DeWine Introduces Legislation to Protect the Great Lakes

DEWINE INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO PROTECT THE GREAT LAKES

U.S. Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH), co-chairman of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, today introduced the Great Lakes Environmental Restoration Act, cosponsored by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI). This historic and comprehensive legislation would create a multi-year grant program which would aid state and municipal governments in projects important to the long-term future of the Great Lakes region. The five Great Lakes are a national resource which contain one-fifth of worldwide freshwater and many globally rare species, some found only in the Great Lakes Basin.

As co-chairs of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, Senators DeWine and Levin have worked on legislation and other initiatives to protect this great natural resource. In recent years, they have secured funding for water level gauges, the electric dispersal barrier in the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal, and sea lamprey control through the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. In addition, they have worked to prevent water from the Lakes being diverted abroad and to address harmful algal blooms.

This work, in combination with the efforts made by the Great Lakes states, are positive, yet there is ample evidence that the current level of commitment is simply not enough to address the challenges the lakes face. These challenges include the approximately 600 beach closings due to e-coli bacteria in 2001 and the nearly 1,400 fish consumption advisories in the Great Lakes, along with the more than 160 aquatic invasive species now in the Great Lakes.

"We need to refocus and improve our efforts in order to reverse the trend of additional degradation of the Great Lakes," stated Senator DeWine. "They are a unique natural resource for Ohio and the entire region - a resource that must be protected for future generations."

The Great Lakes Environmental Restoration Act creates a $6 billion Great Lakes Restoration Grant Program to augment existing federal and state efforts to clean, protect, and restore the Great Lakes. Annually, $600 million would be appropriated through the EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office grants to states, municipalities, and other applicants in coordination with the Great Lakes Environmental Restoration Advisory Board. This board, led by the Great Lakes governors and made up of mayors, federal agencies, Native American tribes, environmentalists, industry representatives and Canadian observers, would provide recommendations on which grant applications to fund and prioritize restoration projects such as invasive species control and prevention, wetlands restoration, contaminated sediments cleanup, and water quality improvements.

This Act also permanently establishes the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force that was created by Executive Order last May. This task force will allow better coordination of federal programs in the Great Lakes.

Additional co-sponsors include Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Mark Dayton (D-MN), and Herb Kohl (D-WI)

http://dewine.senate.gov/