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Congress Approves FY 2020 Federal Budget that Includes Numerous Great Lakes Priorities
Before adjourning for the holidays, Congress approved two appropriations omnibus packages that will fund the government for the remainder of FY 2020 through September 30, 2020. The bills, which passed with bipartisan support, include many critical federal resources to protect the Great Lakes. They include, but are not limited to:
- $320 million for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI);
- Increased funding for the EPA's state revolving funds (SRF), including $1.64 billion for the Clean Water SRF, and $1.13 billion for the Drinking Water SRF;
- Language reiterating that the EPA, as authorized under the recently enacted Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (P.L. 115-282), is charged with implementing the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain Invasive Species Program, and that it is expected to coordinate with appropriate federal agencies moving forward;
- Language supporting the Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) activities regarding Asian carp, especially as it relates to the completed Report to the Chief of Engineers for the Great Lakes-Mississippi River Interbasin Study-Brandon Road Recommended Plan (GLMRIS-BR);
- Funding for the USACE to continue additional GLMRIS work and also funding for the USACE's operation of the existing electric fish dispersal barrier at the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal;
- $75.333 million for the USACE to continue the construction of a new Soo Lock;
- A formal Congressional authorization for the United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Great Lakes Science Center, which includes the text from the Great Lakes Fishery Research Authorization Act, which was authored in the House by Representatives Mike Quigley (IL) and Fred Upton (MI), and in the Senate by Senators Gary Peters (MI), Rob Portman (OH), Debbie Stabenow (MI), and Tammy Duckworth (IL);
- $10.6 million for USGS Asian carp research, of which $3 million is for research on grass carp;
- $1.68 million for the Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program;
- $25 million for FWS Asian carp activities nation-wide, of which no less than $2.5 million is for contracting fishing. This is an overall increase of $14 million for FWS Asian carp activities from FY19;
- $47.06 million for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, which includes $1 million for grass carp activities;
- $9.9 million for the International Joint Commission;
- $38 million for the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation;
- $77 million for the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Coastal Zone Management Grant Program;
- $74 million for NOAA's National Sea Grant Program;
- $1.5 million for the Coast Guard's (USCG) Center for Expertise for Greta Lakes Oil Spill Research and Response; and
- $2 million to establish a major acquisition program office at the USCG to enhance icebreaking capacity on the Great Lakes.
For more information, please contact
Matthew McKenna
, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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House to Vote on Comprehensive PFAS Bill
This week the House will vote on H.R. 535, which would require the EPA to determine whether to designate the entire class of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which contains over 5,000 chemicals, as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980. The bill was introduced by Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) last year and has been amended with a variety of new provisions while in the Energy and Commerce Committee.
The bill would require the EPA to set drinking water standards for the two most common types of PFAS, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and would require that these two chemicals be immediately classified as hazardous substances. Such a designation would require cleanup efforts under the Superfund law.
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NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation
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