You asked if PA 05-227 exempts agricultural uses from its ban on certain outdoor wood burning furnaces, or if the act's legislative history indicates an intention to include such an exemption. The Office of Legislative Research is not authorized to issue legal opinions, and this report should not be considered one.

SUMMARY

PA 05-227 (CGS § 22a-174k) bans outdoor wood burning furnaces that do not comply with the act's provisions. We found no mention of an agricultural exemption in the act's language or legislative history.

PA 05-227

The Act's Language

The act defines an outdoor wood-burning furnace as “an accessory structure or appliance designed to be located outside living space ordinarily used for human habitation and designed to transfer or provide heat, via liquid or other means, through the burning of wood or solid waste, for heating spaces other than where such structure or appliance is located, any other structure or appliance on the premises, or for heating domestic, swimming pool, hot tub, or Jacuzzi water. ”

The language referring to human habitation appears to refer to the furnace's location, not its intended use. In other words, the act applies to all furnaces located outside a home used to heat spaces, structures, or appliances other than the furnace itself, regardless of whether these spaces, structures, or appliances are used for agricultural, residential, or commercial purposes. An alternative interpretation could construe this language to ban non-complying outdoor wood burning furnaces designed to heat only dwellings or their outbuildings. Such an interpretation would exclude not only agricultural, but commercial and industrial uses. However, it would seem that if the legislature intended to exempt agricultural uses from the act it could have adopted specific language to that effect.

Legislative History

We found two references to the use of outdoor wood-burning furnaces for agricultural purposes in our review of the 2005 legislative history for wood-burning furnaces.

Bonnie Burr, Director of Government Relations for the Connecticut Farm Bureau, expressed concern about the impact of a ban at a January 31, 2005 Environment Committee public hearing on SB 11, another outdoor wood-burning furnace bill. SB 11, which died in the Environment Committee, would have banned the sale of outdoor wood burning furnaces and prohibited the operation of existing furnaces in violation of state and federal air quality standards. Burr expressed concern that a ban would affect “greenhouse growers who use wood to heat their greenhouses. ” She also noted that “many of our farmhouses also are starting to turn to some of these same…furnaces in order to heat their homes. ”

The only other mention of agricultural use appears in Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Gina McCarthy's written testimony supporting HB 6773, which became PA 05-227, at a March 7, 2005 Environment Committee public hearing. The commissioner referred to the use of such furnaces “to provide household space heat, household hot water, heat for pools and Jacuzzis, and heat for various agricultural and commercial uses. ” She did not distinguish agricultural from other uses, or refer to an agricultural exemption.

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