The Senate on Oct. 15 approved by an 80-17 vote a $433.5 billion fiscal year 2010 energy and water appropriations bill, and sent the measure to the White House for President Obama's expected signature.
The House passed an identical version on Oct. 1 by a 308-114 vote. It is just the third of 12 annual appropriations bills for fiscal 2010 that have been approved thus far by Congress, even though the fiscal year began Oct. 1.
The Senate vote came after the bill weathered objections and delays from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who was critical because the final version did not include a provision in the original Senate-passed measure requiring public disclosure of reports mandated by the bill. The bill includes $5.4 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works program, which funds construction, design, maintenance and other areas of inland waterway navigation system. This tracks closely with the current fiscal year appropriations of $5.402 billion.
Of the total approved, $2.4 billion is slated to be directed to operations and maintenance activities, up slightly from $2.2 billion in fiscal year 2009. An additional $2.031 was included for construction, down from $2.142 billion in the current fiscal year, while $160 million was directed to general investigation, down slightly from $168.1 million in the current year.