NEMWI Hosts Two Great Lakes Webinars for Great Lakes Primer Program
Last week the Northeast-Midwest Institute (NEMWI) hosted two webinars focusing on critical issues impacting the Great Lakes as part of its 2023 Great Lakes Primer and Orientation Program. The sessions focused on the impact of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the Great Lakes and on the efforts to keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes Primer and Orientation Program is funded by the Erb Family Foundation and is designed to introduce Congressional staff and policymakers to critical topics relating to the Great Lakes and the work of the Great Lakes Task Forces.
Harmful Algal Blooms and the Great Lakes
The first webinar focused on the federal, regional, and state efforts to reduce HABs throughout the Great Lakes region, and conservation efforts authorized through the farm bill aimed at reducing nutrient runoff through agricultural production across the region.
Record HABs driven by nutrient loadings have affected water quality, fish populations, tourism, and the economy across the entire Great Lakes region. A bloom in western Lake Erie in August 2014 resulted in a drinking water advisory for the city of Toledo, Ohio, restricting water use for 400,000 people for three days. These events throughout the region severely impacted the quality of life to all living in the Great Lakes community.
The second webinar focused on the Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ICRCC)'s current engagement in the region aimed at preventing the spread of invasive carp into the Great Lakes, including an overview of its 2023 Invasive Carp Action Plan.
The introduction of Asian carp to the Great Lakes would greatly endanger the $7 billion fishery that helps fuel the region’s economy. These invasive species pose a significant threat to existing native fish populations, while also creating a dangerous safety risk to recreational boaters and other users of the Great Lakes, and thus would have a devastating impact on the region. In response to the threat, federal, state, local, and nongovernmental organizations have been crafting a multifaceted strategy to prevent the spread of invasive carp into the Great Lakes, especially through the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS).
The Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ICRCC) was formally established in early 2010 under the name Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee and represents the collective efforts of international, federal, state, and municipal agencies to combat the spread of invasive carp into the Great Lakes. The ICRCC provides oversight and coordination of interagency prevention activities through the development and implementation of an annual Invasive Carp Action Plan and complementary Monitoring and Response Plan.
House Appropriations Committee Releases FY 2024 Interior and Environment Bill
The House Appropriations Committee last week marked up the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which funds most Department of Interior and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) activities, making substantial cuts in federal spending beyond the agreed upon levels in the debt ceiling compromise.
The House bill would provide new non-defense discretionary spending totaling $25.417 billion, which is $13.433 billion (35%) below the Fiscal Year 2023 enacted level and $21.371 billion below the President’s Budget Request. The bill also repeals several EPA programs created under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), including rescinding $7.8 billion from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and $1.4 billion for Environmental and Climate Justice funding. The bill would also substantially reduce the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs), reducing the Clean Water SRF from its current level of $1.64 billion to $535 million, and the Drinking Water SRF from its current level of $1.13 billion to $460.6 million.
The bill provides $368 million to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), which is equal to its FY 2023 allotment and the President’s FY 2024 budget request. The bill also includes $29 million for the U.S. FWS’s invasive carp program; $11 million for the USGS’s invasive carp program; $15 million for the USGS’s Great Lakes Science Center; and $6 million for the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act.
The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday to consider its FY 2024 bill.
NEMWI Tracks Growing List of Manufacturing Bills in 118th Congress
A growing number of bills relating to manufacturing policy continue to be introduced in the 118th Congress as 2023 proceeds. Since the last update of NEMWI's Manufacturing Legislative Tracker in June, a total of ten manufacturing-related bills have been introduced in Congress, including five bills in the U.S. House and five bills in the U.S. Senate.
In the U.S. House, H.R. 4223 was newly introduced and referred to the Science, Space, and Technology Committee. This bill seeks to establish an artificial intelligence commission. Additionally in the House, H.R. 4498 was newly introduced and referred to the Education and Workforce Committee as well the Science, Space, and Technology Committee. This bill seeks to promote an artificial intelligence 21st century workforce. Lastly in the House, H.R. 4557 was newly introduced and referred to the Financial Services Committee. This bill seeks to make federally backed financing for the construction, rehabilitation, or purchase of manufactured home communities contingent upon the owners' implementation of minimum consumer protections in lease agreements with residents of all their owned communities
In the U.S. Senate, S.1915 ONSHORE Act of 2023 was newly introduced and referred to the Environment and Public Works Committee. This bill aims to establish a critical supply chain site development grant program to promote industrial site development or expansion projects in the United States. Also in the Senate, S.2116 was newly introduced and referred to the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. This bill would require the Secretary of Commerce to produce a report on how to improve the effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of Department of Commerce programs related to supply chain resilience and manufacturing and industrial innovation.
NEMWI will continue to monitor legislation relating to manufacturing policy in its
Manufacturing Legislative Tracker which is available here.
Reported by NEMWI Intern Carter Wright.
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