Coalition Pushes To Restore Great Lakes Restoration Funding

Feb 2: In his FY 2011 budget, the President proposed to cut funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) from $475 million to $300 million. In their initial reaction the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes (HOW) Coalition said they were analyzing the President proposal, and indicated, "The level of funding that the President committed indicates that he understands the plight of the Great Lakes and the urgency to do something about it." However, they said, "This is not the amount of funding we had hoped for, but coupled with this year's historic investment, the President's request will continue to advance Great Lakes restoration and economic recovery."

Following their analysis, HOW has now issued a statement on February 3, urging Congress to restore funding to last year's level of $475 million." Jeff Skelding, campaign director for the HOW Coalition said, "Although President Obama's budget makes Great Lakes restoration a priority, the proposed funding will make it difficult to keep pace with the urgent threats facing the Lakes. We're going to work with Congress and the White House to restore funding to Great Lakes programs before the problems get worse and the solutions get more costly. "Fully funding Great Lakes restoration will benefit people, businesses and communities. We have the solutions to these urgent problems. It is time to use them."

In EPA budget documents the Administration provides and explanation for the reduction in funding and says, "In 2009, the President announced a new Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, committing the Federal government to significantly advance Great Lakes protection and restoration. In FY 2011, EPA is increasing the relative funding for the Invasive Species focus area in recognition of anticipated new demands such as fighting incursion of Asian Carp. FY 2011 funding has been reduced to reflect ramp up period, allowing time for the program to absorb the initial influx of FY 2010 $475 million in resources."

In a related matter, on February 9, 2010, the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, Chaired by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) will be holding a hearing on "Asian Carp and the Great Lakes."

Access the original Feb. 1 release (click here). Access the Feb. 3 release (click here). Access a 102-page EPA FY11 budget-in-brief detail on the EPA budget (click here). Access further details on EPA's FY 2011 budget including the FY 2011 Congressional Justification (999-pages) and the Verification and Validation (257-pages) (click here). Access information on the Asian Carp hearing (click here).