Senate approves $37.5B measure to fund energy, water

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday approved a $37.5 billion measure to fund energy and water programs next year, the first of the 12 spending bills lawmakers must approve to keep the government operating.

On a vote of 90-8, senators backed the legislation that would fund the Energy Department as well as infrastructure projects administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation.

The legislation includes a pilot program to allow storage of nuclear waste at private facilities, such as one proposed in western Texas.

The legislation would fund a pilot program to relocate radioactive waste from shuttered nuclear power plants to a storage site near Midland, Texas.