Performance Details
Department of Environmental Conservation - Air Quality
Mission
To conserve, improve, and protect Alaska's natural resources and environment and control air pollution, in order to enhance the health, safety, and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic and social well being.
Core Services
- Protect air quality.
- Timely issue air quality permits.
- Conduct air quality assessments and identify air pollution concerns.
- Minimize pollution from stationary sources.
Mission Results |
Core Services |
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Performance Detail
A: Result -Protect air quality. |
A1: Core Service - Protect air quality. |
A2: Core Service - Timely issue air quality permits. |
Target #1: Issue or deny all construction and minor permits within 130 days after receipt of a completed application..
The number of permits being sought decreased in FY2023 by 13% (46 compared to 53 in FY2022). The Department issued 41% of those permits within the target 130 days . The drop of issuance rate of permits is due to an increase in complexity of permitting actions being sought along with added vacancies and due to internal staff promotion. In addition, significant staff time was utilized to provide assistance to both a permit fee study and to perform an extensive Best Available Control Technology analysis of permitted facilities required for the calculations/narrative of the Fairbanks Serious State Implementation Plan. Not included in the FY2023 issued permits count was the additional re-issuance of 141 minor general permits for asphalt plants and crushers The Department expects a level or slight decrease in permit applications over the next year due to the ongoing national energy transition which has caused a drop in demand for oil and gas exploration and development resources and put a hold on certain extraction projects. At the same time, staff continue to refine efficiency initiatives such as streamlined portable oil and gas drilling operations permit issuance with a minor general permit MG2 which is now available and in use for the North Slope operators. Target Last Modified: 11/16/2023 |
Target #2: All stationary source air quality operating permits are current..
For FY2023, 71% or 89 of the 125 stationary sources possess a current permit. This is an increase in the number of active permits compared to FY2022. The count methodology was modified in FY2014 and has continued to use that new methodology into the current year. Fourteen operating permit renewals are currently ready to be issued but remain delayed (bottlenecked) by an EPA veto that affected all 14 similar facilities. The EPA objected to how a permit characterized a long-term federal emission limit; however, the permittees insisted that they could not comply with a permit drafted to meet the EPA objection. We removed these 14 permits from the total number of sources considered for this performance measure because they are backlogged as a result of an external issue that is outside program control and does not reflect program performance. The Department continues to work to resolve the issue with the permittees and EPA. The measure remains comparable to previous years with periodic cyclic variation. The Department`s quality objectives remain consistently high as we have achieved a very-low-to-non-existent appeal rate on issued permits due to close coordination with stakeholders, regulatory agencies, and the permittee. The Department continues to expect to make progress on the routine backlog queue as new staff begin to contribute more to permit development. The Department is also concluding two new hires to fill vacant permit writer staff positions which will help improve program performance as they gain experience. Target Last Modified: 11/16/2023 |
A3: Core Service - Conduct air quality assessments and identify air pollution concerns. |
Target #1: All air quality samplers audited under the State"s oversight pass the State"s quality control audits..
The Department of Environmental Conservation is responsible for monitoring the quality of ambient air throughout the state, directly operating air quality monitors and analyzing measurements of air pollutants, or by providing oversight to local governments that operate their own sampling sites. The Department operates year-round air quality monitors in several of the most populated areas of the state, including Anchorage, Fairbanks/North Pole, Juneau, and the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Air monitoring is conducted to ensure compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards which were established under the Clean Air Act to protect public health. In order to ensure that all data collected meets EPA"s quality assurance standards, the air quality assurance officer or his designee conducts independent audits on all monitors under the State purview; at a minimum all particulate matter monitors are audited twice per year, and all gaseous analyzers once per year. While there is no set requirement, the Department strives to maintain a rate of greater than 95% successful audits. This independent assessment is intended to amplify quality assurance and verify the accuracy of the collected data. The chart shows the percentage of audited monitors that pass all audit requirements. Corrective actions are taken expeditiously for each monitor that does not pass the rigorous audit requirements. There are many reasons why instrumentation might fail an audit, ranging from equipment malfunctions to extreme climate conditions, operator errors, and combinations of several causes. Travel restrictions related to the pandemic, the resignation of our auditor of many years, and training of a new auditor all impacted the program such that only about 15% of the monitors were audited in 2021. The auditor was replaced again in the middle of 2022, which required additional training time. By the end of 2022, 100% of the monitors had been audited. Eight monitors failed their audits, but corrective actions were taken quickly to bring the monitors back into control. Target Last Modified: 11/16/2023 |
Target #2: All advisories are issued within six hours of receiving notification of impaired air quality..
The Department works cooperatively with local community air programs in the City and Borough of Juneau, the Municipality of Anchorage, the Fairbanks North Star Borough, and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, to assist them with issuing air quality advisories. For all other areas of the State outside of those municipal jurisdictions, Department staff are fully responsible for issuing advisories if air quality degrades or has the potential to degrade to levels that might be unhealthy for sensitive groups. Air quality advisories are posted to the Department"s web page and electronically disseminated to the media, schools, and hospitals, as well as to interested individuals via email and social media. The Department maintains an online service that allows agencies and individuals to sign up to receive notification of air quality advisories. Interested individuals can check for air advisories at: https://dec.alaska.gov/air/anpms/air-alert-notification-sign-up/. Issuing timely air advisories is critical to providing citizens the greatest ability to take measures to protect themselves from exposures to unhealthy air. Staff base advisories on monitoring data and/or information provided by local communities, the Alaska Fire Service, Alaska Volcano Observatory, or other agencies. If information cannot be verified in time or staff are unavailable to issue the advisories, delays can occur. The chart shows the percentage of air quality advisories that were issued within six hours of receiving notification of a potential air quality impairment. In FY2019 the Department became the issuing authority for the Fairbanks North Star Borough"s (FNSB) inversion induced wintertime air quality impacts. For FY2023, 56 FNSB wintertime advisories were issued, 32 for North Pole and 24 for Fairbanks, as well as 10 advisories for summertime wildland fire smoke impacts. Related links: Target Last Modified: 11/16/2023 |
A4: Core Service - Minimize pollution from stationary sources. |
Target #1: All facilities requiring air quality permits are known to be in compliance..
Of the 551 facilities, 404 are in compliance. The 50 "unknown status" sources consist of sources of air pollution that are newly established or permitted within the past five years, and for which the Department has yet to conduct an initial compliance evaluation. Until the Department conducts an initial inspection, a source has an "unknown" compliance status. Newer sources generally have initial evaluations that have been scheduled but not yet conducted. Knowing a facility"s proper compliance status means staff can work with the facilities to fix noncompliance issues by giving guidance on how to better follow its air quality control requirements or by requiring corrective actions. The number of facilities" with "unknown status" had a marginal increase but can be attributed to a recent uptick in newly permitted facilities within the five-year cycle. Target Last Modified: 11/16/2023 |
Last refreshed: 03/28/2024 05:00 pm