HOW Coalition Meets With White House Officials

Feb 29: Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes (HOW) Coalition members announced they will be meeting today with senior White House and Obama Administration officials at a Great Lakes summit to discuss the accomplishments and priorities of the current administration. The HOW Coalition consists of more than 120 environmental, conservation and outdoor recreation organizations, zoos, aquariums and museums representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes.

 

    The gathering followings a meeting Monday between coalition leaders and Obama Administration officials in the West Wing of the White House, at which time Great Lakes advocates put forward an agenda to: Maintain momentum for restoring the lakes by continuing to fund restoration programs through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative; boosting Federal assistance to help communities combat sewage overflows; enacting strong protections against ballast water invaders; confronting the algae bloom epidemic in Lake Erie; and moving more aggressively to separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River to prevent the spread of Asian carp and other invasive species between the two bodies of water.

    Jeff Skelding, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition said, "We look forward to meeting with Obama Administration officials to discuss how we can work together to support Great Lakes restoration projects that benefit the environment and economy. Restoration efforts are producing results, but there is more to do. Continued leadership by President Obama and the U.S. Congress will be essential to restore our lakes, protect our drinking water, create jobs and uphold our way of life." The gathering, sponsored by the White House Council on Environmental Quality's Office of Public Engagement, comes as coalition members from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin conclude two days of meetings with U.S. congressional offices as part of Great Lakes Days.

    The HOW Coalition views 2012 as a pivotal year in the effort to restore the Great Lakes, as the fate of key water issues hinge on actions by the Obama Administration and U.S. Congress. Among them: Funding the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and other clean water programs; Reauthorizing the Farm Bill, the largest funding source for federal conservation programs; Finalizing EPA guidelines dealing with clean water protections and Coast Guard and EPA rules addressing polluted ballast water discharges; and, Acting to prevent the advance of Asian carp, which are on the doorstep to the Lakes.

   Access a release from HOW with more details (click here). Access the HOW website for more information (click here).

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U.S. Supreme Court Denies States' Asian Carp Suit

Feb 27: In a brief order by the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case of Michigan, et al., Petitioners v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, et al. (SupCt No. 11-541) denied the States' petitions for writs of certiorari. The Order notes that Justice Kagan took no part in the consideration or decision of these petitions.

 

    On October 26, 2011 Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette filed a request for appeal with the Supreme Court to review a U.S. Court of Appeals decision that denied the request of five Great Lakes states for an immediate injunction against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers [See WIMS 10/26/11]. Michigan and the states of Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were requesting that the Army Corps greatly speed up their study on the ecological separation of the Lake Michigan and Mississippi basins to prevent the advancement of invasive Asian carp toward Lake Michigan. Additionally the states requested an injunctive order compelling the Corps to place block nets in the Little Calumet and Grand Calumet Rivers.

 

    On August 24, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago issued a ruling on a preliminary injunction request concluding that Michigan's lawsuit had "a good or even substantial likelihood of success on the merits of their public nuisance claim." [See WIMS 9/6/11]. Despite the recognition of the real threat posed by Asian carp, the Court denied the states' request. The states then decided to appeal. The states' petition asked the Supreme Court to overturn the 7th Circuit decision and order.

 

    Access the Supreme Court order (click here, page 6). Access the Supreme Court docket in the case (click here). Access the 32-page Petition for a Writ of Certiorari (click here). 

 

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Great Lakes Commission Gets Updates At DC Meeting

Feb 28: A release from the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) indicates that the first details of a renegotiated Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) between the United States and Canada emerged this week in Washington at a GLC meeting.  Cameron Davis, senior advisor for the Great Lakes at U.S. EPA, said that although the document has not been finalized, "We have an agreement in principle." The Parties are scheduled to report to the public on the outcome of the GLWQA negotiation sessions on March 5, at a meeting beginning at 3 PM (EST) and a copy of the presentation will be released 48 hours before the meeting [See WIMS 2/27/12].

 

    Also unveiled at the meeting were the Commission's FY 2013 Federal legislative priorities which include preventing the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species, cleaning up contaminated sediments, controlling polluted runoff, restoring degraded wetlands, and conserving fish and wildlife resources. Davis noted that the new GLWQA's forward-looking orientation will be more effective in identifying and responding to emerging environmental threats to the Great Lakes. He said, "Even before they became established in the Great Lakes, we knew that zebra mussels were likely coming, but we could not move fast enough. This new agreement will allow us to respond to such threats much more effectively."

 

    The Commission received a firsthand report on the 2012 Farm Bill from Chris Adamo, staff director for the Senate Agriculture Committee, chaired by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). Reauthorization of the Farm Bill with strong provisions for conservation programs such as those supporting control of soil erosion and agricultural runoff is another high priority for the Commission. GLC Chair James Tierney said, "The 2012 Farm Bill is not only important to maintaining and enhancing our agricultural productivity , but also to protecting the Great Lakes from one of the greatest threats to water quality: non-point source pollution."

 

    Also appearing before the Great Lakes Commission was EPA Assistant Administrator Nancy Stoner who provided an update on a new, more integrated approach to stormwater and waste water management. In addition to being more effective in dealing with overflows impacting Great Lakes water quality, the new approach is more cost effective. The Commission also heard updates on efforts to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, including a recently released study by the Commission and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, outlining engineering approaches to separation of the Chicago Areas Waterway System of the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River where Asian carp have been migrating northward since the 1980s.

 

    Acknowledging the substantial backlog of dredging in the Great Lakes that has impaired navigational access to many ports and harbors, the Commission moved to support development of new legislation to provide federal funding for harbor maintenance, particularly for low-use commercial and recreational harbor communities.  John Goss, Asian carp director for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, presented the U.S. federal government's strategic framework for Asian carp control in FY2012, which will be supported by a $51 million budget commitment [See WIMS 2/24/12].

 

    Access a release from GLC (click here). Access the GLC website for more information (click here).

 

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Groups Urge Strong Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

Feb 27: Sixty-one public interest groups have sent a letter to Great Lakes Members of Congress in the United States and Great Lakes Members of Parliament and the Senate in Canada on the renegotiation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) to protect and restore the lakes. The groups represent thousands of people in the U.S. and Canada from around the Great Lakes Basin who rely on the Lakes for water, food and recreation.

    According to a release from the groups, the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) is a bi-national, non-binding framework to protect and restore the Great Lakes. In the letter, the groups provided a detailed discussion of citizen expectations and goals for the Agreement, and highlighted the importance of citizen participation as the negotiation draws to a close. Their elected representatives were urged to take an active role in ensuring that their governments have renegotiated a strong Agreement to protect the Great Lakes. The letter was sent on the heels of the announcement that the two countries are planning "to report to the public on the outcome of the negotiation sessions" including "a description of the conceptual consensus reached on what should be in an amended Agreement".

 

    Even with the statements, the signatories indicated they fear that the report will be no more specific nor substantial than previous communications from the governments, and will do little to address the concerns of citizens. John Jackson of Great Lakes United said, "This is only the third renewal of the Agreement in four decades, and thus a rare opportunity to ensure that the Agreement has the vision and broad support that will guide us through the coming decades. The Agreement will be a guide for policy and actions in the U.S. and Canada to protect and restore the Great Lakes over the next twenty years or more; it is essential that it address key issues of concern to stakeholders in the basin."

    The groups indicated that the U.S. and Canada, as the public trustees and guardians of this system, share particular responsibility for protecting it from a  growing number of environmental stresses that threaten its vitality and resilience. The groups warn that unless "bold action" is taken, the Great Lakes continue to be at risk of irreparable ecological damage and decline. The GLWQA was originally signed in 1972 under the auspices of the Boundary Waters Treaty between the two countries.

 

    The Governments of the United States and Canada (the Parties) recently held the final negotiation session and the amended GLWQA is now in the process of being finalized and approved. The Parties have announced they will report to the public on the outcome of the negotiation sessions and provide an overview of the amendments put forward to Governments for approval. The presentation will include a description of the conceptual consensus reached on what should be in an amended Agreement. A webinar will be held Monday, March 5, 2012 from 2:00 - 3:30 PM Central Time/ 3:00 - 4:30 PM Eastern Time). The Parties indicated that a copy of the presentation will be provided within 48 hours of March 5, 2012.

 

    Access a release from the groups and link to the letter and listing of participating organizations (click here). Access complete information on the webinar (click here). Access the Binational.net website for additional information from the governments (click here). Access more information about the GLWQA Agreement from EPA (click here). Access the GLWQA blog from Great Lakes United (click here).

 

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2012 Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework

Feb 23: The Obama Administration announced a series of new measures to protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp, which they said builds "on the unprecedented proactive plan the Administration established in February 2010 to prevent this invasive species from developing self-sustaining populations in the Great Lakes." The 2012 Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework adds several initiatives to the comprehensive effort to combat Asian carp, including expanding eDNA sampling to additional areas in the Great Lakes region, deploying new nets and other technologies to enhance Asian carp capture rates, and developing cutting-edge biological controls and monitoring technology, among other measures.

    John Goss, Asian Carp Director at the White House Council on Environmental Quality said, "This strategy builds on the unprecedented and effective plan we are implementing to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes while we determine the best long term solution. The 2012 Strategic Framework will strengthen our defenses against Asian carp and move even more innovative carp control projects from research into implementation." Cameron Davis, Senior Advisor to the U.S. EPA Administrator said, "With Congressional and Presidential support for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, we're getting results in shielding the Great Lakes from invasive species. Investing in a healthy Great Lakes means a healthy economy." The Fish and Wildlife Service and Army Corps of Engineers also issued comments. 

    In a release, the agencies said the Obama Administration has invested more than $100 million dollars to protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp and formed an Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ACRCC) in 2009 to ensure a comprehensive and effective response. The Administration released the original Asian Carp Framework in February 2010 to develop and implement effective Asian carp controls and keep the invasive species from establishing a self-sustaining population in the Great Lakes while a permanent solution is developed. Updates to the Framework in 2012 include:

• Deploying new alternate traps and nets and other technologies to enhance Asian carp capture rates.
• Implementing eDNA sampling at Great Lakes areas of concern with particular focus on southern Lake Michigan, western Lake Erie and other potential hotspots.
• Ensuring continued electrical barrier effectiveness through expanded use of telemetry and split beam hydro-acoustic monitoring.
• Refining water guns to repel carp and evaluate their effectiveness at repelling juvenile and larval Asian carp.
• Assessing the feasibility of using pheromones to capture and remove Asian carp.
• Identifying potential compounds for inclusion in a toxicant screening program for controlling Asian carp.
• Developing targeted control systems for Asian carp based on species-specific digestive system characteristics.
• Expanding law enforcement surveillance and enforcement of illegal transportation of federally listed invasive species.
• Increase Asian carp outreach and education efforts through the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network.

    Access a release from ACRCC and link to the complete 2012 strategy and a funding matrix (click here).

 

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IJC Seeks Comment On Great Lakes Water Quality Assessment

Feb 24: The International Joint Commission (IJC) released a draft report -- Assessment of Progress Made Towards Restoring and Maintaining Great Lakes Water Quality Since 1987 -- that is a preliminary effort to describe changes in the health of the Great Lakes over the past quarter century. The report's release is timed to provide information and opportunities for public discussion at a major public meeting to be held at Wayne State University October 12-14, 2012. The report measures some of the progress made by the U.S. and Canada in fulfilling their respective commitments to protect and restore their shared waters under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, first signed in 1972 and amended in 1987. At present, the governments of Canada and the United States are working to renew this Agreement to better meet current challenges facing the Great Lakes.

    Canadian Section Chair Joseph Comuzzi said, "Our two countries have made major investments to restore and maintain Great Lakes water quality over the decades. We need to take stock of the results as we set goals for the coming decades. Although the results are mixed, they show that there has been progress and there is a clear need to update the Agreement to better address emerging threats." U.S. Section Chair Lana Pollack said, "The Great Lakes are at the heart of our economy and quality of life. We need good up-to-date-science based information to assess how well Canada and the United States are protecting these waters. This draft report is an important step toward understanding the larger picture."

    The draft report notes that levels of many older chemicals have decreased in herring gulls, fish and sediments, especially from 1987-2000. However, results differ for some newer chemicals, such as PBDE (flame retardants) levels in fish increased considerably from 1987 to 2000. In addition, 34 non-native aquatic species were introduced into the Great Lakes, but none have become established since 2006. The burrowing mayfly and lake sturgeon have started to return, but lake trout populations have not changed measurably. Diporeia, a small shrimp-like crustacean that is a key part of the aquatic food web has almost disappeared.

    The draft report uses seven measures of biological integrity, six measures of chemical integrity, and one measure of physical integrity, to assess changes in the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. It draws on the best indicators of ecosystem trends available from government agencies and the academic research community. The Commission plans to publish a report in 2012 based on comments received and subsequent research. A workshop to discuss the draft report was held at the IJC's Biennial Meeting on Great Lakes Water Quality in Detroit on October 12, 2011. The IJC will accept written comments on the Task Force report by email or regular mail at the addresses below until March 9, 2012.

    Access an announcement and commenting information from IJC (click here). Access the complete 173-page assessment report (click here).

 

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Groups Urge EPA To Strengthen Ballast Water Discharge Permit

Feb 21: A joint release from Great Lakes and other environmental organizations indicates that U.S. EPA is failing to uphold its Federal Clean Water Act duty to protect the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters from the introduction and spread of invasive species via ships' ballast water discharge. The groups expressed their opposition in comments to the Agency and called on EPA to strengthen a proposed permit to regulate ballast water discharges from commercial vessels. The groups included: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); Great Lakes United; Alliance for the Great Lakes; National Wildlife Federation; and Northwest Environmental Advocates.

 

    Thom Cmar, attorney with the NRDC said, "The EPA's new proposed permit isn't tough enough to prevent the next harmful invader from slipping into our waters. The Clean Water Act provides the tools to finally slam the door on invasive species stowing away in vessels' ballast tanks, but EPA is still not proposing the strong federal standards we need to fully protect the Great Lakes and other economically valuable but vulnerable watersheds throughout the country."

 

    In the releases, the groups indicated that invasive species introduced and spread via ballast water discharge are already wreaking havoc on the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters. A litany of non-native invaders -- including zebra mussels, quagga mussels, spiny water fleas and round gobies -- have turned the Great Lakes ecosystem on its head, altering the food web and threatening the health of native fish and wildlife. Non-native ballast water invaders cost Great Lakes citizens, utilities, cities and businesses at least $1 billion every five years in damages and control costs, according to research by the University of Notre Dame.

 

    They indicated that, "Despite the staggering costs associated with the damage caused by invasive species, the EPA has resisted taking action on the issue for decades. The proposed permit to regulate ballast water discharges comes after a long legal battle. Now, as the nation celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, advocates are working to ensure the agency finally issues a permit that shuts the door on invasive species."

 

    The groups indicated that the proposed ballast water permit takes modest steps to reduce the risk of ballast-mediated introductions. They said the permit: Requires ships to install technology that meets the International Maritime Organization's standard to treat ballast water; and Requires ships entering the Great Lakes to employ the added protection of exchanging ballast water to flush out and kill non-native freshwater organisms

 

    However they said the permit still leaves the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters vulnerable to the introduction and spread of invasive species -- and does not adhere to the Clean Water Act. The groups are asking the EPA to make the following improvements to the permit:

• Adopt a zero-discharge standard for invasive species
• Adopt the most protective technology standards nationwide
• Develop standards for lakers, ships that ply the Great Lakes
• Develop a faster implementation timeline to implement new technology standards

    Nina Bell, Executive Director of the Portland, OR-based Northwest Environmental Advocates said, "Not only does EPA's permit fail to meet federal law, but the agency has accepted the shipping industries' time frame for installing ballast water treatment without reservation. As a result, EPA's proposed action will require only half of all ships to have installed treatment by 2016 with the other half dragging out until 2021. After 12 years and three lawsuits, EPA's proposal is too little, too late to protect the nation's environment and economy."

 

    The groups said now the states must certify EPA's permit. EPA must issue a final permit by November 30. Marc Smith, senior policy manager for the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes office said, "There is still time to get this right. Half-measures will not cut it. Prevention is the only responsible course of action to stop the influx of living, breathing, biological pollution into U.S. waters. A failure to confront this problem will allow the problem to get worse and more costly. We have solutions. It is time to use them."

 

    Access the joint release (click here).

 

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7th Cir. Foundation Symposium On Protecting the Great Lakes

Feb 10: The 7th Circuit Bar Association Foundation is hosting a day-long symposium on Protecting the Great Lakes from "Diversion, Pollution, Climate Change, Catastrophes, and Invasive Species." The event will be held at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, February 24, 2012. The program will examine the legal and policy issues facing the Great Lakes with 15 prestigious faculty from both the United States and Canada to present a binational perspective on the issues addressed. Options include: Attend in-person at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago; view online via Live Webcast; or view online via Delayed Webcast (view uninterrupted program or in segments).

    Access complete information including the Program Agenda, biographies of each of our Faculty Speakers and online registration (click here).

 

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Congress Presses Corps On Separating Great Lakes & Mississippi

Feb 3: Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, the five co-chairs of the House Great Lakes Task Force, and 26 of their House and Senate colleagues sent a letter to the civilian head of the Army Corps of Engineers today to highlight a new report, Restoring the Natural Divide, on ways to keep separate the waters of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basins [See WIMS 1/31/12]. Such measures could prevent the introduction of harmful aquatic invasive species including Asian carp into the Great Lakes. The detailed $2 million project report prepared by the engineering firm HDR, Inc. for the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, was released on January 30, 2012.

 

   In the bipartisan and bicameral letter to Jo-Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army, Civil Works, Levin and the others note that "the report provides a trove of information that the Army Corps of Engineers can use in its own study on the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River Basin and the Chicago Area Waterway System." The members asked the secretary to let them know how the Corps will use the analysis in Restoring the Natural Divide to speed up its own report, the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS). Copies were also sent to Nancy Sutley, Chair, Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and John Goss, the CEQ Asian Carp Director.

 

    Access a release from the Members including the letter and list of signers (click here). Access the report and all supporting materials (click here). 

 

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