Washington state bill would set new standards for wood stoves
()
A Washington state Senate committee advanced a proposal Friday morning to update the rules around wood stoves. Democratic supporters of the bill argue it will promote better air quality, while Republican opponents are concerned it could make lives harder.
Voted on by the Senate Committee on Environment, Energy & Technology, Senate Bill 5174 would update the state's air quality standards around wood-burning devices like wood stoves and fireplaces.
Requested by the Department of Ecology, the agency would issue standards that match those published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 'as it existed on January 1, 2025,' according to the bill. The legislation states Washington's current regulations 'are weaker than those put in place by the Environmental Protection Agency.'
If the EPA were to adopt standards that are less stringent than those from January 1, 2025, the bill says the Department of Ecology 'must retain the more stringent statewide emission standards.'
Prime sponsor state Sen. Sharon Shewmake, D-Bellingham, said the standards would only apply to new wood-burning devices, and existing devices would not have to be changed or removed.
'My intention was never to take away anyone's wood stoves,' she said ahead of the committee vote. 'Wood stoves are a great source of heat, especially in rural areas. If you're willing to put some arm energy into it, they can even be free heat.
Shewmake said the bill would implement a voluntary program for manufacturers to certify their devices meet federal standards.
'We need to make sure that they're clean,' she said. 'A voluntary program would allow people to see that they are actually passing the standards that they claim to be passing.'
An earlier version of the legislation initially required the state to create a mandatory certification process, as a federal report raised questions about whether devices were burning as cleanly as claimed.
'The OIG found that EPA is approving deficient test reports, lacks robust oversight, fails to address known violations and allows non-compliant devices to be sold,' said Kathy Taylor with the Department of Ecology. 'These flaws in EPA's oversight program puts families in Washington at risk of buying what appears to be a cleaner wood stove, but in reality is a stove that might harm their health or contribute to unhealthy air quality in their community.'
Republican senators argued the bill would overregulate wood stoves and make a crucial heat source more expensive, ultimately leading to a ban on them.
State Sen. Shelly Short, R-Addy, questioned whether the Department of Ecology could meet the responsibilities outlined in the bill.
''Ecology doesn't have the bandwidth for this,' she said. 'They don't have the knowledge base. I don't think they are prepared for this.'
Short also expressed concern the bill reduces consumer confidence in trusted manufacturers.
'It's actually made me very frustrated that, okay, if there's an issue with EPA, let's deal with it. Let's better understand that before you go after an entire industry,' she said.
She offered an amendment to change the legislation, but it failed.
The updated standards ultimately passed out of committee on a party-line vote. They now move to the Senate Committee on Rules for their consideration of whether to bring the bill to a floor vote.
This article was produced as part of the Murrow News Fellowship program, a collaborative effort between news outlets statewide and Washington State University.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

24 minutes ago
In their own words: Trump, Newsom trade insults and barbs over National Guard in Los Angeles
The swiftly evolving situation in the Los Angeles area over protests surrounding immigration enforcement actions has also cued up a public spat between President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California governor who has been one of the Republican president's most vocal Democratic critics. After Trump on Sunday called up 2,000 National Guard troops to respond, Newsom said he would sue the administration, a promise on which the state followed through a day later. Trump cited a legal provision that allows him to mobilize federal service members when there is 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States." The president also agreed with one of his top advisers that maybe the governor should be arrested. Here's a look at back-and-forth between Trump and Newsom in their own words: 'You have violent people, and we're not gonna let them get away with it.' — Trump, Sunday, in remarks to reporters in Morristown, New Jersey. ___ Newsom's ire has been elevated over Trump's decision to, without his support, call up the California National Guard for deployment into his state. In a letter Sunday, Newsom called on Trump to rescind the Guard deployment, calling it a 'serious breach of state sovereignty.' The governor, who was in Los Angeles meeting with local law enforcement and other officials, also told protesters they were playing into Trump's plans and would face arrest for violence or property destruction. 'Trump wants chaos and he's instigated violence,' he said. 'Stay peaceful. Stay focused. Don't give him the excuse he's looking for.' In an interview with MSNBC, Newsom said Sunday he had spoken with Trump 'late Friday night,' after the protests had begun, but said deploying the National Guard 'never came up.' "We talked for almost 20 minutes, and he — barely, this issue never came up. I mean, I kept trying to talk about LA, he wanted to talk about all these other issues," Newsom said. 'We had a very decent conversation.' 'He never once brought up the National Guard,' Newsom said of Trump, calling him 'a stone-cold liar.' Saying, 'I did call him the other night,' Trump told reporters Sunday that he told Newsom in that call: ''Look you've got to take care of this. Otherwise I'm sending in the troops.' ... That's what we did.' On Monday, Trump posted on social media that Los Angeles would have been 'completely obliterated' without his intervention and referred to Newsom as 'Newscum,' a pejorative moniker he has used to refer to the governor. 'We are suing Donald Trump. This is a manufactured crisis. He is creating fear and terror to take over a state militia and violate the U.S. constitution.' — Newsom, Monday, X post. ___ As Newsom promised, California officials sued the Trump administration on Monday, with the state's attorney general, Rob Bonta, arguing that the deployment of troops 'trampled' on the state's sovereignty and pushing for a restraining order. The initial deployment of 300 National Guard troops was expected to quickly expand to the full 2,000 that were authorized by Trump. Late Monday, Trump authorized an additional 2,000 National Guard troops. Ahead of that move, Newsom accused the president of inflaming tensions, breaching state sovereignty and wasting resources, while warning protesters not to 'take Trump's bait.' Teasing the suit, Newsom told MSNBC that he saw the deployment as 'an illegal act, an immoral act, an unconstitutional act.' Asked Monday about the lawsuit, Trump said it was 'interesting' and argued 'that place would be burning down' without the federal government's intervention. 'I'm very happy I got involved," Trump added. "I think Gavin in his own way is very happy I got involved.' 'I think it's great. Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing." — Trump, Monday, in remarks to reporters. ___ Tom Homan, the Trump administration's border czar, previously warned that anyone, including public officials, would be arrested if they obstructed federal immigration enforcement. Newsom's initial response to Homan, during the MSNBC interview and in subsequent posts on his own social media: 'Come and get me, tough guy.' On Monday Trump seemed to agree with his border chief, telling reporters, 'I would do it if I were Tom.' 'I think it's great. Gavin likes the publicity, but I think it would be a great thing,' Trump added. "He's done a terrible job. Look — I like Gavin, he's a nice guy, but he's grossly incompetent, everybody knows." Homan later said there was 'no discussion' about actually arresting Newsom, but reiterated that 'no one's above the law.' wrote Monday on X that they represented 'a day I hoped I would never see in America' and said Trump's call for his arrest marked 'an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism.'

24 minutes ago
World Cup host city organizers acknowledge immigration crackdown may impact next year's tournament
NEW YORK -- Philadelphia's host city executive for the 2026 World Cup says organizers accept that an immigration crackdown by President Donald Trump's administration may be among the outside events that impact next year's tournament. "There are certainly things that are happening at the national level, the international level, there are going to be geopolitical issues that we don't even know right now that are going affect the tournament next year, so we recognize that we're planning within uncertainty,' Meg Kane said Monday at a gathering of the 11 U.S. host city leaders, one year and two days ahead of the tournament opener. The World Cup will be played at 16 stadiums in the U.S., Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19 next year, a tournament expanded to 48 nations and 104 games. All matches from the quarterfinals on will be in the U.S., with the final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 'Whether it's the Olympics, whether it's a World Cup, whether it's a Super Bowl, you name it, anytime you've got a major international sporting event, geopolitics is going to have a role,' said Alex Vasry, CEO of the New York/New Jersey host committee. Kane said the host committees must adapt to decisions made by others. 'One of the things that I think we all recognize is that we have to be really good at operating within that uncertainty,' Kane said. 'I think for each of our cities, we want to be prepared to make any person that is coming and makes the decision to come to the United States or come to this World Cup feel that they are welcome. We do not play a role necessarily in what is happening in terms of the decisions that are made.' Trump's travel ban on citizens from 12 countries exempted athletes, coaches, staff and relatives while not mentioning fans. 'We allow for FIFA to continue having constructive conversations with the administrations around visas, around workforce, around tourism,' Kane said. FIFA is running the World Cup for the first time without a local organizing committee in the host nation. Asked in late April whether FIFA president Gianni Infantino was available to discuss the tournament, FIFA director of media relations Bryan Swanson forwarded the request to a member of the media relations staff, who did not make Infantino available. Legislation approved by the House of Representatives and awaiting action in the Senate would appropriate $625 million to the Federal Emergency Management Agency 'for security, planning, and other costs related to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.' The 11 U.S. host committees have been consulting with each other on issues such as transportation for teams and VIPs, and for arranging fan fests. At the last major soccer tournament in the U.S., the 2024 Copa America final at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, started 82 minutes late after fans breached security gates. 'Certainly we were not involved in the planning or the logistics for that particular match,' said Alina Hudak, CEO of the Miami World Cup host committee. She said local police 'have done an extensive review of the after-action reports related to that in collaboration with the stadium and so all of the things that happened are in fact being reviewed and addressed and I can assure you that everything is being done within our power to make sure that the appropriate measures are being placed, the appropriate perimeters.'


Newsweek
36 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Gavin Newsom Dares Donald Trump to Arrest Him: 'Get It Over With'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. California Gov. Gavin Newsom told U.S. President Donald Trump to "just get it over with, arrest me" as the pair clashed over immigration raids in the city and how to handle the disorder that erupted from the protests against them. Trump had said he would arrest Newsom if he were the White House border czar Tom Homan, calling it a "great thing". Homan had earlier said those harboring illegal immigrants would face the law, and the Democratic governor of California is not excluded from that risk. Newsom called it a "sober and serious moment" in remarks to MeidasTouch, a liberal activist media group, on Monday evening. "This is why I told the president, just get it over with, arrest me, move on. If you need some head to scalp, do it with me, but stop messing with these kids," Newsom said. "Stop messing with four-year-olds. Kids in elementary school. We've got kids. We have hundreds of graduations down here. "Kids are not going to their own graduations, families, grandparents, here legally. Mixed status families in some cases, scared to death to go to a graduation. People are scared to walk down the streets." Newsom said he was aware of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) running "checkpoints, checking people's IDs" in Los Angeles. "We've never seen this kind of deployment in so many accents," Newsom said. "It's mass panic out here in the nation's largest county, in the nation's largest state. Good, hardworking people, decent people. These are not the criminals. These are not the thugs." This is a developing article. Updates to follow.