(a) This section applies to the installation and use of all wood-fired boilers within the City of Lakewood. This section shall not apply to grilling or cooking using charcoal, wood, propane or natural gas in cooking or grilling appliances; burning in a stove, furnace or fireplace; the use of propane, acetylene, natural gas, gasoline or kerosene in a device intended for heating, construction or maintenance activities or outdoor burning as defined in Chapter 1503.
(b) Purpose and Scope. The Council of the City of Lakewood has determined that air pollution from wood-fired boilers may be detrimental to the health, comfort, living conditions, welfare and safety of the citizens of the City of Lakewood. It is hereby declared to be a policy of the City to safeguard the citizens of the City from such air pollution.
(c) Definitions. The following words, terms, and phrases, when used in this section, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, shall have the following meanings ascribed to them:
(1) “Clean wood” means natural wood that has no paint, stains or other types of coatings, and natural wood that has not been treated with, including but not limited to, copper chromium arsenate, creosote or pentachlorophenol. “Seasoned wood” is wood that has been allowed to age at least a year in a covered enclosure other than under a tarp or other sheeting.
(2) “Stack” means any vertical structure enclosing a flue or flues that carries off smoke or exhaust from a furnace, especially that part of a structure extending above a roof.
(3) “Wood-fired boiler,” also known as wood-fired furnace, hydronic heater or wood-burning appliance, means a fuel-burning device:
A. Designed to burn clean, seasoned wood or other approved solid fuels; and
B. That the manufacturer specifies for indoor or outdoor installation or installation in structures not normally occupied by humans; and
C. Which heats building space and/or water through the distribution, typically through pipes, of a fluid heated in the device, typically water or a mixture of water and antifreeze.
(d) New Installations. On or after the effective date of this ordinance, no person shall install a wood-fired boiler.
(e) Existing Wood-fired Boilers.
(1) Fuel requirements. No person who operates a wood-fired boiler shall use a fuel other than the following:
A. Clean, seasoned wood; or
B. Wood pellets made from clean wood; or
C. Home heating oil, natural gas, propane or fuel that complies with all applicable sulfur limits and is used as a starter or supplemental fuel for dual-fired wood-fired boilers; or
D. A fuel recommended by the manufacturer of the wood-fired boiler, provided it adheres to the minimum quality standards within this subsection (e) which fuel must be readily available for inspection by the City and may be subject to further regulations promulgated by the Director of Public Safety or his or her designee to mitigate nuisance conditions created by such operation.
(2) Prohibited fuels. No person shall burn any material not listed in subsection (e)(1) above, including but not limited to any of the following items, in a wood-fired boiler:
A. Treated or painted wood, or clean wood that is not seasoned;
B. Furniture;
C. Garbage;
D. Tires;
E. Lawn clippings or yard waste;
F. Material containing plastic or coated in wax;
G. Material containing rubber;
H. Waste petroleum products;
I. Paints and paint thinners;
J. Chemicals;
K. Any hazardous waste;
L. Coal;
M. Glossy colored paper;
N. Construction and demolition debris;
O. Plywood;
P. Particleboard;
Q. Salt water driftwood;
R. Manure;
S. Animal carcasses; or
T. Asphalt products.
(4) Dates of operation. No person shall operate an existing wood-fired boiler between the dates of May 1 and October 30, except that this provision shall not apply on days when the outdoor air temperature is below fifty (50) degrees Fahrenheit or when operation is necessary to prevent a safety or health emergency. Notwithstanding the date or outdoor temperature, no person shall operate an existing wood-fired boiler on any day on which the Air Quality Index in Lakewood, as determined by the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, is forecasted as unhealthy, very unhealthy or hazardous.
(5) Nuisance conditions. The emission or escape of air contaminants into open air from any wood-fired boiler in such a manner or in such amounts as to endanger or tend to endanger the health, comfort, safety or welfare of the public, or that is reasonably offensive and objectionable to the public, or that shall cause unreasonable injury or damage to the property or interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of property or normal conduct of business, is hereby found and declared a public nuisance. No person shall cause, permit or maintain any such public nuisance using a wood-fired boiler.
(f) Enforcement.
(1) The Director of Public Safety or his or her designee shall have the power to enforce the provisions of this section.
(2) The City may issue such orders as are necessary to aid in the enforcement of the provisions of this section. These orders may include, but shall not be limited to orders requiring persons to cease the use of wood-fired boilers in violation of any provision of this ordinance; orders to take corrective action or to abate a public nuisance regardless of whether the operation of the wood-fired boilers is otherwise in conformity herewith; or orders requiring production of information. Such orders may also include requirements that the stack height be extended higher than the peak of any residence located within a certain distance from the stack; that a catalytic converter be installed to minimize particulate matter emissions; that the addition of fuel to a wood-fired boiler be limited to a certain number of hours or times per day; that the emission of a smoke plume from any wood-fired boiler meet reasonable opacity standards over a fixed period of time; or that prior to a date certain, or prior to the completion or consummation of a sale or transfer of any real property on which the wood-fired boiler is located, the wood-fired boiler be replaced, removed or rendered permanently inoperable. Such orders may be issued if the City finds that any person is in violation of any provision of this section.
(3) The City may, in its order, require compliance with this section.
(4) An order issued under this section shall take effect upon notice, unless the order specifies otherwise. The person affected may appeal an order to the Board of Building Standards and Building Appeals. An appeal to the Board of Building Standards and Building Appeals of the City of Lakewood’s order shall not act as an automatic stay of enforcement, provided, however, that, upon application and for cause shown, the Board of Building Standards and Building Appeals may issue such a stay under rules established by the board.
(5) The authority of the City of Lakewood to issue an order under this section is in addition to any remedy or penalty that may be imposed pursuant to this section. The failure to comply with any such order is hereby declared to be a public nuisance.
(g) Penalties.
(1) Whoever refuses, neglects or fails to comply with an order of the Director of Public Safety or his or her designee issued in accordance with this section or violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) dollars nor more than one-thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for a first offense, and for a second or subsequent offense shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree. Each day such violation occurs or continues shall constitute a separate offense.
(2) The imposition of any penalty shall not preclude the Director of Law from instituting an appropriate action or proceeding in a court of proper jurisdiction to restrain, correct or abate a violation, or to require compliance with the provisions of this Code, or other applicable laws, ordinances, rules or regulations, or the orders or determinations of the Director of Public Safety or Board of Building Standards and Building Appeals. (Ord. 37-11. Passed 11-7-2011.)