In AS 44.33.285 - 44.33.310,
(1) “base period” means any 10 years after 1950, not necessarily continuous, and if the economic disaster is caused by a fisheries failure the period shall consist of years during which a fishery produced at economically representative levels as determined by the Department of Fish and Game;
(2) “department” means the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development;
(3) “economic disaster” means that the annual income to workers in the designated area dropped below the average annual income for the base period for workers in the designated area and the drop in income is of such magnitude that the average family income of all residents of the designated area as determined by the department is below the poverty guidelines issued by the federal Department of Health and Human Services, adjusted by the department to reflect subsistence economic patterns and appropriate cost-of-living differentials; the availability of alternate employment shall be considered in determining whether an economic disaster has occurred under this paragraph.