The Senate voted today to proceed to the fiscal 2012 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill, allowing the chamber to begin debate on the measure and a slew of amendments on Monday.

The Senate's 81-14 procedural vote sets the stage for consideration of the "minibus" package, which combines the Energy-Water, Financial Services and State-Foreign Operations 2012 spending bills.

It remains unclear how long debate will last and when a final vote on passage of the bill could occur, a Senate aide said.

The energy and water funding legislation is expected to closely mirror a measure the Senate Appropriations Committee approved in September that provides $31.625 billion in discretionary 2012 funding for the agencies. That measure, approved on a 29-1 vote, would spend $57 million less than was enacted in 2011 and $4.9 billion less than what the president requested.

The House passed a funding bill this summer that provided more than $30 billion for the three agencies (Greenwire, July 15).

The Obama administration today urged the Senate to boost funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, and to include hundreds of millions of dollars for advanced research to steer the United States toward using more clean energy.

"These investments will help improve U.S. competitiveness in advanced manufacturing and in emerging technologies such as electric vehicles and batteries, biofuels, energy efficient systems for buildings, solar energy, and offshore wind power," the statement of administration policy said.

The administration also said it supports the Senate's inclusion of $200 million for an estimated $1 billion to $2 billion in loan guarantees for innovative renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, but called on the chamber to include money for building loan guarantees and additional authority for nuclear power projects.

Senators are planning to introduce a host of amendments that could boost funding for the now-abandoned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada, as well as billions of dollars for flood control infrastructure along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers.

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said today that he's looking at the appropriations bill to see "what we need to do on levees and flood damage."

In September, Blunt proposed two amendments seeking additional money for the Army Corps of Engineers. The first sought nearly $500 million to raise the $1.045 billion provided in the bill for flood-control infrastructure repair along the flood-ravaged Mississippi and Missouri rivers up to a total of $1.5 billion (E&E Daily, Sept. 8).

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said she was pleased the measure that passed the committee included about $1 billion for the Army Corps for emergency flood control, but more funding may be required. "We're fine-tuning those numbers now. That may not be enough," she said. "But we're going to work with the senator and the leadership when the bill comes to the floor."

Landrieu, who supported Blunt's amendment, wouldn't confirm whether an amendment would be introduced but said in a statement that the corps has been consistently underfunded.

"As a result, aging and deficient infrastructure puts people's lives and property at risk," Landrieu spokesman Matt Lehner said. "We must make the right investments in order to prevent future flooding, preserve our navigation channels and restore our coast."

On the nuclear front, Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) yesterday said he's poised to introduce an amendment to include funding for the nuclear waste repository under Yucca Mountain (E&E Daily, Nov. 3). Kirk's amendment, which is sure to meet stiff opposition from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), would match funding for the project that was included in a House-passed appropriations bill.

Kirk has repeatedly called for the repository to move forward, despite the fact that the Obama administration has abandoned the repository and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has since closed its review of the site.

Reporter Paul Quinlan contributed.