Fairbanks-area hazard-mitigation plan enters FEMA formal review

An updated joint hazard-mitigation plan for the Fairbanks North Star Borough and the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole entered FEMA’s formal-review period on July 31, 2026.

FEMA’s review is scheduled to run through Sept. 14. The plan has not been documented as finally approved by FEMA or adopted locally.

The three Fairbanks-area governments developed the plan as a joint effort. It guides local eligibility and priorities for hazard-mitigation planning, and the process requires coordinated action by the borough, Fairbanks and North Pole before local adoption.

Local governments have August meetings listed

North Pole City Council is scheduled to receive a presentation on the plan Aug. 3 at 6:30 p.m. Its adoption hearing is listed for Aug. 17 at 6:30 p.m.

Fairbanks City Council is scheduled to receive its presentation Aug. 4 at 8 a.m. The presentation is listed at 800 Cushman St.

Fairbanks adoption hearings are listed for either Aug. 10 or Aug. 24 at 6:30 p.m. The schedule identifies alternative dates, rather than one confirmed date, for that hearing.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly likewise has an adoption hearing listed for either Aug. 13 or Aug. 27 at 6 p.m. The published schedule does not identify one final Assembly hearing date.

Review and adoption remain separate steps

The local meetings are scheduled during FEMA’s formal-review window, which extends beyond the August presentations and hearings. The review is scheduled to end Sept. 14, after the listed August dates.

The schedule separates the FEMA review from the local government adoption process. North Pole has one presentation date and one adoption-hearing date listed, while Fairbanks City Council and the borough Assembly each have alternative adoption-hearing dates.

For residents and officials in the borough, Fairbanks and North Pole, the next known steps are the listed council and Assembly meetings in August, followed by the scheduled end of FEMA’s formal-review period in September. The source does not document any final agency decision, completed local adoptions, specific mitigation projects or funding.