03/20/2023 01:00 PM House RESOURCES

           HJR 11-ADDRESS AIR POLLUTION IN FAIRBANKS                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
1:13:30 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCKAY  announced that the  next order of business  would be                                                               
HOUSE  JOINT   RESOLUTION  NO.  11,  Urging   the  United  States                                                               
Environmental   Protection   Agency   to  develop   a   woodstove                                                               
certification  program that  addresses  the threat  to clean  and                                                               
healthy winter air in Fairbanks;  and urging the state Department                                                               
of  Environmental Conservation  to  develop  an economically  and                                                               
legally defensible  state implementation  plan for  the Fairbanks                                                               
North Star Borough nonattainment area.                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
1:14:03 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  WILL STAPP,  Alaska State  Legislature, as  prime                                                               
sponsor, presented HJR 11.   He paraphrased the sponsor statement                                                               
[included  in  the  committee  packet],  which  read  as  follows                                                               
[original punctuation provided]:                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     "Urging  the Department  of Environmental  Conservation                                                                    
     to  develop  an  economically  and  legally  defeasible                                                                    
     state  implementation  plan  for Fairbanks  North  Star                                                                    
     Borough nonattainment area"                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
     In   May   2017,   the  United   States   Environmental                                                                    
     Protection  Agency  reclassified  the  Fairbanks  North                                                                    
     Star  Borough  nonattainment   area  from  moderate  to                                                                    
     serious  for   particulate  matter  2.5   (PM2.5).  The                                                                    
     Environmental   Protection  Agency   seems  intent   on                                                                    
     turning attentions toward  so-called greener sources of                                                                    
     heat, including electric heat pumps  that will not work                                                                    
     as solutions in the Fairbanks North Star Borough                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     HJR   11   urges   the  United   States   Environmental                                                                    
     Protection Agency to  develop a woodstove certification                                                                    
     program  that the  state,  Department of  Environmental                                                                    
     Conservation and residents of  the Fairbanks North Star                                                                    
     Borough   nonattainment   area    can   rely   on   and                                                                    
     acknowledges  the unique  challenges  Alaskans face  in                                                                    
     economically  and technically  feasible and  is legally                                                                    
     defensible.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE STAPP  added a brief  history of how  the proposed                                                               
legislation was conceived.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
1:17:52 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  STAPP  described  the  issue of  air  quality  in                                                               
Fairbanks  specifically.     Rejecting  the   climate  mitigation                                                               
program effectively creates undue  hardships on the community, he                                                               
said, and the U.S. Environmental  Protection Agency (EPA) related                                                               
that  they  could  not  use   the  wood  stoves  they  previously                                                               
authorized them  to use.   He  added that  many changes  would be                                                               
required, and if these types  of implementations move forward, it                                                               
would  result  in  a  crushing effect  on  the  town  [Fairbanks,                                                               
Alaska] making  it economically non-viable  to live in,  he said.                                                               
He affirmed that HJR 11 would serve to lower air pollution.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:20:58 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE RAUSCHER  asked if HJR  11 will affect  the entire                                                               
state or only Fairbanks.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  STAPP said  he could  not  speak to  how the  EPA                                                               
would  handle other  areas of  the state.   He  further explained                                                               
that   each  mitigation   strategy   is   derived  within   local                                                               
communities or state departments.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
1:22:12 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER  asked Representative Stapp if  he had any                                                               
estimation  of what  the  cost had  been  either collectively  or                                                               
individually for the first round  of compliance, and how it could                                                               
affect the second.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   STAPP  explained   the   exponential  costs   on                                                               
consumers  and  what some  consumers  already  pay through  their                                                               
utility  costs.   He  said  it  had  already been  difficult  for                                                               
residents  to   handle  financially,  but  having   to  meet  the                                                               
standards  would  make Fairbanks  a  very  unaffordable place  to                                                               
live.                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SADDLER  asked  about the  confidence  level  and                                                               
mission of the resolution.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  STAPP replied  that  Fairbanks had  a history  of                                                               
dealing with "these  types of situations," and  he provided brief                                                               
examples.  He expressed his protectiveness of hi town.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
1:25:04 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE  asked a rhetorical question  about how the                                                               
EPA would penalize Fairbanks if it were out of compliance.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENATIVE  STAPP  explained that  the  EPA  would revoke  the                                                               
federal  highway dollars  that  are utilized  to  ensure the  two                                                               
highways in Fairbanks are maintained.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
1:26:41 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SADDLER  asked  how   far  the  containment  area                                                               
extends.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE STAPP  replied that  it extends from  Fairbanks to                                                               
other  parts  of  the  North  Star Borough  and  there  are  maps                                                               
available on  the Department of Environmental  Conservation (DEC)                                                               
website.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
1:27:19 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCKAY  asked if  Eielson [Air Force  Base] is  considered a                                                               
non-attainment zone.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
CLIFTON COGHILL,  Staff, Representative Will Stapp,  Alaska State                                                               
Legislature, on behalf of Representative  Stapp, prime sponsor of                                                               
HJR 11, confirmed  that Eielson Air Force Base  goes past Salcha,                                                               
Alaska.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  MCKAY  commented  that  he did  not  like  the  government                                                               
restricting national security.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
1:28:02 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  MCKAY   opened  public  testimony   on  HJR  11.     After                                                               
ascertaining  that there  was no  one who  wished to  testify, he                                                               
closed  public testimony.   Immediately  after, he  learned there                                                               
was  someone  who  wished  to testify,  so  he  re-opened  public                                                               
testimony.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
1:29:12 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
NICK CZARNECKI, Program Manager,  Air Non-Point & Mobile Sources,                                                               
Division   of   Air    Quality,   Department   of   Environmental                                                               
Conservation (DEC), explained  that he did not  have any specific                                                               
testimony but that he would  be available for questions regarding                                                               
the resolution.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
1:29:40 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  MCKAY,  after ascertaining  that  no  one else  wished  to                                                               
testify, closed public testimony on HJR 11.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE SADDLER asked Mr.  Czarnecki for DEC's perspective                                                               
of  the air  quality situation,  and if  he had  any bureaucratic                                                               
insights.                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
MR. CZARNECKI  replied that Fairbanks  had been making  some good                                                               
progress, and he  reiterated that this is a wood  smoke issue and                                                               
EPA has provided DEC with a  "broken tool" to fix the problem and                                                               
then penalized them by taking  away federal highway funds as well                                                               
as imposing other restrictions.   From DEC's perspective, he said                                                               
he believed  there is a  plan in place to  get clean air  for the                                                               
Fairbanks  area so  it can  thrive as  a healthy  community.   He                                                               
added that  it could  still be  done economically  by maintaining                                                               
the use  of wood  stoves if  they could  get EPA  to put  forth a                                                               
functioning certification  program and approve Alaska's  plan as-                                                               
is  without forcing  additional  controls and  mandates to  DEC's                                                               
power sector.   In reference to the  non-attainment area, Eielson                                                               
Air Force  Base is not  in the zone,  but Fort Wainwright  is, he                                                               
confirmed.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  SADDLER asked  how  air quality  in Fairbanks  is                                                               
sampled and tested.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MR.  CZARNECKI   explained  that  EPA's   national  certification                                                               
program  for  wood stoves  is  referring  to  the tests  done  to                                                               
certify wood  stoves for sale in  the U.S. to show  that they are                                                               
clean enough, and he further  explained that the tests are flawed                                                               
and  easily manipulated  by  test labs  and  manufacturers.   The                                                               
state  of Alaska,  along  with other  agencies,  found that  wood                                                               
stove  manufacturers and  test  labs have  used  the leniency  in                                                               
those  methods to  get stoves  certified; they  are much  dirtier                                                               
than what  the tests say,  he stated.  He  added that EPA  is not                                                               
providing the  clean wood  stoves that they  are supposed  to for                                                               
this non-attainment area.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
1:34:21 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  STAPP  thanked the  committee  for  its time  and                                                               
asked for support for Fairbanks.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCKAY entertained a motion.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
1:34:52 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MCCABE  moved to  report HJR  11 out  of committee                                                               
with  individual  recommendations  and  the  accompanying  fiscal                                                               
notes.  There being no objection,  HJR 11 was reported out of the                                                               
House Resources Standing Committee.