Great Lakes-St. Lawrence News for Legislators |
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Great Lakes legislators to meet Jan. 21-22 in downtown Chicago; travel scholarships are available |
All state and provincial legislators from the Great Lakes basin are encouraged to attend. The meeting will begin with a reception on Friday evening, Jan. 21, followed by a series of sessions on Saturday, Jan. 22, that focus on legislative developments and policies related to nutrient pollution, help for coastal communities, safe drinking water and more.
Travel scholarships
When registering for the event online, legislators may request a travel scholarship to attend the GLLC Annual Meeting. A limited number of these scholarships are available. Members will be notified of their eligibility shortly after receipt of their registration.
About the GLLC and support from foundations
The work and various activities of the GLLC are made possible in part by grants from the Illinois-based Joyce Foundation, the Michigan-based Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, and the Michigan-based Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
The Midwestern Office of The Council of State Governments has secured the continued financial backing of these three foundations, allowing the GLLC to continue advancing its mission:
To help state and provincial legislators promote the restoration, protection,
and economic and sustainable use of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
With staff support form CSG Midwest, the binational, nonpartisan GLLC offers a wide array of activities and resources for legislators — from in-person policy institutes and meetings, to web-based sessions, to legislative trackers on water policy.
Illinois Rep. Robyn Gabel and Minnesota Rep. Jennifer Schultz serve as GLLC chair and vice chair, respectively. They are part of an Executive Committee of legislators from each of the Great Lakes’ 10 jurisdictions (eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces) that leads the caucus.
Membership is free and open to all state and provincial legislators serving in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River region. Among the benefits of membership: the ability to advocate on important Great Lakes issues, the opportunity to take part in caucus-related meetings and events, and the chance to become a regional leader on the Great Lakes.
For more information on how to become a member, visit the GLLC website. |
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Since publication of the summer GLLC newsletter, much legislative activity has occurred around the caucus's five priority areas: 1) aquatic invasive species, 2) nutrient pollution, 3) water consumption, 4) toxic substances, and 5) coastal communities.
At the federal level, some groundbreaking measures have been signed into law, with the result being more dollars coming to the states to remove lead service lines, better prepare coastal areas for changes in water levels, and strengthen Great Lakes restoration.
These federal actions are highlighted in some of the separate sections below.
Meanwhile, we continue to monitor activity in the Great Lakes states and provinces. Over the past few months, some noteworthy bills have been signed into law, while others have been introduced or are advancing. Examples of recent legislative actions include:
- The signing of new laws in Illinois that require the eventual removal of all lead service lines (HB 3739; see details in the “water consumption” section below) and that establish a water and sewer assistance program for low-income households (HB 414).
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Michigan’s new state budget, which includes creation of a $25 million program to reduce phosphorus runoff from agricultural lands in the western Lake Erie basin (see “nutrient reduction” section below for details).
- The introduction of legislation in Michigan to create a grant/loan program for local governments to become more climate resilient, with an emphasis on funding new water management and infrastructure projects (HB 5330).
- Committee passage in the Michigan Senate of two bills that would require schools and child care centers to install filtered bottle filling stations and filtered faucets in order to prevent high levels of lead in the drinking water (SB 184 and SB 185).
- Passage in the Michigan Senate of a $3.3 billion plan (most newly available federal dollars) to fund a wide range of water infrastructure projects — from PFAS remediation, to the removal of lead service lines, to upgrades of sewer and drinking water systems (SB 565).
- Voter approval in New York of a “right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment,” an amendment to the state Constitution initiated and approved by the New York Legislature.
- The re-introduction of a bill in Quebec that would set the maximum concentration level for manganese in drinking water at 0.06 mg/L.
- The signing of laws in Wisconsin that establish a new permitting process to encourage the hydraulic restoration of wetlands (SB 91) and that will allow local governments to use the sand dredged from offshore projects to nourish or replenish local beachfronts (AB 99).
Do you have legislation that should be added to the GLLC tracker? If so, please contact Tim Anderson or Jon Davis at CSG Midwest.
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Developments Related to GLLC Policy Agenda |
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Water Consumption: Illinois' Plan to Remove All Lead-Service Lines |
Every lead-service line in Illinois must be replaced in the coming decades under a new law ( HB 3739) that sets varying deadlines for different-sized water utilities. According to the Illinois Environmental Council, close to 700,000 homes in the state are connected to water mains via lead-service lines; that is higher than any other U.S. state. The Great Lakes region, too, has a disproportionate number of lead pipes carrying water to homes.
Over the next few years, all water systems in Illinois must submit a plan for replacing their lead service lines. The timeline for full replacement in a local service area ranges from 15 to 50 years, depending on the number of lines that need to be removed. Every local water utility will be required to remove a certain percentage of lines every year; priority will be given to projects in preschools, day care centers and other facilities where high levels of lead are of particular concern.
As part of this new law, too, the General Assembly has established a Lead Service Line Replacement Fund; a new advisory board will make recommendations on long-term, dedicated revenue options.
Three years ago, with adoption of a new Lead and Copper Rule, Michigan became the first U.S. state to require the removal of all lead service lines (by 2041). That state’s action came in the wake of a public health emergency in the town of Flint, where toxic levels of lead in drinking water led to an uptick in deaths from Legionnaires’ disease and lead poisoning among children. This year, a lead-in-water crisis hit the southwest Michigan town of Benton Harbor. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said all of that city’s lead service lines will be replaced within 18 months. Lead-tainted water also was discovered in the town of Hamtramck.
Across the Midwest, much more federal money will be available to states and local governments to move ahead with these types of projects. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act appropriates $15 billion for replacing lead service lines. The Brookings Institution has estimated the cost of a full, nationwide replacement to be between $28 billion and $47 billion. |
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Nutrient Pollution: Michigan's New $25 Million Pilot Program |
With a new $25 million allocation by legislators in the state budget, Michigan officials are launching a pilot program to reduce phosphorus runoff into Lake Erie.
The Department of Agriculture & Rural Development's plan has three components: 1) provide new tools for farmers to learn about evidence-based nutrient management practices; 2) offer incentives, cost-sharing and technical assistance for producers to adopt these practices; and 3) conduct soil testing and install water monitoring stations to measure results.
The pilot program builds in part on the existing Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program, which helps producers adopt cost-effective conservation practices that ensure their compliance with state and federal laws. Participating farmers also earn MAEAP recognition.
The new $25 million initiative is solely for the western Lake Erie basin, though, and Department of Agriculture & Rural Development director Gary McDowell highlighted another key difference with this new initiative during recent legislative testimony.
“Right now under our MAEAP program it’s all based on verifications, which really has nothing to do with outcomes,” he said. “We want to focus on outcomes to show that we are actually improving water quality.”
Ohio has made an unprecedented funding commitment to controlling nutrient runoff through its H2Ohio initiative. Over the next two fiscal years, nearly $60 million will go to a program that funds the adoption of best management practices among agriculture producers in 24 counties in the western Lake Erie Basin.
As tracked and shown by the Great Lakes Commission's Blue Accounting measurement tool (see graphic above), total phosphorus loading into the western and central Lake Erie basins has exceeded the target level (6,000 metric tons annually) in nearly every year over the past decade. |
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Invasive Species: Governors seek full federal funding for Brandon Road project |
In a December letter to key members of the U.S. Congress, the region’s governors have asked for full federal funding of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Illinois, saying “the balance of project cost for design, construction, operation and maintenance is beyond the capacity of the Great Lakes states to match."
The nearly $860 million construction project seeks to add various barriers — including underwater sound cannons and electric fences — in order to prevent the flow of Asian carp and other invasive species into Lake Michigan.
For U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ projects, a nonfederal partner is typically needed to pay a portion of costs. The usual split is 65%-35% (federal-nonfederal), though Great Lakes lawmakers and advocates already were able to negotiate the nonfederal share down to 20 percent.
The state of Illinois, with assistance from Michigan, has committed to providing the 35 percent non-federal cost share for Brandon Road’s pre-construction and design phase. The estimated total cost of this pre-construction work is $29 million.
The price tag for actual construction is much higher. The governors say in their letter that full federal funding would be “consistent with how other large-scale projects have been funded that similarly have a strong bearing on the regional and national economy.”
“The Great Lakes are the engine of a $6 trillion regional economy,” the governors say. “The region’s $7 billion commercial and sport fishing industry and $15 billion recreational boating industry would be devastated if invasive carp were to become established in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.”
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Toxic Substances: Area of Concern in Ohio cleaned up and delisted thanks to state-federal partnership, including use of Great Lakes Restoration Initiative dollars |
Ohio’s Ashtabula River has been removed from the binational list of the Great Lakes’ most environmentally degraded “Areas of Concern” (AOC), marking the completion of the fifth such cleanup efforts since implementation of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the delisting in August after years of sediment remediation and habitat restoration stemming from a $70 million public-private partnership. The area became contaminated due to the operation of chemical companies along the river. The cleanup efforts included removing more than 620,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment containing 14,000 pounds of PCBs. In addition, more than 2,500 linear feet of fish habitat was created.
GLRI accelerates cleanup efforts
In federal fiscal year 2021, $330 million was allocated for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative; more than one-third of this money went to addressing toxic substances and cleaning up Areas of Concern. Other priority areas include curbing nonpoint source pollution, restoring habitats for native species, and preventing the introduction and spread of invasive species (see pie chart).
And a big boost of federal funding is coming over the next five years.
The recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes an additional $1 billion for the GLRI, capping a historic year in federal Great Lakes policy and funding. In early 2021, the U.S. Congress passed legislation reauthorizing the GLRI through fiscal year 2026 with gradual increases in funding — from $375 million in 2022 to $475 million in 2026.
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Coastal Communities: New opportunities ahead to help coastal communities mitigate shoreline erosion and flooding |
State and local governments will now be able to access revolving loan funds from a pool of $500 million to go toward mitigating natural disaster damage. The provision was included in the latest federal infrastructure bill and builds upon the outline established in the bipartisan “Safeguarding Tomorrow through Ongoing Risk Mitigation (STORM) Act” that was signed into law earlier this year.
Included in the list of acceptable projects are preventive efforts that local entities can take to mitigate extreme flooding and shoreline erosion, both of which have become more severe and frequent due to the effects of climate change. Dollars for such projects will come through state-based revolving loan funds.
According to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, the financial assistance provided under the STORM Act is more advantageous to states and communities compared to similar grant opportunities offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency because of the unique ability to invest in resiliency efforts.
Great Lakes coastal communities also will get additional assistance from a separate appropriation in the infrastructure bill for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Over the next five years, the agency will receive nearly $3 billion to fund various projects along coastlines across the country, including $491 million to buffer shorelines from erosion, reduce flooding and remove potentially hazardous structures
Birkholz Institute on climate resiliency
Helping coastal communities become more climate resilient is the focus of the GLLC's current Patricia Birkholz Institute for Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Policy. This topic will be covered at the GLLC Annual Meeting on Jan. 21-22 and will be a focus of the group's work throughout 2022.
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The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus (GLLC) is a binational, nonpartisan organization that exists solely for the purpose of engaging state and provincial legislators in the policymaking process related to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. Secretariat services are provided by The Council of State Governments Midwestern Office. Financial support is provided in part by The Joyce Foundation and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation provides support for the GLLC's work on nutrient pollution.
For more information about the caucus, visit the GLLC website. CSG Midwest's Tim Anderson, Derek Cantù and Jon Davis contributed to this newsletter.
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