Southern Utah flood relief OK'd

WASHINGTON — A $62.8 million flood-relief package for southwestern Utah cleared its final hurdle Tuesday evening when the Senate approved a conference report reconciling the House and Senate versions of the legislation.

The relief plan now goes to the president for his signature.

That $62.8 million is in addition to more than $3 million already allocated, bringing the total to a little more than $66 million in federal money earmarked for Washington County repairs to the Virgin and Santa Clara river banks.

The appropriation was tacked onto an emergency supplemental appropriations bill to fund the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it also included disaster money for other areas hard hit by weather last winter and for tsunami relief.

"Today my Senate colleagues joined with me to unanimously support a bill that will provide critical funds for southern Utah's continued flood-relief efforts," said Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, who secured the funding through his role on the Senate Appropriations Committee. "Just as the war in Iraq requires emergency funding by the Congress, so does the devastation caused by floods in Washington County."

The Bush administration is supportive of the funds for Washington County. Bennett said that Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey called him personally to underscore the administration's commitment.

Rey assured Bennett that the money, to be allocated through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's emergency watershed protection program, is a priority with the agency and "that technical personnel in the department are being assigned to oversee the rapid distribution of these funds and immediately begin the rehabilitation work," Bennett said.

Bennett and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, both toured the flood-ravaged area and have worked behind the scenes in Congress to muster support for the flood relief.

"But money's not the only issue," Hatch said. "We've had money that was not getting spent because of too much red tape."

Hatch says he brought together the governor, local leaders and federal disaster relief officials "to better coordinate relief efforts. We are working as a team to ensure that once the additional funds are available, Washington County's recovery will continue to be a top priority and the money will be put immediately to work."

The legislation allows that local financial and technical resources, including in-kind materials and services contributed in the immediate flood aftermath, will count toward the program's 25 percent local match requirement.

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