Less Than 3 Years to the NSPS Deadline
Your Action Today is Vital!
Please read this through for some perspective on the urgency of the actions we are asking you to take.
When the May 2016 deadline for the new EPA certification went into effect there were only a few models that did not meet the 'Step 1 Standard'. Back then we also had a 7-month transition period to clean out inventory of any stoves or pellet stoves that was not certified at 4.5 g/h or less. Most of the products we sold then already met this target and were 'Deemed Certified' by US EPA.
It's not going to be that easy for Step 2, and the deadline is just a little over two and a half years away. On May 15, 2020, everything in your store and your warehouse, must be 2.0 g/h or less, if tested the traditional way, or 2.5 g/h if tested with a special EPA cordwood method. Otherwise you are violating Federal law if you sell it.
I'm going to suggest that, at the rate the laboratories are getting things tested, and at the glacial rate that EPA is issuing certificates, there will be a lot fewer models available to sell by then, and, if it the winter of 2019 is warm in your area, you will have to make some REALLY GOOD DEALS, to salvage your investment, as there is NO sell-through time after the Step 2 deadline!
So, what should you do? Should you immediately stop buying anything that isn't already step 2? That doesn't leave you with a lot of models to sell.
NO, there is a better approach, and that is to help HPBA pass HR 453, which will give us three more years past 2020, while our lawsuit and other options play out. See if YOUR congressional rep is on the co-sponsor list:
If not, go to the HPBA advocacy center, login or register, and send a note urging him/her to get on our bill.
Sure, three years is not the whole answer, but with Congress, we must keep it simple, really simple. Trying to add in anything, like a sell-through period, is a mistake, and could get us left out of bigger legislation at the end of the year, when things really start to move. EPA ignored our comments about a sell-through period (as well as most of our other comments), which is something we are making clear to members on Capitol Hill and in the new administration. HPBA remains optimistic about some key aspects of this process, but we want Congress to help us get more time, and that's where you come in!
So, email this to all your employees, some may live in different Congressional Districts, and log into the Action Center now. Three years is not a long time, but it would save you from having to give away inventory that doesn't qualify, or, worse yet, must sell it as Boat Anchors.
