The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Great Lakes to get additional funding
The EPA announced how it plans to use an additional $20 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
The U.S. EPA announced April 9 how it plans to use an additional $20 million Congress allocated in 2020 for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
The EPA stated in a news release the funds will be used to “further its efforts to address persistent challenges affecting the Great Lakes including Areas of Concern (AOCs), invasive species control and prevention, excess nutrients, and habitat restoration.”
“Eliminating water pollution and boosting restoration of the Great Lakes is a priority for me as administrator at EPA,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement. “With this additional $20 million, we will be able to target many harder-to-solve challenge areas like invasive species and high nutrient loads.”
The restoration initiative distributes federal funds to the eight-state Great Lakes region for projects that have removed toxic wastes from industrial harbors, fought invasive species such as Asian carp, restored wildlife habitat and supported efforts to prevent harmful algal blooms.
To determine how to use the additional $20 million, the EPA stated it “considered the GLRI Action Plan III, the traditional targets of GLRI funding, statutory and congressional directives, and current agency priorities.”
The EPA stated the additional funding breakdown is as follows:
• Accelerate the Cleanup and Restoration of Great Lakes AOCs ($7.5 million): Targeting to significant sediment remediation and habitat restoration projects to help meet the aggressive goals in GLRI Action Plan III to remediate, restore and delist U.S. AOCs.
• Fund Research and Development of Ballast Water Treatment Systems ($5 million): Supporting further invasive species prevention by funding research and development of ballast water treatment systems for cargo vessels that operate primarily, but not exclusively, within the Great Lakes.
• Support the Great Lakes Trash Free Waters Grant Program ($2 million): Continuing efforts to provide healthy habitat for fish and wildlife by keeping trash out of the Great Lakes.
• Support Great Lakes states activities to reduce excess nutrient loads, restore habitat, and control and prevent invasive species ($5 million): Targeting the highest priorities of the Great Lakes states to reduce excess nutrient loads, protect or restore habitat, and prevent and control aquatic invasive species such as Asian carp.
• Support Great Lakes National Program Office operations ($500,000): Supporting operations in the Great Lakes National Program Office.
Great Lakes area congressional members, including Reps. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge Township, and Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, were supportive of the EPA’s decision.
“As someone who grew up on the shores of Lake Erie, I am proud to have led the bipartisan effort in Congress to increase funding for this critical initiative and look forward to continuing to work with EPA and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to protect the invaluable natural resource and economic powerhouse that is the Great Lakes system,” Joyce said in a statement.
Kaptur said in a statement that the Great Lakes Restoration “meets an enormous unmet need for our region and the millions of people who depend on the Great Lakes for their drinking water, work, and leisure. The Great Lakes are among our planet’s greatest gifts.”
“The GLRI is reshaping the ecological future of our Great Lakes for the better,” she said. “I look forward to the good these funds will do through a wide variety of projects and initiatives in the region.”