Hosted with The Nature Conservancy as Summit Sponsor
The Northeast-Midwest Institute (NEMWI) held the annual Great Lakes Environmental Summit last week, an event which serves as a premier gathering of Great Lakes stakeholder organizations to discuss the upcoming federal legislative and regulatory agenda. The Nature Conservancy and its Great Lakes chapters served as the Summit’s primary sponsor, while the Great Lakes Commission and GEI Consultants co-sponsored the event. This year’s Summit was held virtually due to the pandemic, with over 70 participants in attendance.
Kicking off the Summit was Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI), who serves as Co-Chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, and is the Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and a member of the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee. Senator Stabenow focused her attention on recent key legislative victories, including a historic $1 billion investment in the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), and increased funds for critical projects including the Brandon Road project to help prevent the spread of invasive carp into the Great Lakes, and the Soo Locks which is essential in keeping the upper lakes connected to the lower lakes.
Additionally, Congressman David Joyce (OH) and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI), who both serve as Co-Chairs of the House Great Lakes Task Force, addressed attendees. Congressman Joyce discussed his current work as the ranking Republican on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior and Environment. He highlighted work that he was engaged in to make sure that the needed resources are appropriated to the Great Lakes region to continue the successful restoration efforts that have been ongoing over the past decade. Additionally, Congresswoman Dingell discussed some of the work that she is currently engaged in as a member of both the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. The Congresswoman also discussed key recent developments about her Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), which was recently approved by the Natural Resources Committee.
Key topics discussed during the Summit included the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), the 2023 farm bill, the FY 2022 and FY 2023 appropriations and budget cycles, the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA), environmental justice, conservation, environmental restoration, economic development, climate change, and resiliency issues. Key Congressional staff provided updates on these and other topics, while also providing updates on potential future Congressional actions. Additionally, the Great Lakes National Program Office provided a brief overview on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).
The Nature Conservancy, the Summit sponsor, is one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world and has continued to be a leader in providing critical resources to protect the world’s largest source of freshwater. For over 65 years, The Nature Conservancy has protected more than 100 sites throughout the Great Lakes, including prairies, savannas, forests, wetlands, and rivers, as well as working collaboratively with farmers, foresters, elected officials, agencies, and communities across the region to protect this globally significant freshwater ecosystem. Representing The Nature Conservancy with presentations was Raj Shukla, the Midwest Director of Freshwater Policy, and Scott Sowa, Ph.D., Juli Plant Grainger, Great Lakes Director.
This year’s Great Lakes Summit co-sponsors were The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) and GEI Consultants. The GLC, which is composed of the eight Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces, was created in 1955 via the Great Lakes Basin Compact, and formalized by Congress in 1968. Through its government appointed commissioners, the GLC recommends policies and practices to balance the use, development, and conservation of the water resources of the Great Lakes. GEI Consultants serves as a leading consulting engineering and environmental firm that delivers value by providing professional services to improve the world’s built environments. GEI is a leader in providing multi-disciplined engineering and technical services to a range of private and public sector clients domestically and abroad.
NEMWI Launches New
Invasive Species Legislative Tracker
NEMWI is launching the Invasive Species Legislative Tracker to monitor bills in the 117th Congress that address the handling and prevention of invasive species across the United States.
There currently are seven bills listed in the tracker, six of which are in the U.S. House, including Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA-3)’s Stop the Spread of Invasive Mussels Act of 2021, which seeks to limit the transport by boats of Zebra and Quagga Mussels.
The bill has been referred to the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, and is awaiting a hearing.
The U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee held ahearing on Wednesday, February 2, on two drafts of Recycling and Composting Legislation.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) testified about her bill Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act, which aims to increase access to recycling opportunities like curbside recycling particularly in rural communities. “These rural areas share common challenges to accessibility: location and proximity to materials recovery facilities and the size and density of the population,” Senator Capito said. “This leads to low processing yields and high collection and transportation costs, leaving materials recovery facilities struggling to operate at a profit.” To confront these problems, the bill establishes a pilot grant program to help communities where recycling programs would not be profitable.
The other draft bill that was discussed, authored by Senators Capito, Tom Carper (D-DE), and John Boozman (R-AR), is theRecycling and Composting Accountability Act. This bill would require the EPA to keep data that could improve and standardize recycling and composting programs across the U.S. “This bill is an important first step toward a national composting strategy,” Senator Carper said. Committee members also stressed the importance of the bipartisan work they are doing. “In this political climate, it is critical that we remember there is a lot that we agree on, and we need to be diligent in identifying and pursuing those bipartisan opportunities to improve the future, and that’s what we’re doing here today,” Senator Capito stated.
To learn more about recycling efforts specific to the Great Lakes, take a look at the Council of the Great Lakes Region’s Circular Great Lakes Initiative. The Initiative provides a path to boost recycling rates in order to keep plastics out of the Great Lakes. Not only would this provide the environmental benefit of keeping Great Lakes waters clean, it also would allow us to reap the economic rewards of recycling valuable plastic. CGLI plans to release its Action Plan for Plastics early this year.
Two Competitive Grant Programs Supplemented by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Open for Applications
The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced two competitive grant programs aimed at revitalizing American infrastructure which incorporate funds from the recently passed Investment in Infrastructure and Jobs Act (IIJA). The RAISE Grant Program provides funding for a variety of infrastructure projects, and the State of Good Repair Program focuses on railway projects.
Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE):
The purpose of this grant is to provide funding opportunities for an array of infrastructure projects related to road, rail, transit and port projects that promise to achieve national objectives. Final Applications must be submitted by 5:00 PM (ET) on April 14, 2022. For more information on how to apply for this grant and to view past projects, click here.
The State of Good Repair Grant Program:
According to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), “This program provides funding for capital projects within the United States to repair, replace, or rehabilitate qualified railroad assets to reduce the state of good repair backlog and improve intercity passenger rail performance.” The deadline to apply is 5:00 PM (ET) on March 7, 2022. For more information on how to apply, please refer to theNotice of Funding Opportunity published by the FRA
The IIJA, also commonly referred to as the bipartisan infrastructure law (BIL), was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021. This historic investment of $1.2 trillion into America’s outdated infrastructure aims to modernize rural, urban, and tribal communities alike and create jobs across the country.
Funds from the BIL are distributed in a variety of forms, including increased appropriations for existing state programs as well as establishing new formula grants and competitive grants. Formula grants distribute a predetermined sum of money to state and local governments, calculated using existing data on population statistics and infrastructure. Competitive grants encourage eligible groups to draft project proposals and submit them for an opportunity to receive funding.
Grants and other funding opportunities which were newly established under the IIJA will generally take a longer time to roll out than existing programs which simply received increased apportionments for FY2022. While these new programs progress in their development phases, the Department of Transportation has been quick to release these two Notices of Funding Opportunities for pre-existing competitive grants.
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