Legislative bill touts tax credits for clean air (OWBs mentioned) 

By Rena Delbridge

Published Sunday, April 12, 2009

JUNEAU — A bill offering property tax credits in exchange for air quality improvements in cities like Fairbanks met with unanimous House approval Friday, and now goes before the Senate.

Sponsored by Rep. John Coghill, R-North Pole, House Bill 121 would allow municipalities to draft plans giving property tax credits for improvements that help improve air quality. Eligible cities would be those that fail to meet federal air quality standards governing emissions of particles less than 2.5 micrometers in size, also called PM 2.5s.

“It’ll be a good deal for Fairbanks and Juneau,” Coghill said. “We know they’re going to be under pressure.”

If the bill becomes law, municipalities would have the discretion to draft tax credit plans, including specifying what improvements are eligible.

Pollution is an increasingly weighty concern in Fairbanks, which sits in a geological bowl that is subject to winter temperature inversions. Those inversions force pollutants low, where they build to levels that fail to meet Environmental Protection Act standards and pose a health risk.

Fairbanks faces serious restrictions on federal projects and funding — including expansion of military activities — unless the area can meet the EPA’s more stringent air quality standards. Juneau also copes with air quality problems.

A report issued earlier this year by the Cold Climate Housing Research Center in Fairbanks found that the leading residential source of PM2.5 emissions is wood-fired hydroponic heaters, including outdoor wood boilers. Residential heating sends about 700 tons per year of PM 2.5 into the air around Fairbanks, center spokesman Ryan Colgan said.

While details are still under discussion, the borough wants to reduce the number of EPA non-compliant wood stoves by thousands during the next five to 10 years. The property tax credit would be an incentive.

“Fairbanks has a unique issue,” Coghill said. “The prices of fuel are so high, and people were laying out huge investments in stoves that are later on going to have to be taken out. It’s a good thing for the community to say, we will help you get back to a cleaner-burning stove.”

Fairbanks Reps. Scott Kawasaki, Jay Ramras and Mike Kelly are among the bipartisan cosponsors.

Support also came from the Alaska Municipal League and Fairbanks North Star Borough.

A similar bill is sponsored by Sen. Joe Paskvan, D-Fairbanks, and co-sponsored by Sen. Joe Thomas, D-Fairbanks. Their version is lingering in the Senate Finance Committee.

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