Updated at 3:55 p.m. Tuesday

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Without fanfare, President Barack Obama has OK'd a large cash infusion to help clean up the Great Lakes, quietly signing a bill that was years in the making and marks a rare bipartisan milestone.

The former senator from Illinois, which borders Lake Michigan, did it on Friday. Few people knew about it until Monday.

That’s because the measure with $475 million for the Great Lakes was part of a broader spending bill that included money for other projects, including $4 million with which to buy additional property for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. And attached to that Interior and Environmental Appropriations Act was a more urgent matter, namely, temporary legislation, called a continuing resolution, to keep agencies within the United States government operating until late December.

It had to be signed by the end of last week or the government would not be able to pay its bills, since Congress has not yet approved all the spending for the current fiscal year and the old resolution was expiring. So Obama signed it, barely 24 hours after the Senate took the last legislative step. While senators, environmental groups and reporters were expecting word from the White House on a signing ceremony or Great Lakes kickoff event, the president’s signature was already dry.

Still, the news brought cheers Monday. It will mean about $146 million can be spent in the next year to clean toxic sediment and areas of concern, including the lower Cuyahoga River, while $60 million more can go toward removing zebra mussels, keeping out Asian carp and dealing with other invasive species that threaten marine life, shipping and recreation, according to figures in Obama’s budget.

Another $97 million will go to reduce runoff and contamination from entering streams and rivers from farms and industry, while $105 million will help restore habitat and wildlife, including building the populations of lake trout, brook trout, lake sturgeon and piping plover. Finally, the budget has $65 million for accountability and monitoring.

This was a bipartisan accomplishment, set in motion during President George W. Bush’s administration when Great Lakes shippers, environmentalists, fishermen and recreational boaters created an ambitious restoration blueprint calling for investments from U.S. and Canadian governments, states and provinces and the private and nonprofit sectors. Yet despite his blessing, Bush never approved the necessary money, said Kristy Meyer, director of agricultural and clean water programs for the Ohio Environmental Council. The Bush White House and Republican lawmakers said at the time that the Iraq war and other matters required them to shift their spending priorities.

That’s what makes this news "a huge deal," Meyer said Monday. "This is the first time ever that a president has given substantial money to the Great Lakes."

The spending bill also contains $3.4 billion for drinking water and sewer improvements acround the nation. It has another $4 million to add 635 acres to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Summit County.

Congress also inserted a provision that will exempt 13 ships from having to comply with a stringent new Environmental Protection Agency air rule. Great Lakes shippers said older steamships that could not burn low-sulfer fuel and would have to stop operating. Besides the 13 exempted, another 13 will be eligible to apply for waivers.

"President Obama is committed to protecting and restoring the Great Lakes and recognizes this is a shared effort in partnership with regional leadership," White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage said. "The Administration is very encouraged that the funding the president requested for the Great Lakes restoration initiative was in the final Interior Appropriations bill as it will help to improve water quality and reduce pollution in the nation’s largest system of fresh water."

Congress members from both parties, including Republican Sen. George Voinovich and Rep. Steve LaTourette, and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Reps. Betty Sutton, Marcia Fudge and Tim Ryan, supported the bill and pushed its passage. Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich supported the Great Lakes and environmental provisions, yet he voted against the bill. He said that's because the portion that went to continue the government's operations went to such operations as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which he cannot support.

"This is a great day for the Great Lakes and the people who depend on them for their jobs and their way of life," said Jeff Skelding of the National Wildlife Federation. Skelding is the national campaign director for a 110-organization coalition, called the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition,that has worked for this kind of federal commitment for years.