SEMA Calls on Congress to Spend Funds Dedicated to Bonneville Salt Flats
SEMA is calling on the U.S. Congress and Department of Interior to use funds appropriated for the “Restore Bonneville” program, the aftermarket trade organization announced.
The U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Utah Department of Natural Resources (DNR) agreed to create a “Restore Bonneville” program in April 2020, which will increase the amount of salt being pumped onto the Bonneville Salt Flats. The U.S. Congress appropriated more than $2 million in the BLM’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget to start the program, although the Interior Department has not yet released the funds.
SEMA is calling on the land-speed racing community to contact the Interior Department and request that it allocate funding for Bonneville before the end of the fiscal year (September 30, 2020).
Over the past several years, SEMA and the Save the Salt Coalition have worked with BLM, UDNR, Intrepid Potash and U.S. Congress to help create and begin funding the 10-year “Restore Bonneville” program, SEMA says. It is modeled after a 1997–2002 pilot program that pumped an average of 1.25 million tons of salt—more than the current 300,000 tons or less each year.
The Utah State Legislature funded the first year of the “Restore Bonneville” program at $1 million, although the agency is waiting to release the “Restore Bonneville” funds until the federal government allocates matching funds.
For more information on SEMA’s efforts, click here.
