NEMWI To Host Two Webinars on Great Lakes Policy As Its Great Lakes Primer and Orientation Program Continues
The Northeast-Midwest Institute (NEMWI) is pleased to announce that it is hosting two important webinars on key policy issues impacting the Great Lakes as part of its ongoing 2023 Great Lakes Primer and Orientation Program. First, it will host a session on the impact of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the Great Lakes on Monday, July 17th, at 2 pm EDT. Second, it will host a webinar on the efforts to keep invasive carp out of the Great Lake on Tuesday, July 18th, at 2 pm EDT.
The Great Lakes Primer and Orientation Program is presented with the support of the Erb Family Foundation and is intended to introduce Congressional staff to critical topics relating to the Great Lakes and the work of the Great Lakes Task Forces. This series of webinars will introduce Congressional staff and other policymakers in Washington, D.C., to issues that are directly impacting the Great Lakes community.
HABs in the Great Lakes – Monday, July 17th, 2 pm EDT
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 impact the quality of life to all living in the Great Lakes community.
The webinar will focus on the science behind HABs; 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.
Invasive Carp and the Great Lakes – Tuesday, July 18th, 2 pm EDT
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 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 established in 2010 as the 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 a Monitoring and Response Plan.
The webinar will focus on the current activities that the ICRCC is engaged in to prevent the spread of invasive carp into the Great Lakes, including an overview of its 2023 Invasive Carp Action Plan.
Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Holds Hearing on Infrastructure Bill
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing on June 14, 2023 with the Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Shailen Bhatt, to oversee how the FHWA is implementing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
The hearing discussed many aspects of the IIJA, including EV batteries, traffic and highway safety, alternative transportation, community protections, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the application of discretionary funds. Led by Chairman Thomas Carper (D-DE) and Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), the committee spent nearly two hours going over the actions of the FHWA in the past six months, discussing current events, ensuring future aid and work, and asking pertinent questions.
Administrator Bhatt, in his remarks, stated "I have hit the ground running since being confirmed and the dedication of FHW staff in carrying out these laws and getting real results for the American public is inspiring.”
The Democratic side of the committee focused on three topics: clean energy production, proper bridge and central infrastructure development, and the recent collapse of the I-95 overpass in Pennsylvania. The Republican side of the committee focused on three other topics: ensuring the protection program under the IIJA, questioning regarding their assertion that the agency is breaching the parameters of the IIJA, and the redistribution of funds from the IIJA.
Overall the committee worked to ensure that the FHWA is conducting the necessary and bipartisan work to implement the IIJA and to provide the necessary and safe infrastructure for the nation.
To view materials from the hearing, go tothis link
Reported by NEMWI Intern Arham Razzaq
Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on the Impact
Of Plastic on Environmental Justice Communities
The Senate Subcommittee on Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight held a hearing on Thursday, June 15 to discuss the harmful effects that plastic production and incineration have on human health, focusing on clusters of Petrochemical plants built in low-income communities.
Subcommittee Chairman Jeff Merkley (D-OR), in an opening statement, highlighted a cluster area in Louisiana between Baton Rouge and New Orleans famously named “Cancer Alley.” He elaborated on the harmful effects of Petrochemical plants by stating “Whether it’s intentional discrimination, or because a lack of qualifications for the work, the result is the same. The burden of these facilities is placed on communities that receive little to none of the benefits and receive all of the pollution.” Senator Merkley noted the enduring legacy of slavery and discrimination in locating Black people near these Petrochemical facilities and that these historically disadvantaged communities are negatively impacted by the production of plastic.
Ranking Member Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) in opening remarks emphasized the ubiquity of plastics, stating that he doesn’t think we have a plastic problem, “but a recycling problem.” He emphasized the critical role the U.S. plays in plastic manufacturing along with the heavy regulations already placed on plastic. Senator Mullin pointed out the economic benefits that the plastics industry can have in rural states and also argued that he does not want to give a leg up to industrial foreign competitors such as China.
One of the testifying witnesses, Sharon Lavigne, is a resident of Saint James Louisiana and the founder of RISE St. James, a faith-based organization committed to protecting the St. James community from toxic industrial pollution. Saint James sits within “Cancer Alley”, and Lavigne shared first-hand accounts of the respiratory illnesses and cancers her community has suffered due to industrial pollution, including herself who was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis in 2016.
Also testifying was Angelle Bradford, another Louisiana local who is a doctoral student in physiology and medicine at Tulane School of Medicine as well as a volunteer with the Sierra Club. Bradford discussed carcinogens released from PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastics that leak into community drinking water and emissions that worsen local air quality. Aside from cancer, these toxins lead to increased risk of kidney, liver, and respiratory illness.
Another witness was Chris Tandazo, the Statewide Environmental Justice Organizer with the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance. Tandazo discussed New Jersey’s three incinerators which release toxic endocrine disruptors in low-income communities of color, which he stated, “are already overburdened by other polluting infrastructure and socio-economic challenges.”
Also testifying was Kevin Sunday, the Director of Government Affairs for the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, who discussed the economic role that domestic energy production plays. He stated that Pennsylvania’s chemical industry helps to support jobs, release communities from poverty, and has “established a process that has ensured public participation from impacted communities and a permitting process that produces durable permitting decisions.”
The last witness to testify was Donna Jackson, the Director of Membership Development for Project 21 – National Center for Public Policy and Research. Her organization is focused on lifting people out of poverty, and believes it is “overwhelmingly positive” for communities to have industrial plants nearby to lift families out of poverty and have contributed to the “creation of a Black middle class.” When discussing the impacts of industrial pollution on human health, she stated that there are other studies that “find that low-income people living near these facilities are no worse off than comparably poor people in general”, and shutting down industrial plants would do more harm than good for these communities.
This hearing was attended by Senators Carper, Markey, Merkley, Mullin, Sullivan, and Whitehouse. A recording of the full Senate Committee Hearing is available here.
Reported By NEMWI Interns Mehdi Epee-Bounya and Sallie Newman
NEMWI Tracks Growing List of Manufacturing Bills in 118th Congress
A growing number of bills relating to manufacturing policy are being introduced in the 118th Congress. Since March, a total of thirty-five bills have been newly introduced in Congress, including twenty-seven bills in the U.S. House and eight bills in the U.S. Senate.
In the U.S. House, H.R. 2849Rare Earth Magnet Manufacturing Production Tax Credit of 2023 was newly introduced and referred to a subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee. This bill allows new tax credits for the domestic production and manufacturing of rare earth magnets unless they are produced for non-allied foreign nations. Additionally, in the House, H.R. 3938 Build It in America Act was newly introduced and referred to the Ways and Means Committee.
In the U.S. Senate,S.968Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act of 2023, a bill which prohibits the acquisition of solar panels manufactured or assembled in China, was newly introduced. This bill is important in terms of the United States’ rapidly developing sustainable energy goals.
NEMWI will continue to monitor legislation relating to manufacturing policy with its Manufacturing Legislative Tracker which is available here.
Reported by NEMWI Intern Carter Wright
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