By AP
DETROIT – DETROIT (AP) - A leading environmental group is praising the U.S. Senate's approval of $400 million for cleaning up and restoring the Great Lakes.
The Senate passed the measure Thursday night as part of a $32 billion spending measure for the Interior Department for the budget year that starts next week.
It passed on a 77-21 vote, with Michigan Democrats Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow voting yes.
In June, the House approved $475 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
Andy Buchsbaum of the National Wildlife Federation says environmentalists will work with House-Senate conferees to seek to have the $475 million approved.
Buchsbaum tells The Detroit News the measure is "absolutely critical to bringing the lakes back to health."