HJR 11-ADDRESS AIR POLLUTION IN FAIRBANKS  4:30:42 PM CO-CHAIR BISHOP announced the consideration of 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. He invited the sponsor to introduce the resolution. 4:31:12 PM REPRESENTATIVE WILL STAPP, District 32, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, sponsor of HJR 11, introduced himself. 4:31:29 PM CLIFTON COGHILL, Staff, Representative Will Stapp, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, introduced himself. REPRESENTATIVE STAPP presented HJR 11 speaking to the following sponsor statement: 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. 4:32:56 PM REPRESENTATIVE STAPP stated that the resolution asks the EPA to take another look at the woodstove certification program and develop one similar to a previous program. He provided history on what the community has done so far to address the program. In 2006, the PM 2.5 standard was changed from 65 micrograms per cubic meter to 35 micrograms per cubic meter. That put the Fairbanks North Star Borough outside the air quality attainment standards. In 2010, the North Star Borough Assembly implemented a woodstove buyback and change out program. Existing woodstoves were replaced with EPA compliant woodstoves. By 2016, the borough had spent about $2.5 million to further the objective to improve air quality. By fiscal year 2018 about $8 million had been spent in gasification and changing out woodstoves with cleaner sources of fuel. Between 2010 and 2017, the borough looked at EPA recommendations that ranged from banning coal burning and outdoor hydronic heaters to kiln drying firewood. In 2019 the borough proved it had improved air quality by over 50 percent since starting the process. In September 2020, the EPA issued a determination that the Fairbanks PM 2.5 nonattainment area failed to fulfill the requirements and an extension was denied. The standard had effectively been reduced once again. In 2023, the EPA moved to disapprove the borough's fine air quality particulate state implementation plan and threatened revocation of federal highway dollars. REPRESENTATIVE STAPP summarized that HJR 11 asks the EPA to help Fairbanks North Star Borough residents attain better air quality in an economically viable way. 4:36:37 PM CO-CHAIR BISHOP asked if there were questions. 4:36:57 PM SENATOR KAWASAKI asked why DEC's first and second state implementation plans failed EPA review. REPRESENTATIVE STAPP deferred the question to DEC. CO-CHAIR BISHOP asked Jason Olds to respond to the question. 4:37:57 PM JASON OLDS, Acting Director, Division of Air Quality, Department of Environmental Conservation, Juneau, Alaska, replied that the EPA primarily pointed to more stringent control measures for point sources and power plants as well as home heating oil. 4:38:26 PM SENATOR CLAMAN asked whether Fairbanks air quality had improved with the work that was done, and if he had any insight as to why that didn't satisfy the EPA. MR. OLDS agreed with the sponsor that air quality had improved more than 50 percent since the efforts started. He opined that it wasn't satisfactory because air quality still does not meet current EPA standards. SENATOR CLAMAN asked how much wood stoves contribute to the air quality problem. MR. OLDS said woodstoves account for about 80 percent of the poor air quality. CO-CHAIR BISHOP clarified that the woodstoves that are primarily contributing to the problem are concentrated in the North Pole area. 4:40:01 PM SENATOR DUNBAR asked if the Department of Defense (DoD) had indicated that poor air quality would jeopardize military personnel remaining in Fairbanks. REPRESENTATIVE STAPP said he hopes that's not the case and that the matter can be resolved equitably. 4:40:37 PM CO-CHAIR BISHOP found no further questions and announced he would hold HJR 11 in committee