The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative will get $320 million in funding in 2021, if Ohio’s senators have anything to say about it.
According to a joint press release sent Monday, U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sent a letter urging the Office of Management and Budget and the Environmental Protection Agency to provide at least $320 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) in the fiscal year 2021 president’s budget request.
“Now is not the time to scale back our nation’s commitment to restore the Great Lakes environment and economy,” wrote the senators. “Because of the partnership we have with federal agencies, our region is making progress and seeing results. The GLRI is a locally driven restoration effort and its success depends on the collaboration between all levels of government and with industrial, commercial and non-governmental partners.”
In the 2020 fiscal year, GLRI received $320 million, and the senators requested at least that much for the project.
The GLRI is a partnership among many federal agencies, including the Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Army, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Interior, Department of Transportation and the EPA, according to its website.
These agencies agree on program and project priorities and implement the GLRI Action Plan. The funding is appropriated to the EPA, which provides financing for restoration projects.
The projects are done through the federal agencies but also through states, tribes, local governments, universities and nongovernmental organizations, according to its website.
Project selection is based on five focus areas: toxic substances and areas of concern, invasive species, non-point source pollution impacts on nearshore health, habitat and species and foundations for future restoration actions.
According to the letter from Brown and Portman, a recent GLRI report to Congress found the initiative protects public health in the Great Lakes “more than any other coordinated inter-agency effort is U.S. history.”
“Since its inception in 2010, $2.4 billion has been used to fund over 4,800 projects to combat the greatest threats to the Great Lakes, including invasive species, harmful algal blooms and loss of fish and wildlife habitats,” the letter states.
Bob Short, Williams County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) board chairman and president of the Ohio Federation of SWCDs, said the initiative has helped clean up Lake Erie.
“It’s basically all about clean water,” he said. “There has been an incredible amount of funding that has been put in on many, many programs involving the Maumee watershed and the tributaries going into Lake Erie.”
Short commended the senators for supporting the GLRI, adding the legislature and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine have both been “very good to the various associations that support clean water for the lake.”
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.