FLOOD AID PACKAGE: BREAKDOWN OF DISASTER RELIEF GIVEN

Some details of the $5.7 billion disaster relief legislation approved Wednesday by the Senate and signed into law Thursday by President Bill Clinton:

In direct assistance, the bill authorizes $2 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to continue direct aid to individuals and families and $200 million for direct assistant grants to state and local government for long-term recovery.

20$2.4 billion will be available for crop losses. Also, the bill includes $102 million for emergency conservation programs, watershed repair, enrollment of some land in the federal Wetlands Reserve Program, and hiring of workers to process disaster claims, and $20.5 million to subsidize Farmers Home Administration loans to refinance farm debt and pay for farm clean up and restoration.

The bill provides $54.6 million for temporary jobs in flood cleanup, repair and public health and safety services, and $4 million for young people in state Youth Corps and Conservation Corps programs to aid in disaster relief.

20$235 million will be available to the Army Corps of Engineers to repair damage to levees and other flood-control works.

20Health and the environment also are covered in the legislation, with $75 million earmarked for public health emergencies; $34 million for the Environmental Protection Agency to help with pesticide cleanup and repair of drinking water systems and underground storage facilities; and $50 million in emergency community water assistance grants from the Agriculture Department.

20Transportation projects in the bill include $10 million for the Coast Guard; $175 million for highway and bridge repair; $21 million for restoration of rail service; and $3.9 million for replacement of roads and bridges on Indian reservations.

20In housing and community development, $50 million will be sent to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for housing. Another $200 million is available for disaster-related community development, along with $90 million to subsidize emergency loans from the Small Business Administration; $100 million for aid to schools; $15 million in Agriculture Department grants for very low-income elderly people; $6 million to subsidize $15 million in housing repair loans for rural areas; and $5.4 million to subsidize industrial development loans.

20For natural resources, the law provides $30 million for restoration of federal wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries; $900,000 for restoration of federal parks; $5 million for repair of historic places; and $1.4 million for increased stream monitoring and equipment costs for the U.S. Geological Survey.