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User Note: (Updated September 11, 2007) Note: Special Reports
are updated periodically here; but are updated and reported on
Click Here
for details on WIMS Information Service Products Great Lakes Restoration & Revitalization Key Links
Other Significant Great Lakes Reports (excerpted from the Northeast-Midwest Institute Congressional briefing paper) Challenge to Restore and Protect the Largest Body of Fresh Water in the World. 11th biennial report (2002) on Great Lakes water quality by the International Joint Commission. Conservation of Biological Diversity in the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem: Issues and Opportunities, the Nature Conservancy. A key document on the importance of biodiversity and key risks in the Great Lakes basin. Great Lakes: EPA Needs to Define Organizational Responsibilities Better for Effective Oversight and Cleanup of Contaminated Areas. General Accounting Office. Great Lakes at the Millennium: Priorities for Fiscal 2001, by the Northeast-Midwest Institute. Great Lakes Strategy 2002, developed by the U.S. Policy Committee for the Great Lakes. Outlines a vision for the Great Lakes basin as well as specific objectives to reduce contaminants, restore habitat, and protect the basin's living resources. Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes: Final Report to the Governments of Canada and the United States, February 22, 2000. A water management primer that discusses the implications of water withdrawal, consumption, and diversion of Great Lakes waters (including groundwater).
See WIMS Special Report on Great Lakes Water
Management
Some Articles From WIMS Daily
Comments On Great Lakes
Water Quality Agreement Review
- May 14: Access the special
review/comment website (click
here). Access links to
the GLWQA and the two volume
draft Agreement
Review Report
(click
here).
Groups Call For
Moratorium On Ocean Vessel Traffic
- Mar 20, 2007: Access a release (click
here). Access the
SaltFreeLakes website (click
here). Access the GLU
website for additional information (click
here). Access the Healing
Our Waters release (click
here). Access the Healing
Our Waters website for additional
information (click
here). Access legislative
details for S.725 (click
here).
Coastal
Condition Report III Falls
Short On Great Lakes -
Mar 12, 2007: Access the Great Lakes
chapter of the draft Report III (click
here). Access the draft
Report III website for specific
commenting instructions and related
information (click
here).
Access the State of the Great
Lakes 2007 Draft Indicator
Reports website (click
here). Access the SOLEC
website for previous reports and
additional information (click
here). Access the Chemical
Integrity overview and link to the
Virtual Library website (click
here).
Groups Release Report On
Future Great Lakes Agreement -
Jan 19, 2007: Access the complete
65-page report (click
here). Access the Great Lakes
Forever website for additional
information (click
here); and the Alliance for
the Great Lakes website (click
here).
IJC Recommends New Great Lakes
Water Quality Agreement - Oct
24, 2006: Access an IJC release (click
here). Access the
official transmittal letter for
the report (click
here). Access the 41-page
report, Advice to Governments
on their Review of the Great Lakes
Water Quality Agreement: A Special
Report to the Governments of
Canada and the United States (click
here). Access
links to the complete Synthesis of
Public Comment and executive
summary (click
here).
Court Orders
EPA To Develop Ballast Water
Discharge Regs
- Sep 18,
2006. Click on the title for link to
our Blog article.
House Hearing
On Great Lakes Restoration Strategy
-
Sep 14, 2006. Click on the title for
link to our Blog article. First U.S.
Great Lakes AOC Is Delisted
- Jul 25: Access a lengthy release
from EPA and link to further
information on the site (click
here). Access the Great
Lakes AOC website (click
here).
Officials
Celebrate Completion Of Ruddiman Creek
Cleanup - May 15, 2006:
Access a poste release from the
Statewide Public Advisory Council for
Michigan’s AOC Program(click
here). Access the Ruddiman
Creek cleanup website (click
here). Access the SPAC
website for additional information (click
here). Access EPA's Great
Lakes Legacy Act website (click
here). Access EPA's
Great
Lakes
Contaminated Sediments website (click
here).
Rule
Provides Policy For Great Lakes Legacy
Act - Apr 25, 2006:
Access a release (click
here). Access the FR
announcement (click
here). Access EPA's Great
Lakes Legacy Act website (click
here). Access EPA's
Great
Lakes
Contaminated Sediments website (click
here).
Great Lakes
Collaboration Strategy Bills
- Apr 5, 2006:
Access a release from
Representative Ehlers (click
here).
Access a detailed, 3-page summary of
the bill (click
here).
Access legislative
details for H.R.5100 (click
here); and S.2545 (click
here).
Great Lakes
Regional Collaboration
Strategy Testimony
Available -
Mar 16, 2006: Access links
to all testimony and
statements (click
here).
Collaboration
Strategy Produces Only
Modest Commitments -Dec
12, 2005: U.S. EPA
Administrator Stephen
Johnson joined other
Federal, state, local and
tribal officials at an event
today in Chicago to unveil
the Great Lakes Regional
Collaboration Strategy that
will serve as a blueprint
for prioritizing future
actions to restore and
enhance the lakes. The
Administrator also committed
to specific actions among
federal agencies to
accelerate cleanup of
contaminated sediment,
return another 200,000 acres
of wetlands to ecological
health in equal partnership
with the states, reduce the
spread of invasive species
and make beaches cleaner.
Johnson reiterated recent
Agency announcements under
the Great Lakes Legacy Act
and said EPA will work with
Congress to ensure that the
interim barrier halting the
advance of Asian Carp to the
Great Lakes system is made
permanent.
Great Lakes May Be Reaching
Critical Tipping Point
- Dec 9, 2005: The immune system of the
Great Lakes is breaking down
and the ecosystem is in danger
of collapse, according to a
new report released by the
region’s leading scientists.
The report underscores the
urgent need for comprehensive
restoration to repair the
“immune system” of the Great
Lakes, and to reverse a
pattern of decline that
threatens to affect drinking
water, swimming, fishing,
tourism and other benefits
derived from the largest body
of fresh water in the world.
The paper reports that the
Great Lakes buffering
capacity, or immune system, is
breaking down, rendering
ineffective the
self-regulating system of the
lakes to protect themselves
and recover from new stresses
like pollution and invasive
species. The report states,
“If not addressed with great
urgency, the Great Lakes
system may experience further
-- and potentially
irreversible -- damage.” To
date approximately 60
scientists, including the
region's Sea Grant directors,
have endorsed the paper, Prescription for Great Lakes
Ecosystem Protection and
Restoration: Avoiding the
Tipping Point of Irreversible
Changes, and its
recommendations.
Congressional Members React To
Feds Collaboration Funding -
Nov 4: In response to
the October 28, report sent to
the White House by the Great
Lakes Interagency Task Force (GLIATF)
on activities related to
the Great Lakes Regional
Collaboration (GLRC), the
Northeast-Midwest Institute (NEMW)
reports that more than 30 House
and Senate members have written
to President Bush raising
concerns over the recent
administration report and saying
that "a serious consideration of
the challenges faced in the
Great Lakes region requires a
commitment of federal
resources," and it urged the
President not to limit the
Regional Collaboration by
restricting restoration
recommendations to current
spending for the Great
Lakes. Among other
recommendations, the GLIATF said
in its October 28 Task Force
report [See WIMS 10/28/05], "The
Federal government strongly
believes that the strategy
should focus on what can be
accomplished within current
budget projections..."
Officials Request Bush To
Intervene On Collaboration Strategy
- Nov 1: The Governors of Ohio and
Wisconsin, the co-Chairs of the
Council of Great Lakes Governors
(CGLG), and the Chair of the Great
Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities
Initiative have written President
Bush requesting his intervention to
salvage some of the initiatives and
funding expectations contained in
the Great Lakes Regional
Collaboration Strategy which is now
being finalized and is scheduled for
release on December 12, 2005. The
Great Lakes officials are requesting
the President to call for a meeting
of Federal staff and Great Lakes
officials to devise a consensus
strategy to protect and restore the
Great Lakes. The action follows an
announcement on October 28 that the
Federal Interagency Task
Force
(the Federal staff involved in the
Collaboration Strategy) could not
support major funding increases for
the Strategy -- which was expected
to be around $20 billion [See WIMS
10/28/05]. Great Lakes Interagency Task Force
Report - Oct 28: U.S. EPA
Administrator Stephen Johnson signed and
sent to the White House the Great Lakes
Interagency Task Force (GLIATF) report
highlighting activities accomplished by
the task force since its creation by
President Bush in May 2004.
The report
details task force successes including
the construction of the dispersal
barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship
Canal to help prevent the spread of
Asian carp and other invasive species
into the Great Lakes, and implementation
of the Great Lakes Legacy Act to
accelerate remediation of contaminated
sediments in the lakes. The report also
outlines the Task Force's involvement in
the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration (GLRC)
and that partnership's efforts to
develop a strategy for protecting and
restoring the Great Lakes.
Draft Great Lakes Regional
Collaboration Report Released -
Jul 7: U.S. EPA released the draft report
of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration
and invited the public to invited to
submit comments on the draft report until
September 9, 2005. The strategy is an
action plan to address environmental
problems in eight critical areas. In
December 2004, the Great Lakes Regional
Collaboration was formed as a result of an
executive order signed by President Bush.
It is a partnership of the federal
government, states, tribes, local
governments and other interested parties
to work on Great Lakes environmental and
natural resource issues. The
strategic plan is intended to build upon
the extensive regional efforts to date,
working together toward a common goal of
restoring and protecting the Great Lakes
ecosystem for this and future generations.
An Executive Committee made up of senior
elected and appointed officials from
different levels of government has helped
guide the GLRC over the past year as the
strategic plan has been developed. Eight
Strategy Teams, each focusing on a
different issue affecting the Great Lakes
basin, began work in January 2005 to
develop
recommendations for action. The focus
areas included: Invasive Species;
Habitat/Species; Coastal Health; Areas of
Concern (AOC) Restoration/Sediments;
Nonpoint Source; Persistent
Bioaccumulative Toxics (PBT) Reduction;
Indicators and Information; and
Sustainable Development.
Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes
coalition Launched - Apr 27, 2005: A
day before Federal, state, local, and tribal
leaders are joined by civic, business and
conservation leaders in Traverse City to craft
a comprehensive Great Lakes restoration plan
as part of the Great Lakes Regional
Collaboration, over 50 national, state and
local conservation organizations announced the
formation of a Great Lakes restoration
coalition aimed at securing a sustainable
restoration plan and obtaining the billions of
dollars needed to implement it. The drive for
the Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes coalition
began in May 2004, at the Great Lakes Healing
Our Waters conference, sponsored by Peter M.
Wege and the Wege Foundation at Steelcase
University in Grand Rapids, Michgan. Following
that meeting, Wege and his foundation pledged
$5 million over five years to the National
Wildlife Federation and National Parks
Conservation Association to lead a broad
coalition to make Great Lakes restoration a
reality. The National Wildlife Federation (NWF)
and National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA)
are heading the Healing Our Waters – Great
Lakes coalition, which seeks to protect and
restore the Great Lakes by addressing such
issues as reclaiming sensitive coastal
wetlands and other critical habitat, stopping
the introduction of invasive species,
eliminating toxic pollution that contaminates
fish, reducing polluted runoff, ending beach
closings, and cleaning up contaminated
sediments. Parties Sign Great Lakes Declaration &
Framework - Dec 3, 2004: In an
unprecedented display of intergovernmental and
multi-state collaboration, dozens of
government officials and tribal
representatives signed a Great Lakes
Declaration and a framework document for the
Great Lakes Regional Collaboration to restore
and protect the Great Lakes ecosystem.
Officials in attendance included members of
President Bush’s cabinet and senior staff,
United States senators and congressmen, Great
Lakes governors, Tribes, mayors, state
senators and representatives. Mike Leavitt,
U.S. EPA Administrator said,
“This is the
largest formal collaboration of its kind
focused on the environmental and economic
health of the Great Lakes Basin. Today, we are
committing our collective organizations to
protecting and improving this national
treasure.” The signers of the Great Lakes
Declaration pledged to collaboratively work
together toward a common goal of protecting,
restoring and improving the Great Lakes
ecosystem in order to address the new and
continuing challenges and ensure a healthy
ecosystem for future generations. The Great
Lakes Regional Collaboration Framework
establishes strategy teams, made up of
government, quasi-government and other
regional stakeholders, as the working bodies
responsible for drafting action plans that
will be used for the draft Great Lakes
strategy. The teams will use the nine
priorities identified in October 2003 by the
Great Lakes Governors and since adopted by the
Great Lakes Mayors and ratified by the Great
Lakes Commission as their organizational
foundation. This strategy will be presented to
the members of the Great Lakes Regional
Collaboration for resolution of final issues
and adoption at Summit I, scheduled for the
summer of 2005. In May 2004, President Bush
signed Executive Order 13340 creating a
Cabinet-level Task Force to accelerate the
coordination for protection and restoration of
the Great Lakes system.
Granholm To Attend Lakes Restoration Meeting
- Dec 3: Governor Jennifer Granholm will meet
with the governors of other Great Lakes states,
as well as Federal, local, tribal, and
non-governmental leaders, on December 3, 2004,
to declare support for a regional collaborative
effort to restore and protect the Great
Lakes. The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration
conveners are meeting in Chicago. The conveners
meeting will provide an opportunity for states,
municipalities, tribes, and non-governmental
leaders to declare support for a process to
better organize existing Great Lakes protection
and restoration programs. It also will identify
short and long-term restoration needs for action
by governmental and non-governmental
stakeholders. Granholm said she was pleased that
after significant lobbying by the Great Lakes
governors, Congress last month provided $2
million for the completion of Asian carp
barriers in the Chicago River. However, she
expressed concern about recent Federal funding
decisions, including a cut in the federal Clean
Water State Revolving Loan (SRF) funding that
will cost states in the Great Lakes region as
much as $88 million to stop sewer overflows. She
said, "America’s Great Lakes deserve at least as
much help from Washington as the Everglades and
the Chesapeake Bay.” The Great Lakes Regional
Collaboration conveners meeting has been
organized by U.S.EPA Administrator Michael
Leavitt in response to a Presidential directive
earlier this year to provide improved strategic
direction on federal Great Lakes policies and
programs and to encourage greater cooperation
with the Great Lakes states and other
organizations concerned about the future of the
Great Lakes basin. The Federal collaboration
effort will organize its future deliberations
using eight of the nine restoration priorities
issued last year by Granholm and the other Great
Lakes state governors. The first priority
listed by the governors, addressing water use
and diversion issues, is being addressed in a
separate process to implement the Great Lakes
Charter Annex of 2001. Those priorities include
pollution control, stopping and controlling
exotic aquatic invasive species, and restoration
of wetlands and coastal habitats. Access
a release (click
here). Access a complete listing of the
Great Lakes Governor's priorities (click
here). Access the WIMS/EcoBizPort
Special Report on Great Lakes Restoration issues
for further background information (click
here). Government Officials & Tribal
Leaders To Sign Great Lakes Declaration - Nov 23:
According to an announcement from U.S. EPA, Dozens of government
officials and Tribal representatives will convene in Chicago on
December 3, 2004, to sign a Great Lakes Declaration and a
framework document for the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration.
Officials in attendance will include members of President Bush’s
cabinet, United States senators and congressmen, state senators
and representatives, and Great Lakes governors, Tribes, and
mayors. The
Great Lakes Declaration is an intergovernmental pledge of support
for the development of a strategy to further protect and restore
the Great Lakes through the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration
process. The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Framework Document
outlines the process for developing a Great Lakes restoration and
protection strategy. EPA said confirmed Attendees Include: EPA
Administrator Mike Leavitt, Secretary Tom Ridge, Jim Connaughton,
Governor George Pataki, Governor Jim Doyle, Governor Bob Taft,
Governor Rod Blagojevich, Senator Richard Durbin, Congressman
Vernon Ehlers, Congresswoman Judy Biggert, Congressman Mark Kirk,
Congressman Rahm Emanuel, Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, Frank
Ettawageshik, Chairman, Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians
and fifteen other Tribal leaders, Mayor Richard Daley (Chicago,
Ill.), Mayor Scott King (Gary, Ind.) Mayor Jerry Irby (Marquette,
Mich.), Mayor George Heartwell (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Mayor Herb
Bergson (Duluth, Mich.), Mayor Jack Ford (Toledo, Ohio), Mayor
Richard E. Filippi (Erie, Pa.), Mayor Tom Barrett (Milwaukee,
Wis.), Mayor Gary Becker (Racine, Wis.), Mayor Dave Ross
(Superior, Wis.), and others. Additional Invitees Include: Other cabinet members, Great Lakes
governors, United States senators and representatives, Tribal
leaders, and mayors. Wege Commits $5 Million To Great Lakes Restoration -
Oct 14: Peter M. Wege and the Wege Foundation announced a $5 million,
five-year grant launching a Great Lakes Coalition to build public
support nationally to restore America's greatest freshwater resource,
the Great Lakes. The commitment, among the largest private foundation
grants ever for Great Lakes protection, will focus on implementing the
recommendations and agenda from the "Healing Our Waters" summit of May
2004 and the summit report released in September [See our September 20
report], which set forth an agenda for Federal government action and
funding to restore the Great Lakes. Foundation President Wege said,
"The Healing Our Waters agenda is the Magna Carta for Great Lakes
restoration. The mission of the Great Lakes Coalition will be to turn
this agenda into real policies that will restore our Great Lakes." The
Great Lakes Coalition will be a broad-based network of national,
regional and state organizations dedicated to Great Lakes restoration.
It will include a technical advisory committee comprised of
scientists, business leaders, economists and other experts. The
Coalition will be organized by the National Parks Conservation
Association (NPCA) of Washington, DC, which will serve as national
fiscal agent for the grant, and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF),
which will serve as regional fiscal agent through NWF's Great Lakes
Natural Resources Center based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Access a
release announcing the grant (click
here; and on Dave's Blog for discussion click
here). Access the complete Healing Our Waters report or
individual sections (click
here). Access a list of the participants who drafted the
Agenda (click
here). Access the Healing Our Waters website (click
here). Access the WIMS/EcoBizPort Special Report on Great
Lakes Restoration issues for further background information (click
here).
Black Lagoon To
Be First Legacy Act Cleanup - Sep 27: The Black Lagoon on the
Detroit River in Trenton will be the first contaminated sediment site to be
cleaned up under the Great Lakes Legacy Act. U.S. EPA Administrator Mike
Leavitt announced the joint project with Larry Arreguin of Governor Jennifer
Granholm's Southeast Michigan office. Site preparation begins this week and
the dredging will begin in mid-October. The project will be completed using
$4.2 million in Legacy Act funds and $2.3 million from the Clean Michigan
Initiative. Contaminated sediment in the lagoon is a source of pollution to
the Detroit River and ultimately Lake Erie. EPA and MDEQ will remove
approximately 90,000 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with mercury,
PCBs, oil and grease, lead and zinc from the bottom of the lagoon. The
cleanup is expected to be completed by mid-January. Once the sediment is
removed, it will be disposed of in the Pointe Mouillee Confined Disposal
Facility. The bottom of the lagoon will then be covered with sand and rock.
The city of Trenton plans to redevelop the area including construction of a
marina. The Great Lakes Legacy Act passed in 2002. The Act authorizes $270
million in funding over five years, beginning this year, to assist with the
remediation of contaminated sediment in "areas of concern," toxic hot spots
around the Great Lakes. Access an EPA Region 5 release (click
here). Access more information on the Detroit River Area of Concern
(click here).
Access the WIMS/EcoBizPort Special Report on Great Lakes Restoration issues
for further background information (click
here).
Great Lakes
Interagency Task Force Announced - May 18: U.S. EPA Administrator
Mike Leavitt, Ohio Governor Bob Taft, Chair of the Council of Great Lakes
Governors, and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Chair of the Great Lakes Cities
Initiative met in Chicago to announce the coordination and regional
collaboration on Great Lakes programs. As part of the effort, President Bush
signed an Executive Order creating the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force and
stating "The Great Lakes are a national treasure constituting the largest
freshwater system in the world." The Task Force, under the lead of U.S. EPA,
brings together ten Agency and Cabinet officers to provide strategic direction
on federal Great Lakes policy, priorities and programs. The ten agencies
together administer more than 140 different Federal programs that help fund
and implement environmental restoration and management activities in the Great
Lakes basin. The Executive Order calls for the development of outcome-based
goals such as cleaner water, sustainable fisheries, and system biodiversity
and calls on the Task Force to ensure federal efforts target measurable
results. At the same time, the President instructed Administrator Leavitt to
engage Ohio Governor Bob Taft and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to convene a
complementary process of regional collaboration. Contacts: Access a White
House announcement and the Executive Order text (click
here). Access a brief statement from the President (click
here). Access an EPA release (click
here). Access the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force website (click
here). Access EPA's Great Lakes website for links to extensive
resources including the Great Lakes National Program Office (click
here). Access a joint release from the Lake Michigan Federation, Great Lakes United,
and the National Wildlife Federation (click
here). Access links to the latest media coverage (click
here).
House Hearings On Great Lakes Restoration
- May 17: The House
Transportation Committee, Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment
will conduct two days of Congressional hearings with Federal and state
officials testifying on the progress of efforts to restore the Great Lakes
water quality on May 20 and 21. The Subcommittee hearings,
chaired by Representative John J. Duncan, Jr. (R-TN), are both scheduled to
begin at 10 AM. Live audio and video broadcasts of the hearings will be
available that the Committee’s website (See below).
The hearings will pay particular attention to a 2003
report by the General Accounting Office, requested by the Great Lakes Task
Forces, that recommends improved coordination among the various Federal
programs addressing Great Lakes environmental quality. Scheduled testimony
includes representatives from the U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program
Office, Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA, USDA, Fish and Wildlife Service,
Council of Great Lakes of Governors, International Joint Commission, Water
Resources Institute of Grand Valley State University, General Accounting
Office and various Representatives from Great Lakes states. In total, there
are 33 Federal programs specific to the Great Lakes, and there are another 115
Federal programs that are nationwide in scope that can be used to support
environmental restoration activities in the Great Lakes basin. According to a
Committee announcement over 33 million people live in the Great Lakes Basin,
representing one-tenth of the U.S. population and one quarter of the Canadian
population. The Great Lakes constitute the largest system of fresh, surface
water on Earth: holding 18 percent of the world’s surface water supply and 95
percent of the U.S. surface water supply. Access the Committee hearing
announcement (click
here). Access the Subcommittee website for links to the hearings
testimony and webcast when they become available (click
here); or the Committee website (click
here).
Governors Make Detailed
Great Lakes Funding Requests - May 14: The Council of Great Lakes
Governors have written a letter to the Chairman and Ranking members of the
House and Senate Appropriations Committees requesting immediate support for
Great Lakes restoration and protection efforts. The Governors' say, "On
October 1, 2003, we the Great Lakes Governors outlined nine Great Lakes
restoration and protection priorities to guide Great Lakes restoration and
protection efforts. To meet these priorities, we believe that it is important
for the U.S. Congress to provide immediate support for important activities in
addition to large scale, long-term funding. We continue to work with the
region’s Mayors toward this end. As the Governors of our nation’s Great Lakes
States, we continue to support large scale, long-term funding programs to be
implemented by the States. These programs will be essential to the restoration
and protection of the Great Lakes. In addition to our continued support for
the important principle of large scale, state-implemented restoration and
protection funding, we urge the following appropriations in fiscal year 2005
to advance each of the priorities for Great Lakes restoration and protection
that were outlined in our October 1 letter." The letter outlines request for
$5 million for three-dimensional geologic models of glacial materials;
prioritization of $1.4 billion in national funding to address combined sewer
overflows in the Great Lakes region; continuation of CWA diffuse sources $60 million for the Great Lakes
States; $1.6 million for a pollutant minimization incentive program for
industries and municipalities; continuation of
National Aquatic Invasive Species Act
(NAISA) funding, plus $4.2 million sea lamprey
controls, a $1.8 million increase for FWS state management plans, and $8
million to make permanent the existing barrier in the Chicago Sanitary & Ship
Canal; reauthorization of $35.6 million Great Lakes Coastal Restoration
Program; $66.1 million for Areas of Concern (AOCs); $7 million for
standardized indicators development; and $2 million of already authorized
Beach Act funding allowing administration costs to be appliend to local
matches. Access the 4-page letter for complete details (click
here).
Sierra Club Calls Bush
Great Lakes Efforts A Smokescreen - May 18: The Sierra Club's Great
Lakes Program issued a statement following the announcement by the Bush
Administration on the new Great Lakes Interagency Task Force announced on May
18. Sierra Club said, "The Bush administration's Great Lakes Task Force is a
smokescreen and does nothing to clean up, protect, or restore the Great
Lakes. And, unfortunately, this could put off any meaningful efforts for clean
up. While it's nice for the Bush administration to talk about cleaning up the
Great Lakes, other recent Bush administration policies are making it
impossible to realize the goals of Great Lakes protection and restoration."
The group cited "delays cleaning up toxic mercury pollution;" "blocked rules
that would have protected our families and communities from raw, untreated
sewage;" "a policy directive making it more difficult to protect wetlands and
headwater streams;" and refusal to "support the 'polluter pays'" principle.
The Lake Michigan Federation, Great Lakes United, and the National Wildlife
Federation issued a joint release that "applauded President Bush's decision
today to proclaim the Great Lakes as a 'National Treasure,' and the
appointment of a high level Task Force to develop a restoration plan for the
Lakes." However, the groups said, "We hope the new 'working group' established
by the President's executive order includes Canada's federal and provincial
governments, the regions' Tribes, and basin cities and citizens groups. The
Great Lakes ecosystem cannot be protected and restored without all the
concerned parties involved." Access the Sierra Club posted release (click
here). Access the joint release from other groups (click
here). Access the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force website for
complete detials on the Administration's efforts (click
here).
Workshops On Great Lakes Restoration
Priorities - Feb 16, 2004: The Great Lakes Commission (GLC)
is sponsoring a series of workshops throughout the Great Lakes
states to solicit public input on the development and
implementation of priorities for ecosystem restoration. The
initiative is funded by the National Sea Grant Program and
each workshop features a partnership between the state's Sea
Grant Program, governor's office, relevant state agencies and
the Great Lakes Commission. Participants will have an
opportunity to review and discuss restoration priorities
developed by the Council of Great Lakes Governors, and share
additional thoughts and ideas relevant to their jurisdiction
and the entire region. Workshop[ outcomes will be captures in
proceedings documents and shared with Great Lakes leadership
and the entire community of stakeholders in the interest of
promoting consensus and unity of purpose in restoration and
protection initiatives. Details on individual workshops are
provided on the GLC website below. Workshops are planned for:
Parma, OH (Feb. 24);
Erie, PA (Feb. 25); and
Rochester, NY (Apr. 27). A
previous workshop was held in Ann
Arbor, MI on Sep. 17, 2003. Access the details on each
workshop and links to additional information (click
here). Access the WIMS/EcoBizPort Special Report on
Great Lakes Restoration issues for further information (click
here).
Great Lakes
Restoration Priorities Input - Jan 26: To coalesce
protection and restoration activities, the Governors of the
eight Great Lakes states released nine priorities for the
protection and restoration of the Great Lakes on October 1,
2003. The nine priorities intended to guide
development of restoration strategies and focus discussions on
the need for financial support of restoration programs. The
Governors, through the Council of Great Lakes Governors Chaired
by Governor Taft of Ohio and in association with the Great Lakes
Commission and Sea Grant, are seeking public input on these nine
priorities. Particularly valuable will be ideas for strategies
to implement the priorities, suggestions as to which priorities
might represent the most urgent needs, information regarding
ongoing restoration programs that could be linked to these
priorities, and input regarding the plans and priorities of
Great Lakes constituencies that can inform and elaborate upon
the Governors’ priorities. A series of public meetings is
being held to solicit input in each of the Great Lakes states.
Comments will be used by the
Governors to inform protection and restoration strategies, and
to support passage of Great Lakes Restoration legislation in
Congress, including S. 1398, the Great Lakes Environmental
Restoration Act, and H.R. 2720, the Great Lakes Restoration
Financing Act, currently pending. A summary of the proceedings
will be available on the Great Lakes Commission web site
The State of Ohio has announced a
meeting to receive input on the Priorities on
February 24, 2004, from 2-6 PM at
the Cuyahoga Community College, in Parma, OH (see details
below). Ohio Sea
Grant will use the results in the development of their 2006-10
strategic plan for research, education and outreach on Lake
Erie. A Michigan meeting was held last fall. Workshops in other
Great Lakes states are in the planning stage. Access the CGLG
Great Lakes Priorities Initiative website (click
here). Access the Parma, OH meeting announcement (click
here). Access the proceedings of the Michigan meeting (click
here). Granholm
Unveils Water Plan - Jan 20: According to a release,
Governor Granholm today sent a special message to the Michigan
Legislature in which she unveiled a comprehensive plan to
protect Michigan’s great, fresh waters. The release indicates
that the action is "out of a sense of urgency to protect a key
element of Michigan’s legacy -- its water." The cornerstone of
the Granholm initiative is the Michigan Water Legacy Act, a
comprehensive water withdrawal statute based on the principles
of the Great Lakes Charter, which will subject all significant
water withdrawals to review by MDEQ to ensure that Michigan’s
water resources are not impaired or compromised. Granholm’s
comprehensive water initiative addresses the major concerns
facing the Great Lakes today: water withdrawal, invasive
species, open water disposal, National Pollution Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES), revised sanitary code, wetlands
protection, and securing federal funding for Great Lakes
restoration projects. In addition to the proposed Water Legacy
Act that will be delivered to State lawmakers in February, the
initiative includes administrative steps that the Granholm
Administration will immediately implement to protect Michigan
waters. Those steps include an Executive Directive signed today
(January 20) by the Governor that prohibits State agencies from
approving the open water disposal of contaminated dredge
materials in Michigan waters; and, a second Executive Directive
to be signed later this month that asks MDEQ to protect critical
isolated wetlands on State land from harm. Further, the Governor
will ask the Attorney General to join a number of environmental
and conservation groups in a lawsuit against U.S. EPA to compel
them to regulate ballast water discharges, and ask State
lawmakers to live up to the 2004 budget agreement by approving
user fees to fund the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System, a critical component in monitoring what goes into our
water. Finally, the Granholm Administration will ask the Bush
Administration to fund the first installment of a multi-year
Great Lakes restoration effort. Access a release (click
here). Access the Executive Directive(s) (click
here, posted soon). Access the 8-page message to the
Legislature (click
here).
Great
Lakes Restoration Field Hearing - Aug 25: The full Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee held a field hearing at the
Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, OH to examine the current
and future efforts to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Major
restoration bills have been introduced in the House and Senate
that would provide $600 to $800 million per year for the next 5-10
years to achieve that goal. Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) hosted
the meeting and indicated that he had recently cosponsored the
Great Lakes Environmental Restoration, Protection, and Recovery
Act (S. 1398). Voinovich indicated that he was intimately
involved in the creation of the Comprehensive Everglades
Restoration Plan and said he "would love to be able to put
the same kind of coalition together" that worked on the
Everglades restoration efforts for the Great Lakes. He said,
"This is my dream." Testimony was received from U.S. EPA
Region 5, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Great Lakes Fishery
Commission, Great Lakes Commission, Ohio State University, and
Great Lakes United. Access the hearing testimony and member
statements (click
here)
Ullrich To Head Great Lakes Cities Initiative - Jul 19: At a press conference in Chicago on Saturday, July 19, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley introduced Dave Ullrich as the first Director of the Great Lakes Cities Initiative, a new project of the Northeast-Midwest Institute (NEMWI) that seeks to have the region's mayors work jointly to advance the restoration and protection of the Great Lakes ecosystem. Ullrich was Deputy Regional Administrator for the Great Lakes Region of the U.S. EPA from 1992 until 2003. During his 30 years with EPA, he has been Acting Regional Administrator, Director of the Waste Management Division, Ating Regional Counsel, and Chief of Air Enforcement. He was the U.S. chair of the International Joint Commission's Water Quality Board from 1997 to 2003, as well as a founding member and past chair of the Midwest Natural Resources Group. Email Dave Ullrich at the Great Lakes Cities Initiative (click here) or Phone: 312-201-4516. Access the Cities Initiative section of the NEMWI website: (click here). GLC & Sea Grant Partnership - Jul 14: The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) and the National Sea Grant College Programs in the Great Lakes states have announced a new partnership to help identify ecosystem restoration needs and the science behind them. They said the information can then be used by the region’s governors – and the larger community of policymakers and opinion leaders – as a basis for a formal plan to ensure the sustainable use, management and protection of the resource. The effort, funded by the National Sea Grant College Program, is a two-year initiative to research ecosystem problems and needs; assess existing restoration initiatives; conduct focus groups to identify priorities; and convene a restoration planning forum to assemble outcomes. The process will help regional leadership in preparing a blueprint for congressional action that offers practical guidance in allocating funds for programs and projects that will move the region toward a shared vision for the future. Access a release (click here). GAO Surveys State Freshwater Supply Issues - Jul 9: The General Accounting Office (GAO) has released a report -- Freshwater Supply: States' View of How Federal Agencies Could Help Them Meet the Challenges of Expected Shortages (GAO-03-514, July 9). GAO was asked to determine the current conditions and future trends for U.S. water availability and use, the likelihood of shortages and their potential consequences, and states’ views on how Federal activities could better support state water management efforts to meet future demands. GAO conducted a web-based survey of water managers in the 50 states and received responses from 47 states; California, Michigan, and New Mexico did not participate. GAO determinded that national water availability and use has not been comprehensively assessed in 25 years, but current trends indicate that demands on the nation’s supplies are growing. In particular, the nation’s capacity for storing surface-water is limited and ground-water is being depleted. State water managers expect freshwater shortages in the near future, and the consequences may be severe. Even under normal conditions, water managers in 36 states anticipate shortages in localities, regions, or statewide in the next 10 years. Access the complete 118-page report (click here, pdf). GLC Responds To GAO Study - Jun 17: The Great Lakes Commission recently responded to to members of the Great Lakes Congressional Delegation in follow-up to the recently released report of the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO, An Overall Strategy and Indicators for Measuring Progress Are Needed to Better Achieve Restoration Goals, released May 21, 2003), and in response to the Great Lakes Commission's call for a comprehensive, consensus-based ecosystem restoration plan. The Commission urged Congress to: Enact U.S. federal legislation that authorizes and funds development of a Great Lakes Restoration Plan; Strengthen science-based decisionmaking by enacting S. 1116, the Great Lakes Water Quality Monitoring Implementation Act; and Urge the U.S. and Canadian federal governments to undertake a comprehensive review of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and revise, if needed, to reflect current restoration priorities. Acces the GLC letter (click here). Access the complete 97-page GAO report (click here). GLC Responds To GAO Study - Jun 17: The Great Lakes Commission recently responded to to members of the Great Lakes Congressional Delegation in follow-up to the recently released report of the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO, An Overall Strategy and Indicators for Measuring Progress Are Needed to Better Achieve Restoration Goals, released May 21, 2003), and in response to the Great Lakes Commission's call for a comprehensive, consensus-based ecosystem restoration plan. The Commission urged Congress to: Enact U.S. federal legislation that authorizes and funds development of a Great Lakes Restoration Plan; Strengthen science-based decisionmaking by enacting S. 1116, the Great Lakes Water Quality Monitoring Implementation Act; and Urge the U.S. and Canadian federal governments to undertake a comprehensive review of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and revise, if needed, to reflect current restoration priorities. Acces the GLC letter (click here). Access the complete 97-page GAO report (click here). IJC Says It's Pleased With GAO Report - Jun 4: The International Joint Commission (IJC) said it is pleased that the recent report of the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), Great Lakes – An Overall Strategy and Indicators for Measuring Progress Are needed to Better Achieve Restoration Goals, agrees with the findings of the May 1st special report of the IJC entitled, The Status of Restoration Activities in the Great Lakes Areas of Concern and its September 2002 11th Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality. The GAO concluded in its report that there is no coordinated or unified strategy to restore the Great Lakes. Other organizations, including the IJC, have reached the same conclusion, and made recommendations consistent with those in the GAO report for several years. Access an IJC release (click here). Access the complete 97-page GAO report (click here). Access an IJC release on its report with links to a map of the AOCs (click here). Great Lakes Need An Overarching Strategy - May 21: The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report entitled, Great Lakes: An Overall Strategy and Indicators for Measuring Progress Are Needed to Better Achieve Restoration Goals (GAO-03-515, April 30). To address the extent of progress made in restoring the Great Lakes Basin, which includes the lakes and surrounding area, GAO (1) identified the Federal and state environmental programs operating in the basin and funding devoted to them, (2) evaluated the restoration strategies used and how they are coordinated, and (3) assessed overall environmental progress made in the basin restoration effort. GAO recommended that U.S. EPA ensure that the Great Lakes National Program Office fulfills its coordination responsibilities and develop an overarching Great Lakes strategy; and develop environmental indicators and a monitoring system for the Great Lakes Basin that can be used to measure overall restoration progress. GAO said that the recently published Great Lakes Strategy 2002, "is largely a description of existing and planned program activities rather than an overarching plan." Access the complete 97-page report (click here). _____________________________________________________________________ |
