Great Lakes Congressional Legislators have introduced multiple bills to increase the nation's and local communities' ability to track, monitor, and respond to harmful algal blooms. The bills are in response to the "do not drink" warning issued for the Toledo, Ohio and southeast Michigan area in early August when the drinking water supply tested positive for heightened levels of toxins from a harmful algal bloom in Western Lake Erie. The ban lasted over two days and affected approximately half a million people, who could not use their tap water. Great Lakes Task Force members Sens. Rob Portman and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, along with Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), introduced the Safe and Secure Drinking Water Protection Act (S. 2785; H.R. 5439). The Act requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop recommendations for detection and treatment of algal bloom toxins for water treatment plants and utilities. Within the Great Lakes region, only Ohio has developed recommended levels for toxins in drinking water. H.R. 5439 is co-sponsored by 13 additional members, including Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs Reps. Candice Miller (MI-10), John Dingell (MI-12), and Louise Slaughter (NY-25). Sen. Brown and Rep. Bob Latta (OH-05), along with 11 other House members, introduced the Great Lakes and Fresh Water Algal Bloom Information Act (S. 2798; H.R. 5456), which requires the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to create an electronic database of research and information on the causes of and responses to algal blooms in the Great Lakes and other freshwater bodies. These bills follow the passage this summer of Sen. Portman's Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act (S. 1254), which requires NOAA to coordinate an integrated assessment of research, monitoring, and control activities for harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes. Federal agencies would then use the assessment to develop mitigation and control plans. On September 3, 2014, the NEMWI hosted a webinar on managing the public health impacts of harmful algal blooms. Speakers highlighted the many challenges to detecting and treating toxins in the public water system, as well as the harmful health effects of the many toxins.  

For more information, contact Danielle Chesky, Director, Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute. 

The Great Lakes Interagency Task Force has released the FY2015-19 Action Plan for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, launched in 2010 to accelerate efforts to protect and restore the largest surface fresh water system in the world, has contributed more than $1.6 billion to restoration efforts and supported over 2,000 projects. The GLRI Action Plan maintains many of the same focus areas from the previous five-year Action Plan, including cleaning up Areas of Concern, preventing and controlling invasive species, reducing nutrient runoff that contributes to harmful algal blooms, and restoring native species. The new Action Plan integrates climate change resiliency as well as adaptive management approaches to further increase the GLRI's effectiveness and accountability.

Last week, the NEMWI coordinated a pre-release briefing on the Action Plan for Great Lakes Congressional staff. The Great Lakes Task Force Senate Co-Chairs, Sens. Carl Levin (MI), Mark Kirk (IL), Senate Vice Chairs Sens. Debbie Stabenow (MI) and Rob Portman (OH), and House Co-Chairs Reps. Candice Miller (MI-10), John Dingell (MI-12), Sean Duffy (WI-07), and Louise Slaughter (NY-25), served as honorary co-sponsors for the briefing.

The Great Lakes Interagency Task Force is chaired by the EPA Administrator and includes the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, State, and Transportation. 

For more information, contact Danielle Chesky, Director, Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.