On Jan 8, the Division of Community and Regional Affairs (DCRA) of the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development shared its “Fourth Quarter CY2025 Highlights.” The publication shares updates regarding several programs, grants, and projects under the Division’s purview.
Western AK Disaster Recovery
Last October, Western Alaska was hit with a devastating storm caused by remnants of Typhoon Halong.
To help Western Alaskans recover from the natural disaster, FEMA’s Floodplain Management Crew, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and Alaska Risk MAP coordinators worked together to provide Western Alaskan communities with “guidance on damage assessments, building permitting, and making updates to high water marks.”
Action Plans to be Reviewed by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
The Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program team made “significant progress on CDBG-DR action plans, which must be reviewed and approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to release funding. For the 2023 Lower Yukon and 2024 Juneau flooding CDBG-DR grant, DCRA drafted the action plan, conducted a public hearing and 30-day public comment period, then submitted its action plan to HUD a full year ahead of the original due date. DCRA also received HUD approval for the 2022 Typhoon Merbok action plan that was submitted during 3rd quarter 2025, unlocking $38,490,000 in disaster recovery funding. Finally, a Substantial Amendment to the 2018 Cook Inlet Earthquake Mitigation Grant under CDBG-MIT was submitted to HUD, a key step in enabling modified program activities to move forward.”
Additionally, CDBG-DR completed the interview process to hire a Grant Administrator 2 and completed a full internal financial audit to verify compliance with HUD regulations.
Eaglexit Petition Under Review
According to DCRA’s Fourth Quarter Highlights, the Local Boundary Commission (LBC)’s staff “have been reviewing a draft petition from the Eaglexit group, proposing to detach a portion of the Municipality of Anchorage and incorporate as a home rule borough. This is the second draft petition submitted by the group. A previous draft was reviewed in 2023 and found to contain major errors with its proposed borough boundary, as well as deficiencies in its transition plan.”…