The House approved a bill Friday that would ease state requirements for some developers to keep pollution from washing off their building sites. The vote was 127-13. The measure now heads to the Senate. Developers and local officials have been pressing for some relief from new storm-water pollution regulations scheduled to take effect May 4, arguing that they could cost the state jobs and tax revenues and aggravate suburban sprawl. The bill would exempt some projects already in the works from having to meet the new, tougher requirements for controlling runoff, and it would give breaks to some redevelopment projects. Environmentalists are split on the issue, with some calling it a good compromise and others decrying any relaxation for what officials have said is a growing source of pollution.

-Timothy B. Wheeler