FAIRBANKS — The air pollution control commission debated the borough mayor’s chimney smoke ordinance late into the night Tuesday following hours of public testimony.

It was not clear as of press time whether the commission would endorse the mayor’s plan to curb air pollution.

One issue of contention was suggested limits on lot size for outdoor wood boilers.

Overall, the measure sets limits on the types of solid fuel burning devices, or wood and coal stoves, that can be installed in the borough. It limits the kinds of fuels that can be burned and sets fines for chimney smoke pollution. It also establishes government subsidies to encourage people to swap their dirty stoves for cleaner ones.

“If we can show that we can reduce our particulate levels through voluntary measures, then we don’t need any of those other measures,” Mayor Luke Hopkins said.

A mandate by the federal government to curb a pollutant known as PM 2.5, which is known to cause heart and lung problems, prompted the measure.

More than 50 people attended the meeting, which began at 6:30 p.m. Almost 30 people testified. It was 11 p.m. before the commissioners began discussing the measure.

Those who testified in favor of the ordinance complained about air pollution, especially from outdoor wood boilers.

“I came here tonight because I am a victim of an outdoor boiler,” dog musher Suzan Amundson said. “I came here to support the ordinance.”

Patrice Lee said her son, who has heart problems, cannot attend school when the air quality is poor. She supports the measure as well.

Those opposing the measure had many complaints, including the federal government’s air pollution regulations, the plan’s limits on outdoor wood boilers in densely populated neighborhoods and the wood smoke enforcement and fines.

Mark Wiebold, who works for The Woodway, had mixed feelings about the measure. He criticized the components requiring wood stove retailers to turn in paperwork to the borough after every stove sale.

“All you’re doing is building a database that somebody has to manage that may or not be useful down the line,” Wiebold said.

He suggested the borough focus less on the stoves and more on the smokestacks.

“What’s important is what’s coming out of the stack. If it’s clean burning, why bother them?”

Wiebold agreed with the chimney smoke regulations.

“I don’t understand why you can’t already call somebody at the borough and say, ‘I am choking out here. Protect me.’”

John Berdahl said the borough needs to add language to make sure the nuisance section of the ordinance isn’t used by squabbling neighbors to harass each other by making air quality complaints.

“There’s nothing in there to hold people responsible for false reports,” he said.

Hopkins took the meeting’s first hour to go over the ordinance page-by-page, describing what the measure does and does not do.

“We aren’t going up on anybody’s roof to check somebody’s chimney or anything like that,” Hopkins said. “We are not asking for permits. We are not registering stoves.”

The mayor mentioned pending changes to the ordinance, include revised definitions for pellet stove and cook stove. He plans to tweak the list of permitted devices, adding solid fuel burning units that may not appear on a list approved by the Environmental Protection Agency but nonetheless are known to burn cleanly.

Hopkins also wants to give wood stove dealers 30 days instead of seven, as written in the ordinance, to turn in paperwork to the borough detailing stove sales.

The mayor told the commission he wants to add a component to subsidize people who replace old chimney stacks.

“There are really old chimneys out there and we need to address them,” Hopkins said.

The federal government requires the borough to turn in a plan to curb air pollution by late 2012. If no plan is developed, the state could lose federal assistance.

The voters last October were asked whether the state or the borough should develop an air pollution plan, and a majority selected the borough.