Congress passes water infrastructure bill

WASHINGTON — Congress has passed a bipartisan water infrastructure bill and sent it to President Obama for his signature, The Hill reported. The $12.3 billion in water infrastructure spending has been in the works since last year.

Ramsey Cox and Keith Laing, reporters for The Hill, wrote:

The measure identifies more than $12 billion worth of new water infrastructure projects and authorizes funding for them, though appropriations committees have the authority to dole out the funds.

The House and Senate initially took different approaches to identifying projects that would receive congressional funding, leading to lengthy negotiations between the chambers.