| Oct. 24, 2008
Consumers Can Receive a $125 Incentive toward the Purchase of a Gas Log Set
The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) today unveiled a
consumer incentive program that encourages homeowners to replace
wood-burning fireplaces with cleaner-burning gas log sets.
The agency also launched a new website,
www.healthyhearths.org, featuring a video to help educate residents
about the harmful emissions of wood smoke, which causes four times more fine
particulate air pollution than all the power plants in the region.
“AQMD devotes significant efforts to curtailing harmful emissions from
sources such as businesses and factories, but we can’t overlook the fact
that the fireplaces in our own homes emit harmful emissions as well,” said
William A. Burke, Ed.D., chairman of AQMD’s Governing Board. “If everyone
takes steps to make even minor adjustments in their wood-burning habits, our
region will see significant improvements in air quality.”
The Healthy Hearths gas log incentive program offers Southland residents
a $125 discount toward the conversion of existing wood-burning fireplaces to
clean-burning gas logs. The program is offered at more than 60 area
retailers. It can significantly reduce the purchase and installation price
for the consumer, which averages about $500.
The new Healthy Hearths website provides information regarding:
- The gas log incentive program, including a complete list of
participating retailers;
- Facts about wood burning and how Healthy Hearths can be easily adopted
– even with traditional wood-burning fireplaces;
- Top 10 tips for cleaner wood burning;
- An interactive quiz about residential wood burning; and
- Statements of support for the initiative from local air quality
organizations
A six-minute Healthy Hearths video, broken up into three segments,
explains the need for cleaner-burning fireplaces and the campaign’s positive
impact on air quality and public health. It features interviews with AQMD
board member Dennis Yates; a spokeswoman for the American Lung Association
of California and a fireplace expert who showcases alternatives to
traditional wood-burning fireplaces. The video is accessible on
www.healthyhearths.org.
The Healthy Hearths initiative originated from AQMD’s Rule 445 – the
first Southern California regulation aimed at reducing pollution from
wood-burning fireplaces and other devices such as old wood stoves. Approved
in March 2008 by the AQMD Governing Board, the regulation includes measures
that eliminate wood-burning fireplaces from new construction and provisions
beginning in November 2011 that could curtail the use of wood-burning
fireplaces during periods of unhealthy air quality.
While much discussion of air pollution tends to focus on mobile sources
such as cars and trucks, an often-overlooked fact is that residential
fireplaces are sources of harmful, and even deadly, emissions. The
California Air Resources Board has estimated that all PM2.5 pollution,
including wood smoke, is linked to 6,200 premature deaths annually in
Southern California.
Rule 445 is expected to reduce approximately one ton per day of PM2.5
emissions by 2014, and is an important component of AQMD’s overall effort to
meet a 2015 deadline for meeting the federal PM2.5 health-based standard.
Participating vendors piloted the consumer incentive program in September
2008. For more information, visit the Healthy Hearths website at
www.healthyhearths.org.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
-#-
|
