Congress OKs Waterways Bill

Congress, with the Senate joining the House in a unanimous chorus, passed legislation today to renew and strengthen the effort to cleanse the nation’s waterways of pollution.

The bill to amend the Clean Water Act of 1972 went to an uncertain future at the White House on a 96-0 Senate vote a day after the House approved the nearly $23-billion package, 408-0. The legislation would authorize $18 billion in federal grants to the states through 1994 to continue the sewage and waste-water treatment plant construction program that is credited with improving the quality of numerous lakes, bays, streams and rivers. The aid level is three times the $6 billion asked by President Reagan.