assistance to the municipal authorities in the determination of, declaration of, and

3-28

enforcement of the nuisance provision under this section.

3-29

     23-23.7-10. Local enforcement. -- The responsibility for the enforcement of this chapter

3-30

shall be with the local municipal building authority or such other local building official as a

3-31

municipality may designate by ordinance.

3-32

     23-23.7-11. Notice to buyers. -- (a) Prior to the execution of a sale for a new or used

3-33

OHH, the distributor/seller shall provide the prospective buyer with a copy of this chapter and

3-34

written notice which includes;

4-1

     (1) An acknowledgement that the buyer was provided with a copy of this chapter as well

4-2

as DEM Air Pollution Control Regulation No. 48;

4-3

     (2) The current list of phase 2 outdoor wood boiler models that qualify for the EPA's

4-4

outdoor wood-fired hydronic heater program;

4-5

     (3) A list of approved fuels;

4-6

     (4) A statement that even if the requirements set forth in this chapter are met, there may

4-7

be ordinances imposed by the buyer’s municipality or findings of adverse effects by the director

4-8

of DEM or the director of DOH that may limit or prohibit the use of the purchased OHH.

4-9

     (b) The notice shall be signed and dated by the buyer and the distributor/seller when the

4-10

sale of the OHH is completed. The name and address of owner, name of the manufacturer, and

4-11

the model and date of manufacture of the OHH shall be included in the completed notice.

4-12

     (c) A copy of the signed written notice required pursuant to subsection (b) above, shall be

4-13

kept on file by the municipal building authority in which the OHH will be installed for a period

4-14

not less than three (3) years from the date of approval of the building permit.

4-15

     (d) If the sale is a private, or out of state sale, it will be incumbent upon the building

4-16

official of the municipality in which the OHH will be installed to provide the documents listed in

4-17

subsection 23-23.11(a) and follow the acknowledgement procedure in subsection 23-23.11(b)

4-18

prior to issuing a building permit for the installation.

4-19

     23-23.7-12. Common law rights preserved. – The operation or use of an outdoor wood-

4-20

fired hydronic heater in any manner that creates a nuisance or interferes with the health, safety, or

4-21

welfare of any person is prohibited. All public or private rights of action in nuisance, negligence,

4-22

or otherwise are preserved.

4-23

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

=======

LC00867/SUB A/4

========

EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - OUTDOOR WOOD-FIRED HYDRONIC

HEATERS

***

5-1

     This act would regulate the sale and installation of outdoor wood-fired hydronic heaters.

5-2

     This act would take effect upon passage.

=======

LC00867/SUB A/4

=======

S. 2012 -- H 7633

SUBSTITUTE A

A N A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY - OUTDOOR WOOD-FIRED HYDRONIC HEATERS

=======

LC00867/SUB A/4

=======

======================================================================

Presented by