Background

On November 13, 2009, the EPA designated a portion of the Fairbanks North Star Borough as nonattainment for the 2006 24-hour PM_2.5 standard (74 FR 58688 (PDF)(95 pp, 491 K, About PDF)).

On December 31, 2014, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation submitted a plan for the moderate nonattainment area that demonstrated it was impracticable to attain the 2006 24-hour PM_2.5 standard by the December 31, 2015 attainment date. Alaska made additional submissions and provided clarifying information to supplement the moderate area plan in January 2015, March 2015, July 2015, November 2015, March 2016, November 2016, and January 2017. The EPA found that the moderate area plan met the substantive statutory and regulatory requirements and proposed to approve it on February 2, 2017 (82 FR 9035 (PDF)(20 pp, 336 K)).

The EPA finalized its approval on September 8, 2017 (82 FR 42457 (PDF)(14 pp, 255 K)) (effective October 10, 2017).

Summary

The control strategy in the Fairbanks North Star Borough moderate area plan focuses on reducing emissions from wood burning. Control measures include an opacity limit and mandatory curtailment program for solid-fuel heaters, emissions standards for new wood heater installations, a requirement to burn only dry wood in wood heaters, a woodstove changeout program, and a prohibition on open burning, among other requirements.

Rules

State Rules, 18 AAC 50

• 50.007, Local Government Powers or Obligations Under a Local Air Quality Control Program
• 50.010, Ambient Air Quality Standards
• 50.025, Visibility and Other Special Protection Areas
• 50.065, Open Burning
• 50.075, Solid Fuel-fired Heating Device Visible Emission Standards
• 50.076, Solid Fuel-fired Heating Device Fuel Requirements; Registration of Commercial Wood Sellers
• 50.077, Standards for Wood-fired Heating Devices
• 50.245, Air Quality Episodes and Advisories for Air Pollutants Other Than PM-2.5
• 50.246, Air Quality Episodes and Advisories for PM-2.5
• 50.990, Definitions

Local Rules, Fairbanks North Star Borough Code Chapter 21.28

• 010, Definitions
• 020, Borough listed appliances
• 030, Prohibited acts
• 040, Enhanced voluntary removal, replacement and repair program
• 050, Forecasting exceedances and restrictions in the air quality control zone during an alert
• 060, No other adequate source of heat determination
• 070, Voluntary burn cessation program

Contingency Measures

Contingency measures were not approved with the moderate area plan.

EPA Effective Date

October 10, 2017