Levin, Joyce, Slaughter Lead Bipartisan Effort to Fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Press Release

Reps. Sander Levin (D-MI), David Joyce (R-OH), and Louise Slaughter (D-NY) today led a bipartisan group of 63 House lawmakers to request $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) for Fiscal Year 2018, despite the fact that President Trump's budget blueprint called for the elimination of the program. The Great Lakes provide drinking water for nearly 40 million people and support jobs, commerce, agriculture, transportation, and tourism.

"Investing in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is not just an investment in clean drinking water, jobs, and recreation; it is an investment in the future of the region. Though the Trump Administration may not view the GLRI as a national priority, this group of Members most certainly does," said Rep. Levin. "We shouldn't abandon states in the effort to restore the Great Lakes, but instead continue to ensure national coordination through the GLRI. Congress must continue to fully fund this important program so that the entire region can reap the benefits of the Great Lakes."

"This is about where we swim, where we fish, where we work, and most importantly where we draw our drinking water," said Rep. Joyce. "No matter what region of the Great Lakes you live in this potential funding reduction impacts you. We need to continue to fight to protect our Great Lakes, which contains 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water."

"The Great Lakes are home to 20 percent of all fresh water on Earth with more than 26 million Americans in our region relying on them for commerce, drinking water, and transportation," said Rep. Slaughter. "Instead of eliminating the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative as the president has proposed, we should be fully funding this vital program. As co-chair of the bipartisan Great Lakes Task Force, I will continue working with members of both parties to ensure we are meeting our obligation to be good stewards of these lakes."

In a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Appropriations panel with jurisdiction over environmental programs, the lawmakers are calling for $300 million in 2018 for the GLRI to continue this successful initiative. This is the same amount that the GLRI was authorized in FY16.

The GLRI is a seven-year-old effort to protect, restore and maintain the Great Lakes ecosystem. The inter-agency program provides funding to address vital environmental issues in the Great Lakes, such as cleaning up contaminated sediments, reducing polluted runoff, mitigating habitat degradation and loss, and addressing invasive species such as the Asian carp.

The GLRI is working. So far the GLRI has implemented 3,400 restoration projects, has successfully cleaned up six toxic Areas of Concern, and is the most important line of defense in preventing Asian carp from invading Lake Michigan.

The program has invested $2.2 billion in Great Lakes restoration over the last seven years.

Source