State Implementation Plan

State environmental regulators anticipate that Fairbanks North Pole area air quality will meet a federal fine particulate pollution standard sooner than previously expected.

The Environmental Protection Agency has taken federal Clean Air Act-mandated actions to reduce Fairbanks North Pole area wintertime fine particulate pollution. A fact sheet is attached below.

EPA scientists say the death rate in the Fairbanks North Star Borough has fallen because citizens are working to clean the air. That was announced among other progress at an Air Quality presentation in North Pole this week. A community meeting featured panelists from the EPA, the state and the borough, who took questions from the audience. 

Fort Wainwright officials say the 65-year-old power plant that provides both heat and electricity for the post is slowly degrading and needs to be replaced. So they’re asking for public comments on a proposal that offers four alternative solutions. Anyone interested in weighing-in on the proposal must submit comments by next Wednesday.

State air-quality regulators are inviting people who live in and around the borough’s air-pollution-plagued Nonattainment Area to take a look at a series of draft documents that outline the problem and proposed solutions. A local air-quality advocate says it’s important residents read the documents, to understand more about what’s being proposed to help clean up the area’s air -- and to participate in finding solutions to the problem.