Alaska News Daily Brief, Tuesday, November 10

Alaska News for Tuesday, November tenth. One story this morning asks whether a used work glove counts as hazardous waste. The rest are bigger, and several still give you a say.

0:12Senate votes 73-25 to advance federal permitting overhaul

The U.S. Senate voted 73 to 25 on Monday to move ahead with a bipartisan permitting bill. Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan both voted yes. The bill would rewrite how federal agencies approve mines, drilling, roads and power lines. That wasn't the final vote. Senators can still debate and change the bill before it passes. The biggest change is what happens in court. Right now, someone who thinks an agency cut corners on its environmental review generally has up to 6 years to sue. A judge who agrees can cancel the approval or stop the project. Under this bill, that window would generally shrink to 150 days. You could only sue over something you'd raised in a public comment. And a judge could only send the approval back to the agency to fix, while the project keeps going. It would also set firmer deadlines for reviews. It changes how wetlands, historic sites and endangered species get looked at, too. That reaches a lot of Alaska, where the federal government owns 61.3 percent of the land. The bill wouldn't approve any one project, like the Ambler Road or Alaska LNG. One section names Alaska directly. The Energy Department would have to study bottlenecks in Alaska's power grid. Any Alaska area it flags would need the Regulatory Commission of Alaska's approval. The bill's four authors are two Republicans and two Democrats. Utah Republican Mike Lee says the permitting system takes too long, costs too much and leaves too much uncertainty. At the Alaska Federation of Natives convention last month, the Southeast Alaska Caucus asked the delegation to vote no if the bill's rewrite of historic preservation review stays in. New Mexico Democrat Martin Heinrich, one of the authors, said Saturday the bill would strengthen tribal consultation.

2:05USDA proposal could undo Alaska's SNAP eligibility expansion

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, meanwhile, proposed Monday to tighten who can get food stamps, the program known as SNAP. That could undo an expansion Alaska lawmakers passed in twenty twenty-four. Right now in Alaska, a family of four can earn up to six thousand eight hundred seventy-six dollars a month and still qualify. Savings don't count against them at all. The proposal would bring back the federal limits. For a family of four, that's four thousand four hundred sixty-nine dollars a month. Savings would be capped at three thousand dollars or four thousand seven hundred fifty dollars if someone in the house is 60 or older or disabled. The state says most Alaska households on SNAP qualify under the looser rules. Families who meet the regular federal limits would keep their benefits. Others could lose them unless they qualify some other way. Supporters of the state law said some Alaskans were turning down better-paying jobs to keep their food aid. The law took effect without Governor Mike Dunleavy's signature. The state started using it in July twenty twenty-five. The USDA calls it a loophole. It estimates 6.3 million people nationwide would lose SNAP once the change fully takes effect in twenty twenty-nine. It doesn't say how many of them are in Alaska. Alaska's program served an average of 31,403 households a month in the state's 2025 fiscal year. The average household got six hundred twenty-seven dollars a month. Nothing changes yet. The rule is formally published today, and then the public gets 30 days to comment. The USDA would still have to issue a final rule. Kids in families that lose SNAP would also lose automatic free school meals. The USDA expects nearly all of them could still get free or reduced-price meals by applying.

4:08BLM proposes cutting public comment time on its major land plans from 90 days to 30

The Bureau of Land Management oversees about 70 million acres in Alaska. On Monday, it proposed cutting the time the public gets to comment on its big land plans. It would go from at least 90 days down to 30, with the option of 30 more. Those plans often cover millions of acres at a time. They decide where mining, drilling and roads can go, and what's set aside for wildlife, water or cultural sites. The proposal would also make full environmental reviews optional when a plan is written or revised. A governor would get 30 days instead of 60 to flag conflicts with state plans. And the agency would drop a requirement to keep its plans consistent with tribal plans. People could still protest a plan for 30 days before it's approved. But they'd have to do it online, because the agency would stop taking protests by mail. The rule wouldn't cover the National Petroleum Reserve on the North Slope, which falls under a different law. The Interior Department says the planning rules date to 1979 and are outdated. Bureau of Land Management Director Steve Pearce called the current process too slow and too complicated. National and Western conservation groups criticized the proposal Monday. One recent Alaska plan covered 13.3 million acres along the Yukon River and the Dalton Highway. The agency called it the product of more than a decade of public input when it approved it in November twenty twenty-four. Congress voted to overturn that plan less than a year later. Senator Lisa Murkowski said it had unnecessarily restricted access to millions of acres of Alaska.

5:46Peltola's Senate lead grows as Alaska counts nearly 5,000 more ballots

Now, quickly, around the state. Alaska counted nearly 5,000 more ballots Monday, and Democrat Mary Peltola's lead in the Senate race grew. Republican Nick Begich's lead in the House race got smaller. The measure to repeal ranked-choice voting fell further behind.

6:06USDA expects to buy Alaska pollock and pink salmon for fiscal 2027 emergency food aid

The USDA expects to buy Alaska pollock and pink salmon in fiscal twenty twenty-seven. The fish would go to its emergency food aid program for low-income Americans.

6:17EPA drafts rules on whether used work gloves count as hazardous waste

The EPA's regional chief says the agency has drafted rules on whether used work gloves count as hazardous waste, including the leather gloves worn all day on Alaska's oil fields. The draft hasn't been released, and she didn't say what it would require.

6:34Seward budget would end winter sales tax and set a 6% summer rate as hearings begin

Seward's proposed budget would drop the city sales tax to zero in winter starting in twenty twenty-eight. In summer, it would raise that tax to 6 percent. It would also cut the property tax rate and add a seventy-five thousand dollars exemption for primary homeowners. Together, those would cost the city about six hundred fifty thousand dollars. There are two more public hearings, and the council votes December fourteenth.

6:59Fairbanks planners take up request to rezone 10 Hamilton Acres lots for duplexes

The Fairbanks North Star Borough Planning Commission holds a hearing today on rezoning 10 lots on Craig Avenue in Hamilton Acres to allow duplexes. Borough planning staff are recommending approval.

7:13Fairbanks mayor's 2027 budget comes with a warning that revenue isn't keeping up

The Fairbanks mayor's proposed 2027 budget has a small surplus and no debt. But the mayor warned that revenue isn't keeping up with rising costs, and the city can't keep expecting property owners to foot the bill alone.

7:28Atigun Pass on the Dalton Highway reopens to one lane after avalanche closure

On the Dalton Highway, Atigun Pass reopened to one lane Monday after it was closed for avalanche danger. Crews are still working to recover vehicles near Milepost 243.

7:40Mat-Su Borough would spend $850,000 in fire reserves on Big Lake station water supply

The Mat-Su Borough wants to spend eight hundred fifty thousand dollars from fire reserves on the water supply at Big Lake's Station 8-1. Its pump puts out 150 gallons a minute, and fighting a fire takes 350. The Assembly holds a hearing November seventeenth.

7:59Federal council adds a December look at proposed 2027 Cook Inlet salmon limits

For Cook Inlet salmon, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council will get a first look at proposed 2027 limits in December. This year, the boats fishing with drifting nets in federal waters caught more than twice their limit for coho, or silver salmon.

8:16Most comments to Juneau's tourism task force seek more limits before it finalizes plan

City staff found most public comments to Juneau's tourism task force asked for more limits on the visitor industry. The main gap commenters saw in its draft was binding limits on cruise ships and passengers. The task force meets Thursday to finalize its recommendations.

8:34Wrap-up

Not in the brief, but posted this morning: the Coast Guard icebreaker Storis stopping in Juneau near the end of its Arctic deployment, and a new state tool for deciding who qualifies for Medicaid home care. That's all for this edition of the Alaska News daily brief. The full stories, and more, are at Alaska News dot com. And that's the way it is, Tuesday, November tenth, twenty twenty-six.