UNDATED (WSAU) The federal government says Wisconsinites might lose their access to flood insurance because of an item in the mining bill the Assembly passed last night. Iron ore mines would be allowed to dispose of their waste in flood-plain areas. But the head of flood plain for the Federal Emergency Management Agency says mining is on a list of flood-plain actvities that can jeopardize a community's ability to qualify for federal flood insurance.

David Stearrett said the Assembly's provision might prompt FEMA to quote, "seek enforcement of requirements that include suspension" from the insurance program. Assembly Democrat Brett Hulsey of Madison asked FEMA to comment on the G-O-P's mining bill. He said Wisconsinites hold about 18,000 federal flood insurance policies with a a total of just over three-billion dollars in coverage.