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U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12), U.S. Congressman Bill Huizenga (MI-02), and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI) led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt urging him to release the FY 2016 report to Congress on the recent activities and accomplishments of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). GLRI annual reports are required by law and utilized by Members of Congress, federal agencies, local stakeholders and the public across the Great Lakes states to determine funding levels and protect the waters for future generations. The letter, signed by 48 Senators and Representatives, comes as Congress considers President Trump’s FY 2018 budget request, which completely eliminates GLRI funding.

“The GLRI is one of the most successful federal programs in leveraging public and private funding for environmental and economic restoration efforts throughout the Great Lakes basin,” the lawmakers wrote. “Give that it has been over a year since the EPA submitted the report on the progress of the GLRI program, and with important budget decisions pending before Congress, we would urge you to promptly provide the report that details project funding in FY 2016. These reports provide important transparency on the GLRI program and help the Congress oversee the projects in our region that receive this critically important funding.”

The full letter can be read here and below.

June 28, 2017

The Honorable Scott Pruitt

Administrator

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W.

Washington, DC 20460

Dear Administrator Pruitt:

We are writing to urge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Interagency Task Force (IATF) to release the FY 2016 Report to Congress on the recent activities and accomplishments of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).  Members of Congress, federal agencies, local stakeholders, and the public across the Great Lakes states rely on GLRI annual reports to protect our waters for future generations. 

The GLRI is one of the most successful federal programs in leveraging public and private funding for environmental and economic restoration efforts throughout the Great Lakes basin. Since 2010, the program has provided more than $2 billion in funding to clean up toxic Great Lakes areas of concern, prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species, limit the growth of harmful algal blooms, and restore thousands of acres of fish and wildlife habitat throughout the Great Lakes.

In the Conference Report that accompanied the FY 2010 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (P.L. 111-88), language was included that stated “beginning in 2011 and each year thereafter, the Agency [EPA] is directed to provide detailed yearly program accomplishments and compare specific funding levels allocated for participating Federal agencies from fiscal year to fiscal year.”  Additionally, the five-year authorization of the GLRI included in the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act (P.L. 114-322) passed last December required a yearly detailed description to Congress of the GLRI’s progress and amounts transferred to participating federal agencies for carrying out activities that support the GLRI. 

The EPA, through the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force, published the FY 2015 GLRI Report to Congress and the President on June 16, 2016. Given that it has been over a year since the EPA submitted the report on the progress of the GLRI program, and with important budget decisions pending before the Congress, we would urge you to promptly provide the report that details project funding in FY 2016.   These reports provide important transparency on the GLRI program and help the Congress oversee the projects in our region that receive this critically important funding.   

Thank you for considering this request, and we hope future GLRI annual reports are released in a timely and consistent manner.