Air Quality Regulations
The Environmental Protection Agency puts air quality regulations into place for Fairbanks, Alaska, especially concerning woodstoves. In order to meet PM2.5 standards, there needs to be further regulations on woodstoves and hydronic heaters, whicch appear to contribute to pollution in residential areas. The EPA classified Fairbanks from moderate to serious nonattainment because we do not meet the PM2.5 standards.10 This is why "air quality regulation" came to mean something similar to "woodstove regulation". Some responses that the EPA had in 2017 to resident concerns were: requiring low sulfur heating fuel, basing restrictions to air quality factors on housing density, creating programs to properly maintain and operate wood-burning devices, certify installers of wood-burning devices, limit operations of "wood-heating facilities", require certifications and replacements to install most productive and beneficial heat sources, and more.11 These regulations take into consideration Alaska's climate and the fact that many residents must use a wood-burning device for a heat source. Rather than remove the woodstoves entirely, the EPA is making sure they use these devices in the safest way while trying to cut down on released pollutants and particles posing a threat to citizens' health.