HPBA Government Affairs Update: August 2026
- FEATURED INTERVIEW
HPBA Government Affairs Update: August 2026
Featuring Jason Tolleson
With Tim Reed
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Listen to the audio version.
Tim Reed: Joining me once again is Jason Tolleson, senior director of government affairs with the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association. Jason, it’s great to be talking to you again—and every time we talk, there’s always more going on. I feel like the first place we have to start is fuel choice. I know we’ve been in a holding pattern, waiting for it to get to a vote on the House floor. Let’s start there, with our national fuel choice bill.
Jason Tolleson: Absolutely. There’s some additional action going on, a little more behind the scenes, with the House bill—HR 3699, Congressman Nick Langworthy’s bill out of New York. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s a bit of a game of whack-a-mole: You find those points popping up—a member who may have an inquiry or a concern—and I think we’re getting down to those last couple of folks. At the same time, we’re engaging not just with the sponsor’s office but with leadership as well.
I do think that with the push building up to the election in November, the conversation about affordability and energy use is starting to make a little more noise. You’re seeing new legislation passing through the Energy and Commerce Committee directing that conversation about grid reliability, with a lot of emphasis on data centers paying their portion—or a greater portion—of the energy cost. So when we look at that affordability narrative coming out of the August recess, which they’re about to go into, we may see some more movement—hopefully with this bill as well. As we know, we’re on the doorstep of a House floor vote, and I’m hoping these additional conversations behind the scenes get us one step closer to consideration in September.
TR: I know it’s been a huge effort to push this bill all the way through, and there’s only so much time to make it through the House and the Senate. Am I right in saying it has to be finished by the end of this calendar year?
JT: It would be the end of this calendar year—and if we don’t get it by then, it has to start all over again. That’s why we’re paying close attention not just to the discussions in the House but to the Senate side as well. At our Washington, D.C., fly-in in late June, we specifically targeted certain offices—and raised this with every office we met with—whether that was getting to a full floor vote in the House or pushing to get to a hearing in the Senate.
And this is why the election matters. All elections matter, but if the House or the Senate flips from Republican control to Democratic control, that changes the entire narrative going into the 2027–2028 congressional session. If the chambers remain the same as they are today, that just gets us more time on the clock. Again, though, with the affordability narrative going into the midterm election, I think you may see some additional traction there.
TR: Okay—we’ll keep the industry posted on that. We’ve also been talking a lot about the EPA and the NSPS. For some of us listening, it might be your first time going through this; I remember going through it back in 2015 and 2020. The EPA is going to be revising the standard of emissions for solid-fuel products, and the last time we talked, we were waiting to hear. Have there been any updates or conversations with the EPA on where the NSPS is going to land?
JT: Yes. Our big areas of focus with the EPA on solid-fuel issues—wood stoves, pellet stoves, hydronic heaters—I put into three buckets.
The first is our current state: getting current product approved and certificates renewed. As we know, they’re on a five-year certificate, and there’s been conversation in the past about backlog and getting that cleared up as the agency has gone through some changes. So we’re continuing to push on that front to get renewals through, as well as new certificates issued. That’s really championing the ingenuity and innovation of this industry in getting new product to market—and that’s difficult to do when it’s buried in a stack of paper. The certificate process is part of the NSPS—the New Source Performance Standards—so that’s one element.
The second element is test methods—the conversation about how you test to get to the standard. There’s an increased level of communication with the EPA now on current test methods and some alternative test methods, as well as the NESCAUM IDC test method that’s out there. In about the last six weeks, our solid-fuel technical working group—about seven or eight member companies—has been really active in meeting and discussing the options available to us: helping shape out the data, where some things work and don’t work, where some improvements can be made, and having that information available to the EPA.
The third element is the rule itself. The EPA will be drafting the rule, and as we’ve discussed before, they’re under a deadline of December 2026 to release the draft for wood stoves and pellet stoves. We are pushing toward that date. When that draft comes out, our goal is to get the industry position in front of EPA staff—both on the policy side in Washington, D.C., and on their technical side, sitting in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina—and have that education and industry-position awareness with staff on both fronts, so they have a clear understanding before they actually release the draft. From there, there will be a public comment period—usually about 90 days—and then agency staff go back, factor in all the public comments, and they have to come out with a final rule by December of 2027.
So again, the effort between now and when the draft is published is to make sure we’re getting our consensus as an industry in front of them—on what should be in the next rule, or how the rule should potentially stay the same. There’s a lot of work there, to at least make sure they understand where we’re coming from.
TR: I know we covered this some last time, but a big ask—and I’ve heard this a lot traveling to different affiliate events this year—has been asking for a change on the five-year certificate. Can you talk a little more about that? I think it’s important that people understand it.
That’s not a political issue. It’s a human issue.
JT: Yes, absolutely. This is something where a lot of the research we’ve done lately—as staff, and with our consultants and technical folks who’ve been doing this for a long time—is going into the way-back machine: Where did this five-year requirement come from? We’re really looking at it from a regulatory-burden perspective. If you’ve got reduced staffing on one side or a backlog on the other, what makes sense from a time perspective? Knowing there were things done differently in the past, how can we align and work with them?
And it’s pretty unique how these solid-fuel products are treated compared to other regulated entities within the EPA that are purchased by consumers—motor vehicles, small engines, backup home generators, all these different things that are EPA-regulated with some level of certificate of conformity. So we’re building out that case: Why the five years? And where can we find areas of common agreement to help reduce some of that burden while maintaining the emissions profile of these products?
Moreover, another issue that was dealt with in the past is the sell-through period: As you go through rule changes, what happens when the certificate actually expires—and how does that impact retailers and distributors sitting on products that, from an emissions point of view, are no less compliant on the salesroom floor than the day they were manufactured? Trying to address that in the next rule—these concepts that were put into place from historic precedent—is something we’re communicating very closely with the EPA about.
TR: That’s a lot. So we’re in a holding pattern for the EPA, and we’re in a holding pattern for fuel choice. Now, you mentioned we’re heading into the August recess. With that said, what should retailers be doing right now to make sure they’re helping where they can?
JT: You’re right: The House and Senate will be out for August. Anyone who’s been in Washington, D.C., in August can understand why everyone wants to leave town—because it’s really hot and muggy there. So they go back to their home districts.
And that’s the time when they’re back. Think about Labor Day parades, town halls, all these different engagements. Take advantage of that, because this is a dedicated four- or five-week period when they’ll be back in the home office. I’ll say the same thing about the state legislators: All but five or six states are done for the year. You have a few special sessions going on—I think South Carolina and Alaska—and the states that are still in session—California, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania—are still meeting, but that doesn’t mean they’re meeting every day or every week. Use this time to extend that invitation, because as we get closer to the election, things are going to get a little chaotic, especially in D.C.
And then the real thing to think about is the election itself. In the midterms, other than Virginia and New Jersey—they’re on an off-cycle and do their state elections in the odd years—you’re going to see whole new legislatures come in. So there’s a chance to go reintroduce your retail shop, and our industry, to these legislators. I think there are 7,300 state legislators across the country, so there’s going to be some decent turnover there. And all 435 congressional seats are up, and one third of the Senate is up. Use this time to make the introductions—and as we look to January of 2027, look forward to making introductions to those who are new. For the most part, they won’t be experts on wood stoves. There may be a few out there who are, or who have the product at home. Here’s the chance to educate them on our industry.
TR: That’s awesome. I’ve been so surprised at how receptive the offices of legislators have been every time I’ve emailed or reached out—somebody has responded, in most cases pretty quickly. So I think this is a great time of year to start making relationships or continue them. And I think we have some stories of people doing that right now, right?
JT: Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I’d love to talk about GALA—our Government Affairs Leadership Academy. A good number of them came in for our fly-in in June in D.C., and we actually had several alumni come in as well. Just a few days ago, we had their first virtual session after the fly-in, and we used the first 30 to 45 minutes on this question: What was something you took away from the event? Not just “Hey, it was great to be in the Capitol.” But what was something from your meetings? What were some of the engagements? What’s something that surprised you? And there was some great learning there from the GALA participants.
There were also some stories of follow-through—someone saying, “As soon as I got back, I invited the senator’s district staffer to come by the retail shop,” and then queuing up another one. This same retailer—Danny Kahler from Smokey’s Stoves, in your neck of the woods—said, “And I’ve already reached out to another office, my state rep’s.” I love that level of follow-through. It’s not just the meeting in D.C.; it’s what you do after. And you never know when there’s an opportunity to educate someone who may have the product at home and isn’t aware of all the regulatory components that go with it, whether it’s a wood stove or a gas fireplace—putting a real face on the issue of fuel choice and the ability to have access to natural gas infrastructure.
TR: That’s terrific. This was a number of years ago, but there was a legislative initiative going on, and I asked a retailer to reach out and invite the representative into the shop. The retailer basically flat-out refused, saying the representative’s mind was already made up and nothing anyone did would change it. I just think that mentality is so short-sighted. These are real people. Their political stance might be different than yours, but you have the chance to make a relationship—and have tremendous influence—if you’re just willing to extend a hand. So it’s super cool hearing about Danny doing that. And I think now is the time for retailers everywhere: Send that email or make a phone call to your senators and representatives, and try to get them into your business. The worst they’re going to say is “no.” But I think you’d be very surprised at how easy it is to get—if not them—one of their staffers into your business to start building a relationship.
Make the outreach. Make it happen.
This article is brought to you by Pacific Energy.
JT: Yeah, absolutely. And even with this idea that they may feel differently philosophically, or be of a different party persuasion—the ability to heat homes, to provide backup resilient heat options, and just the whole universe of the hearth space…
TR: That’s not a political issue.
JT: It’s absolutely not.
TR: No—it’s a human issue.
JT: And it really comes down to a topography issue, too. If you’re in a rural area without piped-in infrastructure, and you can’t fully rely on electricity, you need those options—and their constituents need those options. Danny was actually in my group, and we were covering the Northwest House and Senate members. Some disagreed, from maybe a more philosophical persuasion—but man, they were asking some good questions. And we were giving our best in responding, using our perspective against maybe something else they were hearing from the other side.
That level of engagement becomes a resource. They may disagree, but if they come back and think, “Wow, they came in and talked to us about the pending EPA rule—I’ve got a question,” or the same thing with these fuel choice efforts or these municipal bans—“I did hear from that source; let me reach back out to them”—that’s invaluable. It’s hard to calculate. You never know. But not making that effort will always cost you. It’s about being a source of quality information—being a card in the Rolodex they can call on and say, “I did hear from HPBA; let me reach back out to them.” As a matter of fact, the week after the fly-in, as our groups provided feedback from their meetings, there were a few notes of, “You need to call this staffer.” I did exactly that the Monday after, and I had some clarifying opportunities with several of them. So again: Make the outreach. Make it happen.
TR: Awesome. Jason, that’s great, man. We appreciate you and HPBA so much for the work you’re doing—stay at it. We’re excited to hear the update on where fuel choice is, along with the continued conversations with the EPA, next time we talk. Thanks again, man.
JT: Appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
