Fairbanks program reports rise in wood‑stove removals; incentive increase approved by EPA, awaits borough approval

Air Quality Manager Steve Hoke reported to the Fairbanks North Star Borough Air Pollution Control Commission on May 7 that the borough’s Wood Stove Change‑Out Program is seeing increased removals and is ahead of the schedule used in the state’s State Implementation Plan (SIP).

Hoke said the program has completed “4,900 and some odd change outs” and that the borough is “400 change outs ahead of where we’re supposed to be” under the SIP timetable. He reported the program finished 2024 “really strong” with about 511 change‑outs and began 2025’s first quarter with 123 applications, noting seasonal variation in quarterly volumes.

The nut graf: the program is a central element of the SIP strategy for particulate reductions in the borough’s nonattainment area, and staff signaled both progress and ongoing dependence on external approvals and federal grant timing.

Hoke said the change‑out program now operates on three targeted airshed grants (staff noted the program previously operated on four). He described differences among the grants’ eligible conversions — some support conversions to gas while others allow conversions among wood, pellet and oil appliances. He told commissioners the Environmental Protection Agency has approved a roughly 25% across‑the‑board increase to homeowner incentives; that approval is final at the federal level but the borough must incorporate the change in its budget/assembly process before the new reimbursement rates take effect locally.

Staff reported roughly 17 active community air monitors and said the program prefers siting monitors at schools, fire departments or other sites with borough collaboration; private residences can be considered. Hoke said outreach continues via web, radio, TV and mailers across the nonattainment area and that staff attend community events to boost applications.

On the SIP and related federal processes, Hoke said the EPA proposed to approve the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) SIP amendments and remove sanctions, that a second public comment period has closed and that EPA review is underway with a hoped‑for final action by September 2025. He cautioned that the parallel conformity determination (which controls transportation project approvals and the timeline for lifting a conformity freeze) remains on a separate timeline and contains additional steps before it can be resolved.

Commissioners asked about grant security and federal staffing. Hoke said some targeted grants required extension requests; one 2019 targeted airshed extension had informal approval, later rescinded and ultimately approved, and that uncertainty around extensions and unspent balances is the principal risk for grant continuity. He told the commission he expects the borough can spend awarded funds and that staff are working with ADEC and EPA to explore additional assistance opportunities tied to upcoming targeted grants.

The report also referenced forthcoming ADEC regulatory timelines: energy audit provisions and a broader regulation package scheduled to start in January 2026, and a February 2025 ADEC submission of a boundary designation to EPA under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, which EPA has up to two years to act on.

Commissioners did not take formal votes on program actions at the meeting; Hoke’s presentation was received as a staff report and followed by questions.