The White House today voiced strong objections to a bill the Senate will consider next week that would authorize billions of dollars for water resources projects. But it but stopped short of threatening a veto.

In a statement of administration policy, the White House Office of Management and Budget said the measure (HR 1495) contains “wasteful” spending and could exceed $15 billion and “perhaps much more in discretionary spending.”

“In a time when fiscal restraint is needed, the additional spending authorized in this bill, such as provisions for local wastewater and drinking water infrastructure projects, is unacceptable,” the OMB statement said.

A manager’s amendment negotiated by Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer of California and ranking Republican James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma includes hundreds of millions of dollars for more than 100 environmental infrastructure projects that were not in the version of the bill (S 1248) approved by the panel in March. The White House wants the Senate to remove those projects.

The White House also criticized provisions that would increase the federal share of costs for projects, and said the measure fails to ensure that the benefits of many projects exceed their costs.

The Senate is expected to begin debate on the bill Monday, with several controversial amendments anticipated.