Prohibition on wood burning fireplaces in new construction
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District proposed that the Board of Supervisors enact this restriction at the County level, and the Board at first seemed inclined to do so.
However, NVLSA argued successfully against it, and the Board refused to enact the ban. Approximately two years later, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District enacted the ban on its own, along with a prohibition on using existing fireplaces on “save the air days” and other restrictions. The new ban affects the entire geographical area of all nine “Bay Area Counties”, including those areas of Napa County separated by mountains from the Bay Area air basin.
The fireplace ban was based on an obviously biased and defective environmental impact report that justified the ban in terms of reducing greenhouse gases, while the truth is exactly opposite. The EIR ignored the fact that burning wood from already dead trees produces no more greenhouse gas then the inevitable decay of those same trees if left unburned. The EIR also ignored the obvious increase in greenhouse gases that will stem from burning natural gas and other fossil fuels to produce the same amount of heat formerly produced by burning wood.
Such are the “Alice in Wonderland” workings of the regulatory juggernaut that is paid lavishly to work full time to burden us with ever more regulations, while we must do our best to defend ourselves in what little spare time we have after attending to our work and family obligations.