Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation officials may ask the federal government to draw a line through the section of the Fairbanks North Star Borough that for years has failed to meet air quality standards established by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act. The regulatory maneuver would split up North Pole and Fairbanks in future assessments by the EPA, which would have to approve any request to divide the area.
Since 2009, North Pole and Fairbanks have been grouped together in a single so-called “nonattainment area.” The boundary encircles the area the EPA deems to exceed the 24-hour ambient air quality standards for particulate matter of 2.5 microns or less, or PM2.5.
Studies have linked those air pollutants to respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders in humans. To be in federal compliance, air quality monitoring must show the three-year average of the 98th percentile of daily PM2.5 concentrations, known as the design value, is no more than 35 micrograms per cubic meter.
Alaska DEC first sought to split up the borough’s nonattainment area in 2015 – but to no avail. Jason Olds, the DEC Air Quality Division director, said in an interview that there’s a key difference between then and now.
“The big point is that, for a while now, Fairbanks has been in attainment,” Olds said.
In other words, the monitoring sites on the Fairbanks side in recent years have shown the air actually is clean enough to comply with federal standards. But that’s not the case on the North Pole side of the nonattainment area, where the most recent design value, excluding exceedance days caused by wildfire smoke, was still 55 micrograms per cubic meter, according to state data.
The EPA earlier this year approved a state-developed plan required under the Clean Air Act, called a State Implementation Plan, that’s meant to improve air quality in the nonattainment area. It runs through the end of 2027. If the two cities are still grouped together at that time, and if PM2.5 levels in North Pole remain too high, it would renew the planning process for the whole area, Olds said.
“We’d have to reconsider regulations, potentially more stringent regulations, and for Fairbanks, what we have on the books already has been working. So, obviously, we don’t want to subject an area to additional regulatory burdens if it’s not needed,” he said.
Olds also said the split would allow the state to better direct federal funds from Targeted Airshed Grants, which are meant to reduce air pollution in nonattainment areas, to the part of the borough that needs it most.
DEC officials, including Commissioner-designee Randy Bates, met with several local organizations and municipal leaders last week to discuss the topic. That included Doyon Utilities, the City of North Pole, Interior Gas Utility, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the City of Fairbanks, Golden Valley Electric Association, Citizens for Clean Air, Aurora Energy and the natural resources committee for the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, according to DEC spokesperson Sam Dapcevich.
Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Grier Hopkins said in a brief interview that he understands some of the potential upsides, but he said he hasn’t taken a position on the change one way or the other.
“It is a win some, lose some. I do have concerns about splitting up our community, but I also understand the benefits of being able to target the dollars where they need to go out in the North Pole/Badger area,” he said.
North Pole Mayor Larry Terch III did not respond to voicemails seeking comment.
In a prepared statement, Patrice Lee, a coordinator with advocacy group Citizens for Clean Air, said they oppose the split.
Lee wrote that the current EPA standards for PM2.5 aren’t health protective, and she said her group is concerned the state’s rationale is “rooted in streamlined regulatory goals instead of actions that will improve air quality throughout the area.”
Olds said the department hasn’t decided whether to formally pursue the change yet, and that Gov. Mike Dunleavy would have to first sign off on the request before it’s sent to the EPA. He said this summer is the earliest the state would submit the request to the EPA, which would open an official public comment period.