For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

On April 29, 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has the authority to regulate smog from coal plants that drifts from Midwest to East Coast states. The EPA originally finalized the rule in question, the Cross-State Pollution rule, in July 2011. The rule requires 28 states to reduce annual emissions and/or ozone season emissions to assist other states in attaining air quality standards established in 1997 and 2006. The rule, and the Supreme Court, maintained that down-wind states should not have to carry the burden and penalties associated with air pollution coming from up-wind states. The Cross-State Pollution rule arose from a December 2008 court case directing the EPA to implement Clean Air Act requirements concerning air pollution transiting state boundaries. Under the new rule, the states producing the air pollution must assist in reducing the pollution to achieve air quality standards, even if the pollution is no longer within their geographic boundaries, based on the extent of their contribution to the pollution and costs of pollution reduction.

The rule and resultant ruling has divided the Northeast-Midwest region. Fifteen states joined utilities opposing the rule in the court case, including NEMW States of Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. NEMW States of New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island joined the EPA in the case, supporting the Cross-State Pollution rule.

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

On Thursday, April 30, 2014, the House Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs sent a letter to Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, supporting the designation of the Great Lakes as a Critical Conservation Area under the 2014 Farm Bill's new Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). Designation would include access to additional funding to support farmers' efforts to reduce nutrient and sediment runoff into the region's waterways. Growing evidence indicates that phosphorus runoff from farms contributed to the rise in harmful algal blooms seen in the Great Lakes in the past decade, including large blooms in 2011 and 2013. The agriculture industry in the Great Lakes region, the letter notes, generates $15 billion a year in products and accounts for 7% of total U.S. food production. Given the importance of agriculture and the waters to the region, the designation under the RCPP would provide the Great Lakes region with another resource for implementing sound conservation strategies. Under the 2014 Farm Bill signed into law in February, the Secretary of Agriculture may designate up to eight regions as Critical Conservation Areas. The Secretary's announcement is expected in May.

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

L to R: IRPT outgoing President Dennis Wilsmeyer, Brent Walker, Mayor of Alton, IL; Tom Thompson, Mayor of Grafton, IL; Francis Slay, Mayor of St. Louis, MO; Jo Anne Smiley, Mayor of Clarksville, MO; Hugh McConnell, IRPT incoming President

Mayors of the NEMWI's Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative (MRCTI) gathered last week in St. Louis for the Annual Meeting of the Inland Rivers Ports & Terminals Association (IRPT). At the meeting, IRPT committed to working with the Mayors to realize sustainable container-on-barge shipping on the Mississippi River. IRPT President Hugh McConnell, along with Mayor Slay of St. Louis, signed the MRCTI Sustainable Economies Resolution, pledging their commitment to container-on-barge shipping for the Mississippi that will lessen reliance on truck and rail, which have a larger carbon footprint than waterborne cargo. "IRPT's support will help propel this container-on-barge shipping line forward. We expect it will have a significant impact on our River region by providing jobs and improving transportation," said Mayor Slay. "It will position us to be a global economic force, ensuring we better use the River assets to increase the region's economic health and competitiveness."

In addition, the shipping line will relieve freight congestion, create economic opportunity for River ports and other intermodal industries, and attract investment in River infrastructure. The effort has early commitments from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Chism Hardy Investments, Ingram Barge Company, and Inland Rivers, Ports and Terminals. These organizations--and more--are expected to sign the resolution before the fall. The resolution will be presented to the U.S. Maritime Administration as a next step in making the program a reality under the Administration's Marine Highway Program.

 

For more information, contact Colin Wellenkamp, Director, MS River Cities and Towns Initiative at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

The April 2014 edition of NEMWI's Great Lakes Hill Happenings is now available and includes details on:

• Status of the Water Resources Development Act and expected timeline for floor consideration of the conference report;
• Letters sent by the Great Lakes Task Forces on Asian carp and the new Farm Bill; and
• Senate hearing on the propane shortage in the Midwest this past winter.

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

For more information, contact Colin Wellenkamp, Director, MS River Cities and Towns Initiative at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.