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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 183 / Friday, September 24, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
explaining the reason for the one-hour filter alternative.
Finally, as stated in a prior EPA
action on November 27, 2018 83 FR
60769, approving the Alaska SIP as meeting specific PM2.5 infrastructure requirements, states have the obligation to regulate sources as necessary to meet nonattainment area plan stringency requirements, such as reasonably and best available control measures, and the obligation to regulate sources as necessary to attain the NAAQS in a given nonattainment area. ADEC
determined it was necessary to revise 18
AAC 50.077 and submitted the revisions to address Serious area planning requirements for best available control measures in the Fairbanks PM2.5
Nonattainment Area. While this action does not address whether the submitted revisions to 18 AAC 50.077 and other rules are sufficient to meet best available control measure requirements, we explained in our proposed action how the revisions strengthen the SIP.
The comments do not demonstrate that Alaskas revisions to 18 AAC 50.077 or rationale for these revisions are unreasonable, and EPA is thus finalizing approval of 18 AAC 50.077 as proposed.
Comment 3: HPBA, Blaze King Industries, Inc., Hearth & Home Technologies, Inc., Travis Industries, and United States Stove Company note that Fairbanks has a unique winter environment where woodstoves are only started once during winter and left running during entire cold season.
Thus, the commenters assert that establishing a particulate emissions standard based only on the first hour of operation inaccurately represents the emissions of wood-fired heating devices in the Fairbanks PM2.5 Nonattainment Area. In addition, Blaze King Industries, Inc. states that woodstove users in the Fairbanks North Star Borough are unique in their use of stoves to address sub-zero climate conditions in the region. Myren Consulting states that, no matter the test method, testing of certified stoves in the test environment will not reflect conditions in the field because of differences in static pressure, that the commenter asserts will significantly affect performance in areas with colder temperatures such as in Fairbanks.
Response 3: As noted in Responses 1
and 2, ADEC revised 18 AAC 50.077 to reduce emissions from wood-fired heating devices while allowing for sale and use of a range of devices in the Fairbanks PM2.5 Nonattainment Area. In ADECs Response to Comments, ADEC
stated that the TEOM measurement and the one-hour filter pull data reflect more real-time particulate matter
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measurements and that other test methods, based on an average of multiple test runs, may vastly under predict actual in-use emission rates and do not reflect the actual fuel loading events that may occur multiple times per day. Moreover, ADEC developed this control measure as part of its control measure analysis that incorporates the emissions inventory, speciation, and source apportionment data for the nonattainment area. Based on ADECs SIP submission, including the responses to comments in ADECs rulemaking process, the EPA finds that ADECs rationale for incorporating the TEOM measurement and the one-hour filter pull data is credible and based on a robust understanding of the emissions from woodstoves. Therefore, the EPA is approving this rule revision as SIPstrengthening because the revised rule imposes requirements for woodstoves in the Fairbanks PM2.5 Nonattainment Area that are more stringent than the woodstove requirements in the current SIP.
Comment 4: Travis Industries asserts that the EPA must expressly state that the standards ADEC is imposing in 18
AAC 50.077 are inappropriate in other settings that do not share the Fairbanks PM2.5 Nonattainment Areas extreme climatic conditions.
Response 4: As specified in 18 AAC
50.077, this regulation only applies to qualifying wood-fired heating devices in areas in Alaska that are designated nonattainment for PM2.5, under 18 AAC
50.015b3. Currently the Fairbanks and North Pole urban area i.e., Fairbanks PM2.5 Nonattainment Area is listed as the only nonattainment area in Alaska where this regulation applies.
However, other state and local governments have the authority to adopt similar measures.
Comment 5: Comments by HPBA, Blaze King Industries, Inc., Kuma Stoves, Inc., IHP, Woodstock Soapstone Company, Myren Consulting, and FPI
object to Alaskas authority to validate the EPAs wood-fired heating device certifications for applicability in the Fairbanks PM2.5 Nonattainment Area and limit the EPA-approved applicable testing methods. HPBA asserts that, under 18 AAC 50.077c3A, ADEC
can effectively veto an EPA device certification on the grounds that ADEC
had not approved the same alternative test method. As an example, HPBA
notes that while the EPA approved ASTM 3053 cordwood test method, Alaska has not. These commenters state that Alaskas failure to recognize this approved test method undermines the EPAs authority. In addition, Kuma Stoves, Inc. states that the EPA should
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not now, after benefitting from valuable data generated by the ASTM 3053 test method, support language that declares ASTM 3053 to be a nonrepresentative test. One anonymous commenter contends that, based on experience as a manufacturer of EPA-certified woodstoves, the ASTM 3053 test method is credible and produces consistent and reliable emissions values, and therefore rejecting this test method results in less informative testing data.
Generally, IHP states that it is onerous for a state to regulate an industry to meet any requirements that are not previously set and known before development, certification, and manufacturing of those industry products. Kozy Heat Fireplaces, Inc.
states these device requirements impose new and greater costs for certification and that these costs have not been quantified by either ADEC or the EPA.
IHP recommends that the EPA reject ADECs revised requirements for woodstoves in the Alaska SIP
submission as a de facto federal standard, and in the comment encourages the State of Alaska to work with the industry to find a more complete solution. FPI also notes that, not only does ADEC not recognize the alternate test method, but it does not recognize the 2.5 grams per hour emissions limit associated with this test method. FPI asserts that dismissing this limit by setting a 2.0 grams per hour limit for cordwood without a scientific process and peer review is arbitrary.
An anonymous commenter notes that the same entities are involved in woodstove device testing certifications and accreditations as product safety testing. The commenter states that laboratories need an International Organization for Standardization ISO
17025 accreditation that can be renewed every two years following an official audit from the accreditor. The commenter states that proficiency testing has been put in place by the EPA
as part of the ISO17025 accreditation and all accredited laboratories should comply with the proficiency testing every two years.
Response 5: The EPA disagrees with the commenters assertion that Alaska lacks authority to promulgate rules that are more stringent than EPAs NSPS or that otherwise limit the range of devices allowed in the area. The EPA also disagrees with the assertion that Alaska, by promulgating these rules, establishes a de facto federal standard and as such undermines the EPAs independent authorities to establish Federal new source performance standards. Congress gave the EPA

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