Minnesotans deserve to know that when natural disaster strikes, state and local governments have a plan to swing into action.

As of this year, they do. A disaster coordination plan, set in statute, is one of the legacies of the record rainfall and flooding one year ago this week in southeastern Minnesota.

Thirteen state agencies play a role in responding to a disaster like that flood -- not to mention the affected municipal and county governments and school districts. While last year's response by those agencies ultimately served the area well, earlier and clearer understanding of each jurisdiction's responsibility would have helped, said the sponsor of the new law, Winona DFL Rep. Gene Pelowski.

The law spells out those responsibilities in a way that ought to prevent duplication and minimize confusion. It also sets in law a template for the design of relief programs, so that future legislators need not take the time to reinvent them before acting. Its guidelines should also help those legislators quickly determine how much money to appropriate to respond to a stricken region's need.

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One more lesson should be learned by government responders to the bluff country floods a year ago. It springs from the resentment some homeowners feel about the state's "Quick Start" loans of up to $23,000 for home repairs.

Those loans were made available to low-income people whose credit histories did not qualify them for loans from the federal Small Business Administration. What prompted resentment is that the federal loans must be repaid, and carry a 3 percent interest rate. Quick Start loans need not be repaid unless a home is sold within the 10-year loan period.

The state's intention was to help even the poorest residents go home again -- and to push as much of the recovery burden as possible onto federal shoulders. But it was quickly perceived as government favoritism for people who had poor credit histories. A more clever blend of the state and federal programs should have been crafted, to give all the people whose homes sustained damage more similar loan terms.

A boost for food safety The U.S. Food and Drug Administration just took an important new step to ensure the safety of the nation's food supply. Last week, the FDA announced it will allow irradiation of fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce -- two kinds of produce that have been linked in recent years to widespread outbreaks of potentially deadly E. coli infection.

Irradiation has been used for years to kill pathogens in ground beef and spices. Modern techniques now mean that it can be used on fresh produce without causing the leaves to wilt. The FDA's move does not mean produce producers can shirk their responsibility to provide a clean, contaminant-free product. Instead, irradiation provides an additional food processing safeguard to keep consumers healthy.