WASHINGTON -- The House passed the closest thing so far this year to an infrastructure bill -- a $12 billion-plus bipartisan measure authorizing 34 water projects, ranging from flood protection in California and North Dakota to deepening the Port of Savannah and widening a Texas-Louisiana waterway that services the oil industry.

The Water Resources Reform and Development Act passed Tuesday on a 412-4 vote. The four Arkansas representatives, all Republicans, voted in favor of the measure.

The bill included two amendments introduced by Rep. Tom Cotton of Dardanelle, his staff said, including one that allows the Army Corps of Engineers to enter into cooperative agreements with local groups such as Friends of Lake Ouachita to maintain recreational facilities.

"The House passed legislation that ensures Arkansas waterways remain open for business, while saving taxpayers money and increasing efficiency. This legislation streamlines required environmental studies and caps the time in which they must be completed, ultimately allowing for more infrastructure projects. It also provides private businesses with the flexibility to fund infrastructure development, providing additional funding for projects across Arkansas," he said in a statement.

Lawmakers shook off criticism from advocacy groups like Heritage Action and Taxpayers for Common Sense that argued the bill should have done more to rein in government spending.

The Senate could vote on the bill before the end of the week, sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature. The legislation is a bipartisan compromise of companion bills passed separately by the House and Senate last year. After months of negotiations, a final deal on it was reached last week.

Supporters, including business interests like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, hailed it an economy-boosting measure that could deliver thousands of new jobs.

"It's a bipartisan bill, and it is a jobs bill," said Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation Committee. "It's certainly going to create construction jobs, but the jobs I'm talking about are when America invests in its infrastructure and keeps us competitive."

Shuster, R-Pa., and other lawmakers also argued that the bill was more fiscally responsible than past water-project bills. On the House floor, he noted that the bill puts an end to $18 billion in dormant water projects passed before 2007.

Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., said the bill was overdue because the country has fallen behind on its investments in infrastructure. "Many of our coastal ports are ill-prepared to take advantage of the expansion of the Panama Canal," said Rahall, the ranking Democrat on the transportation committee.

That was not enough for some critics. A analysis released this week by the Taxpayers for Common Sense called the bill "a missed opportunity to reform management of our nation's infrastructure in a fiscally responsible manner."

Adam Kolton, with the National Wildlife Federation, said the bill didn't do enough to "sort out the beneficial projects from the boondoggles." He said it also "hurts taxpayers again by increasing subsidies for the already heavily subsidized navigation industry."

With an estimated cost of $12.3 billion, the measure is a slimmer version of past water-project bills. The last one in 2007, for example, had a price tag of $23.3 billion.

The new bill authorizes spending up to $800 million for a flood diversion project that would protect the Red River Valley region of North Dakota and Minnesota. The region has suffered major flooding four of the past five years.

In California, the bill allows as much as $760 million in federal spending for a project that would strengthen levees of the Natomas Basin in the Sacramento area, which could protect more than 100,000 residents.

There are also big investments in projects that improve infrastructure for commerce.

The bill sanctions more than $748 million for dredging and widening of the 80-mile-long Sabine-Neches Waterway, which is billed as "America's Energy Gateway" in servicing oil and natural gas refineries in Texas and Louisiana. It also authorizes $492 million for expanding and deepening the Port of Savannah in Georgia. Actual funding of all the projects will require separate bills.

Tuesday's bill also makes changes to how future projects are to seek funding. It sets specific time and cost limits for studies on potential projects, eliminates duplicate Army Corps of Engineers reviews and speeds up environmental reviews.

The bill also increases spending from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to pay for improvements to ports and creates a five-year pilot program to provide loans and loan guarantees for various projects.

Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas praised the bipartisan compromise on the bill.

"Our nation's waterways are an integral part of our overall infrastructure, and I believe the reforms contained in the conference report will ensure that our nation's waterways will remain up to date as well as maintain our nation's position as a leader in global commerce and trade," he said in a statement.

Information for this article was contributed by Henry C. Jackson of The Associated Press and by Sarah D. Wire of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

A Section on 05/21/2014