Final Fairbanks Air Quality Plan
Table of contents:
Final Air Quality Plan Approval
Summary
On October 29, 2025, the EPA Region 10 Deputy Regional Administrator signed a Federal Register notice finalizing approval of the nonattainment plan for the Fairbanks plan to achieve the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air quality standard by the end of 2027.
- For more information, read the Fairbanks Air Quality Approval Plan (pdf) .
- Read the EPA press release.
Based on public comments, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation withdrew a portion of its SIP submission related to household energy rating requirements. EPA has determined that Alaska’s plan is still fully approvable without the energy rating requirements.
The EPA finalizes full approval of Alaska’s plan to achieve the fine particulate matter air quality standard by the end of 2027. Full approval of the updated plan is the culmination of intensive work by ADEC, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, and the EPA to improve Alaska’s air quality plan following EPA’s 2023 rulemaking (88 FR 84626).
Key components of Alaska’s latest plan include:
- Projected attainment of federal air quality standards by 2027.
- Updated air quality modeling and analysis of particulate formation in the wintertime environment of Interior Alaska showing that the primary contributor to sulfate formation is residential home heating rather than power plants;
- Tighter regulations for home heating devices and particulate emissions for power plants.
- Enforceable particulate emissions limits for power plants;
- New contingency measures to keep the area on a path to attainment.
The State of Alaska will continue to implement the control strategy intended to reach attainment by 2027. It is now the state’s responsibility to implement the plan and for the community to adhere to the plan to ensure wintertime air quality in Fairbanks is finally meeting federal standards.
The community’s continued participation in wood stove conversion programs and compliance with the burn bans are critical to the success of Alaska’s plan.
What does this mean for Clean Air Act sanctions and the transportation conformity freeze?
The transportation freeze will be lifted once FAST Planning completes the final remaining steps of the conformity determination and interagency consultation process. The proposal included a preliminary transportation adequacy finding. Based on Alaska addressing the SIP deficiencies, the EPA initiated the transportation adequacy process in the proposed rule. After notice and comment, the EPA issued a final adequacy determination on May 8, 2025 (88 FR 19423). FAST Planning is nearing completion of the final steps to lift the freeze.
What happens next?
EPA found the provision’s removal will not compromise Alaska’s ability to achieve attainment with the 2006 PM2.5 24-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) and that the SIP remains fully approvable. We will continue to support state and local officials to implement the nonattainment plan to ensure the area reaches attainment of PM2.5 air quality standards by the 2027 attainment date.
Background
- On October 17, 2006, EPA strengthened the 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS to 35 micrograms per cubic meter. On November 13, 2009, EPA designated a portion of the Fairbanks North Star Borough as nonattainment for the 2006 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS, requiring Alaska to prepare and submit an attainment plan to meet the NAAQS.
- Wood combustion for residential heating is the primary contributor to the nonattainment problem. Past and current control strategies have focused on reducing woodsmoke through implementation of a curtailment program and a transition to cleaner fuels.
- On May 10, 2017, EPA reclassified the Fairbanks nonattainment area from Moderate to Serious, requiring the state to submit a Serious area attainment plan.
- Alaska submitted the Serious area attainment plan on December 13, 2019. The existing attainment date for the area was December 31, 2019.
- On September 2, 2020, EPA issued a determination that the Fairbanks PM2.5 Nonattainment Area failed to attain by the Serious area attainment date and denied an extension of the Serious attainment date, triggering additional planning requirements for the Fairbanks PM2.5 Nonattainment Area under Clean Air Act section 189(d) (i.e., 5% Plan). Alaska submitted the 5% Plan on December 15, 2020.
- On September 24, 2021, EPA finalized approval of parts of the Fairbanks Serious Plan. The planning requirements addressed in that notice included the base year emissions inventory and the PM2.5 precursor demonstration. EPA also finalized approval of state-adopted heating device rule revisions as SIP-strengthening.
- On December 5, 2023, EPA issued a partial approval and partial disapproval on the remaining elements required for a Serious nonattainment area that failed to attain by the Serious area attainment date. EPA disapproved Alaska’s plan, in part, because it did not implement all required emission controls. EPA’s disapproval (effective January 4, 2024) resulted in triggering the sanction clocks and transportation conformity freeze: 2:1 offset NSR sanctions are effective in 18 months after disapproval (July 4, 2025); federal transportation sanctions and federal plan (FIP) obligations effective 24 months after disapproval (January 4, 2026).
Additional information on the 2006 PM2.5 nonattainment areas is available on the EPA Green Book.
For more information on EPA's proposed rule, contact Matthew Jentgen (jentgen.matthew@epa.gov), 206-553-0340.