The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is applauding funding in the 2007 federal farm bill to help with the bay's cleanup.

Thursday, Congress sent the White House an election-year farm bill that includes a boost in farm subsidies and more money for food stamps amid rising grocery prices.

The environmental group says the unprecedented $440 million in conservation funding is critical to the health of local farms, and water quality in rivers, streams and the bay.

The foundation says the funding could reduce as much as 40 million pounds of nitrogen pollution annually.

Funding for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Program will be distributed through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

President Bush has threatened to veto the $290 billion bill.