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Great Lakes Legislation Introduced in Senate08-20-13 | News

Great Lakes Legislation Introduced in Senate

SB 1232 proposes $475 million a year for five years for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), co-chairs of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, have introduced Senate bill 1232, the Great Lakes Ecological and Economic Protection Act of 2013 (GLEEPA) to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The bill proposes to continue federal programs to clean up toxic pollution, fight invasive species and harmful algal blooms, restore wildlife habitat and reduce runoff from cities and farms.

The bill inserted an amendment to "achieve the goals established in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan, the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement through improved organization and definition of mission, funding of grants, contracts and interagency agreements for protection, restoration and pollution control in the Great Lakes area, improved accountability."

The bill is similar to legislation introduced in 2012 by senators Levin and Kirk.
GLEEPA would:

Formally authorize for five years the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $475 million a year. This multi-agency initiative was begun by President Obama in 2009. That program has gotten $1.3 billion in its first four years. It focuses on the most pressing challenges to the lakes, including invasive species, toxic contamination, run-off pollution and invasive species.
Reauthorize the Great Lakes Legacy Act program, which supports removal of contaminated sediments at more than 30 sites; and the Great Lakes Program Office of the Environmental Protection Agency; and
Establish an interagency task force, supported by an advisory board, to ensure efficient coordination of federal programs, efficient use of taxpayer dollars and close coordination among local, state and federal governments in the United States and Canada.

The Great Lakes are the source of drinking water for 30 million Americans. It's estimated the Great Lakes economy supports over 1.5 million jobs. Additional sponsors of the bill are Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.); Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.); Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio); Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.); Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.); Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.); and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).