Alaska Statutes

EPA-APPROVED ALASKA REGULATIONS AND STATUTES 1 

ALASKA STATUTES 

TITLE 45 TRADE AND COMMERCE. 

Chapter 45.45. TRADE PRACTICES. 

Sec. 45.45.400 PROHIBITED TRANSFER OF USED CARS. 

(a) A person engaged in the business of selling used motor vehicles may not transfer or assign 

the owner's title or interest in the used vehicle to a person who resides in an area subject to a 

state-approved emission inspection program established under AS 46.14.400 or 46.14.510 and 

who intends to use the vehicle in that area, unless the vehicle has a certificate of compliance or 

noncompliance as required under the air pollution control requirements applicable in that area. 

(b) This section does not apply to a motor vehicle that when manufactured did not have a 

pollution control system.

State effective: 6/25/93; EPA effective: 1/19/99 

Title 46 WATER, AIR, ENERGY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION. 

Chapter 46.14. AIR QUALITY CONTROL. 

Sec. 46.14.510. MOTOR VEHICLE POLLUTION. 

(a) When the department determines that the state of knowledge and technology may allow 

or make appropriate the control of emissions from motor vehicles to further air quality control, 

the department may provide, by regulation, for the control of the emissions from motor vehicles. 

The regulations may prescribe requirements for the installation and use of equipment designed to 

reduce or eliminate emissions and for the proper maintenance of this equipment.

(b) Unless otherwise exempted by law, a person shall maintain in operating condition any 

element of the air pollution control system or mechanism of a motor vehicle that the department, 

by regulation, requires to be maintained in or on the motor vehicle. Failure to maintain a required 

system or mechanism in operating condition subjects the motor vehicle's registration to 

suspension or cancellation. A motor vehicle whose registration has been suspended or canceled 

under this subsection is not eligible for subsequent registration until the owner or operator 

obtains certification from the department, based on a demonstration that the air pollution control 

system or mechanism is restored to operating condition. 

(c) The department shall consult with the Department of Public Safety regarding 

implementation of the motor vehicle pollution control program. The Department of Public Safety 

shall cooperate with the department in implementing the program.

(d) If the department adopts regulations requiring the maintenance of air pollution control 

systems or mechanisms in motor vehicles to control emissions from the vehicle, a motor vehicle 

subject to those regulations may not be issued a certificate of inspection unless the required air 
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EPA-APPROVED ALASKA REGULATIONS AND STATUTES 2 

pollution control system or mechanism has been inspected in accordance with the standards, 

testing techniques, and instructions furnished by the department and the motor vehicle has been 

found to meet those standards. A valid certificate of inspection for the emission control system, 

if required by the department, must be presented to the Department of Public Safety before that 

department may register a motor vehicle.

State effective: 6/25/93; EPA effective: 1/19/99 

Sec. 46.14.550. RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER AND OPERATOR. 

Notwithstanding use of the conjunctive or disjunctive in a provision of this chapter, before 

issuance of a permit under AS 46.14.170 both the owner and operator of a facility are responsible 

for compliance with this chapter and regulations adopted under this chapter. If the owner and 

operator of the facility are separate persons, only one person is required to discharge a specific 

responsibility. After issuance of a permit under AS 46.14.170, only the permittee is responsible 

for permitted operations. The permittee shall have a designated agent for service of process in the 

state. 

State effective: 6/25/93; EPA effective: 1/19/99 

Sec. 46.14.560. UNAVOIDABLE MALFUNCTIONS AND EMERGENCIES. 

Excess emissions caused by an unavoidable emergency, malfunction, or nonroutine repairs of a 

source including pollution control equipment or process equipment constitute an affirmative 

defense, when asserted under regulations adopted under AS 46.14.140, to an action brought for 

noncompliance with a technology-based emission standard. This section does not limit the 

department's power to enjoin the emission or require corrective action. This provision is in 

addition to any emergency or upset provision contained in an applicable requirement. 

State effective: 6/25/93; EPA effective: 1/19/99 

Sec. 46.14.990. DEFINITIONS. 

In this chapter, 

(1) "air contaminant" means a regulated air contaminant or a hazardous air contaminant; 

(2) "ambient air" means that portion of the atmosphere, external to buildings, to which the 

general public has access; 

(3) "ambient air quality standard" means a standard, other than an emission standard, 

adopted under AS 46.14.010, 46.14.140, 46.14.400(f), or 42 U.S.C. 7409 (Clean Air Act, sec. 

109); 

(4) "construct" or "construction" means to fabricate, erect, or install, or to make a physical 

change, that would result in emissions;

(5) "construction permit" means a permit under AS 46.14.130 (a), including all relevant 

exhibits, addendums, transmittal letters, compliance schedules, administrative orders, emergency 

orders, and court orders;
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(6) "contaminant outlet" includes exhaust stacks, flares, vents, and other openings in a 

facility from which an air contaminant could be emitted; 

(7) "emission" means a release of one or more air contaminants to the atmosphere; 

(8) "emission limitation" and "emission standard" mean a requirement established by the 

department or the federal administrator, other than an ambient air quality standard, that limits the 

quantity, rate, or concentration of emission of an air contaminant, including a requirement 

relating to the operation or maintenance of a source to ensure sustained emission reduction, and 

design, equipment, work practice, or operational standard adopted under this chapter or 42 

U.S.C. 7401 - 7671q (Clean Air Act); 

(9) "facility" means

(A) one or more structures, buildings, installations, or properties that are contiguous or 

adjacent and are owned or operated by the same person or by persons under common control; 

and

(i) upon which a source or sources are located; or

(ii) that is a source of emissions associated with tank vessel loading and unloading, 

consistent with 42 U.S.C. 7401 - 7671q (Clean Air Act) and regulations adopted under those 

sections; or

(B) a vessel

(i) that is anchored or otherwise permanently or temporarily stationed within a locale;

(ii) upon which a source or sources are located, not including sources engaged in propulsion 

of the vessel; and

(iii) that is used for an industrial process, excluding a tank vessel in the trade of transporting 

cargo; in this provision, "industrial process" means the extraction of raw material or the physical 

or chemical transformation of raw material in either composition or character;

(10) "federal administrator" means the administrator of the United States Environmental 

Protection Agency; 

(11) "fugitive emissions" means emissions of an air contaminant that could not reasonably 

be emitted from a contaminant outlet;

(12) "hazardous air contaminant" means a pollutant listed in or under 42 U.S.C. 7412(b) 

(Clean Air Act, sec. 112(b));

(13) "local air quality control program" means a program authorized under AS 46.14.400 to 

implement some or all of the provisions of this chapter; 
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(14) "modification" or "modify" means to make a change or a series of changes in operation, 

or any physical change or addition to a facility or source, that increases the actual emissions of 

an air contaminant;

(15) "operating permit" means a permit under AS 46.14.130 (b), including all relevant 

exhibits, addendums, transmittal letters, compliance schedules, administrative orders, emergency 

orders, and court orders; 

(16) "operator" means a person or persons who direct, control, or supervise a facility or 

source that has the potential to emit an air contaminant to the atmosphere; 

(17) "owner" means a person or persons with a proprietary or possessory interest in a facility 

or source that has the potential to emit an air contaminant to the atmosphere; 

(18) "person" has the meaning given in AS 01.10.060 and also includes an agency of the 

United States, a municipality, the University of Alaska, the Alaska Railroad Corporation, and 

other departments, agencies, instrumentalities, units, and corporate authorities of the state; 

(19) "potential to emit" means the maximum quantity of a release of an air contaminant, 

considering a facility's physical or operational design, based on continual operation of all sources 

within the facility for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, reduced by the effect of pollution control 

equipment and approved state or federal limitations on the capacity of the facility's sources or the 

facility to emit an air contaminant, including limitations such as restrictions on hours or rates of 

operation and type or amount of material combusted, stored, or processed; "potential to emit" 

does not include

(A) a one-time, accidental release of an air contaminant; or

(B) the fugitive emissions specifically exempted under 42 U.S.C. 7401 - 7671q (Clean Air 

Act);

(20) "reconstruct" means to replace components of a facility with new components to such 

an extent that the fixed capital cost of the new components exceeds 50 percent of the fixed 

capital cost that would be required to construct a comparable entirely new facility;

(21) "regulated air contaminant" means

(A) a material, compound, or element for which a national or state ambient air quality 

standard has been adopted;

(B) oxides of nitrogen;

(C) a volatile organic compound;

(D) a pollutant that is addressed by a
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(i) standard adopted under 42 U.S.C. 7411 - 7412 (Clean Air Act, sec. 111 - 112);

(ii) permit authorized under 42 U.S.C. 7412(g) or (j) (Clean Air Act, sec. 112(g) or (j)); or

(iii) regulation adopted under AS 46.14.010 (b)(3); and

(E) a substance regulated under 42 U.S.C. 7671a (Clean Air Act, Sec. 602);

(22) "small business facility" means a facility that 

(A) is owned or operated by a person who employs 100 or fewer individuals; 

(B) is a small business concern as defined in 15 U.S.C. 631 (Small Business Act); and 

(C) emits less than 100 TPY of regulated air contaminants; 

(23) "source" means a device, process, activity, or equipment that causes, or could cause, a 

release of an air contaminant;

(24) "tank vessel" means a waterborne vessel, ship, or barge, whether or not self-propelled, 

that is constructed or converted to carry cargo; "tank vessel" includes a tanker, tank ship, or 

combination carrier, but does not include a vessel that is loading or unloading 

(A) cargo in sealed drums, barrels, or other packages; or 

(B) petroleum or petroleum products solely as fuel for use on that vessel; 

(25) "TPY" means tons per year. 

State effective: 6/25/93; EPA effective: 1/19/99