$417 Million More OKd for Aid to Quake Victims : Assistance: Clinton Administration approves money for low-interest loans and grants. Amount includes $47.5 million for new VA facility.

Faced with a continuing influx of applications for aid from homeowners and businesses, the Clinton Administration announced Thursday that it is making $417 million in new emergency loans and grants available to victims of the Northridge earthquake.

The assistance includes $326 million in low-interest loans to repair and rebuild homes and businesses under the auspices of the Small Business Administration and $90.8 million that was previously approved by Congress as part of a presidential contingency fund.

The largest grant will be $47.5 million to build a Veterans Affairs outpatient care and research facility to replace the 431-bed, quake-devastated hospital at the Sepulveda VA Medical Center.

The money for the grants is part of a $550-million contingency fund that was included in the congressionally approved $8.6-billion quake aid package but was left to President Clinton’s discretion to spend. The new loans will be supported by $75 million remaining from a 1992 emergency spending measure.

Budget Director Leon E. Panetta said that the enormous number of applications to the SBA--which are still arriving at a rate of 3,000 a day two months after the Jan. 17 temblor--could mean that additional money will be needed to meet the agency’s obligations. He indicated that the money could come from other programs, including $447 million remaining in contingency funds, or might require the Administration to seek new money from Congress.

The SBA has received nearly 400,000 requests for applications. It was given loan authority of $1.1 billion in the emergency earthquake bill.

So far, the SBA has approved $410.2 million in loans to cover damage to homes and personal property and $39.8 million for businesses, although only a small fraction of applicants have received checks.

At the same time, Panetta said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which coordinates the federal disaster response and also provides short-term shelter and other aid, does not appear to be in danger of running short of money. FEMA received $4.7 billion in the emergency spending bill.

The disaster agency reported Thursday that it has received 454,650 applications for relief. Thus far, it has approved $472.9 million in grants to 183,065 applicants for temporary housing and emergency home repairs.