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Signage is seen at the entrance of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 30, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday denied the challenge of an industry association representing manufacturers of wood-fired residential heaters to an Obama-era rule updating how the Environmental Protection Agency audits air-pollution tests for the widely used heaters.
A panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied a petition by the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association (HPBA) that claimed a 2015 rule allowing for initial and audit pollution tests to be conducted at different laboratories was arbitrary and capricious under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The plaintiffs claimed testing results can vary drastically when changing laboratories and that the EPA failed to adequately justify its approach, but the panel concluded that the agency had addressed the group's concerns.
Jack Goldman, HPBA's chief executive, said in a statement: "This ruling means that the small business(es) that make up this industry are threatened by an unfair standard and we are enormously disappointed." The association is represented by lawyers at Crowell & Moring.
An EPA spokesperson referred a request for comment to the Department of Justice, whose spokesperson Wyn Hornbuckle declined to comment.
The 2015 rule updates a 1988 one that requires manufacturers to test at EPA-approved, private laboratories a representative heater for compliance with a CAA-mandated particulate matter limit. If the heater is compliant, the manufacturer receives a certification authorizing its sale.
The update says that the audit tests, which are conducted randomlyand whose failure can lead to the suspension of a certification, can now be conducted at any of the EPA-accredited laboratories the agency selects rather than only the certifying laboratory, as was previously the case.
The 2015 rule was spurred by lawsuits by New York, other states and green groups claiming the EPA had failed its nondiscretionary duty to update the standards.
Wood-burning heaters, like wood stoves, heat hundreds of thousands of U.S. homes in the 11 states including New York and Alaska that filed an amici brief, that filing says. The states supported the EPA.
The heaters emit various air pollutants including particulate matter, whose health effects range from shortness of breath to heart problems, according to the ruling.
HPBA in a filing said a study it commissioned suggested tests for wood stoves, when conducted at different laboratories, led to wild variations in results. The variability would make it "almost impossible" for manufacturers to build products that would not fail an audit test, the association said.
In Friday's ruling, U.S. Circuit Judge Nina Pillard said that the EPA's 2015 update was anchored in an adequate explanation for rejecting that data.
Pillard was joined by U.S. Circuit Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson and Robert Wilkins.
The case is Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Assoc v. EPA, et al, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, No. 15-1056.
For Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association: David Chung of Crowell & Moring
For EPA, et al: Simi Bhat with the U.S. Department of Justice
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Court denies challenge to wood-fired residential heater test standards - Reuters
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