MA DOER Biomass Boiler & Furnace Emissions & Safety Regulations Report
June 2009

The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) has released the final report on biomass boiler and furnace emissions and safety regulations report.  The report was commissioned to study, evaluate and make recommendations for regional consistency of biomass boiler/furnace emissions and safety regulations.  It was prepared by a research team consisting of the CONEG Policy Research Center in conjunction with Rick Handley and Associates, Ray Albrecht, and staff from the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM).

The team identified a number of findings as a result of their research. They include:

• Northeast states’ emission regulations for ICI wood-fired devices vary significantly, but are more extensive in scope than federal regulations;
• In the U.S., current wood-fired technologies for residential heating and small-medium size biomass boilers are lightly regulated and have higher particulate matter (PM) emissions than similar technologies using oil or natural gas;
• More stringent EPA emission rules for all boilers are pending;
• Reduced emission levels are achievable based on current European Union (EU) emission standards which are more stringent than current state or even the proposed new EPA standards;
• EU manufactured boilers could provide an option for U.S. consumers seeking low emission biomass boilers and residential heaters;
• While the U.S. and EU safety standards appear to provide comparable levels of safety based on field experience, multiple differences in U.S. and EU testing requirements affect a manufacturer’s ability to implement a common design and for biomass boilers that can satisfy the code requirements of both the U.S. and EU.

A number of action items were recommended in the report as follows:

• Rules are need to achieve maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standard that protects public health and permits the expansion of biomass heating;
• Extend regulatory emission efforts to residential units to ensure protection of public health and to provide an even playing field among the various residential devices;
• To stimulate the market, work with other northeast states to identify and support tax incentives (federal & state) to fund retrofits of existing ICI units and change-outs of residential units;
• Encourage research on biomass combustion technologies that can meet and exceed federal emissions requirements;
• Work with state boiler boards and code officials to investigate an ASME standard that meets all safety requirements, while providing a cost effective process to achieve an ASME Code stamp for EU manufactures; and
• Work with state economic development agencies and EU manufacturers to promote the production of EU technologies in the Northeast.

DOER recognizes the importance to move forward on the action items identified by the research team. Please contact me if you would like to further collaborate or have suggestions for moving these items forward.   

The report is available here.