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Wood stove legislation planned

DARIN OLDE, Sierra Sun

Clean air legislation mandating the upgrade of wood burning stoves in Truckee is expected this summer.

Town Council accepted a report aimed at drafting legislation leading to wood burning stove restrictions in order to improve air quality.

“We adopted (the clean air plan) a year and a half ago and haven’t taken any measures to implement it,” said councilwoman Maia Schneider. “It’s frustrating to talk about it without putting it to action.”



The goal of the legislation will be to replace old wood stoves without emission controls with cleaner stoves or natural gas fireplaces.

The town currently offers a incentive for people to upgrade their stoves or buy natural gas. The town has cooperated with Southwest Gas Corporation on rebates up to $500.



The newest legislation will be a point of sale ordinance requiring stove upgrades at the time of real estate transactions.

“The realtor’s responsibility is not to enforce the ordinance, but simple to make the two negotiating agencies aware of it,” said Duane Hall, town planner.

Hall said the town hasn’t made much progress on the plan because of all the other projects the town was doing.

“But we are going to devote a certain amount of staff hours each week to the project to get implementation measures put together,” he said.

Town staff will work on a long-term financial assistance program for removal of uncertified stoves after the point of sale legislation is complete.

Another element of the plan, which will be drafted later, is an ordinance that would require upgrades to EPA certified stoves for all residents as early as 2006.


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