Woodstoves have two problems. The wood that goes into the stove, and the people that place that wood into the stove. The "EPA" certified stove has partially taken the 'people' problem out of the mix by ensuring that a minimum volume of air gets into the device to properly combust our good friend, "seasoned wood".
Which leaves the first problem - the wood that goes into the stove. Well, guess what, the EPA is monitoring the wrong industry. Good fuel in an inefficient device will burn cleaner than bad fuel in an efficient device. If the "G-man" were to regulate anything, my take is that it would be the folks who split, measure, and deliver our fuel to us. "Seasoned" should mean just that - it's been seasoned and is ready to be burned efficiently in today's technological catalytic secondary burning marvels. Of course, the downside to "regulating" our friendly neighborhood cordwood seller is that his prices will be higher. But the upside is that our fuel should be better, and a cord should (gasps) actually be a cord? Really? Perish the thought!
The pellet stove industry hit a home run because they created an easy to use appliance (load and go) and an entire fuel industry was built to support it. By design, they're clean and almost foolproof. As solid wood burners, we can't (affordably) go to the Home Depot and buy 50 pound bags of cordwood. Instead we have to rely upon sometimes less than reputable cordwood sellers and we've all heard the stories.
Of course there's the bio-fuel industry (ie biobricks and their kin). Clean, consistent, convenient, and sold by weight, not by volume. I've been running these all winter. A warm house, clean chimney, and not a hint of smoke once things are up to temp in my Kent Sherwood. Compare that to the guy at the end of my street who is spewing smoke literally on a 24x7 basis.
Well, just my honest opinion.
Cheers