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1 1 (July 3, 2017)

handle is hein.crs/govcbyw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Many stakeholders recognize the Great Lakes ecosystem as an international resource that has been altered by human activities and climate variability. These alterations have led to degraded water quality, diminished habitat, smaller native fish and wildlife populations, and a changed ecosystem. In response, the federal governments of the United States and Canada, eight U.S. states, and two Canadian provincial governments in the Great Lakes basin are implementing multiple restoration efforts. Activities under these efforts range from mitigating the harmful effects of toxic substances in lake waters to restoring fish habitat. Most laws and past efforts addressed specific issues in the Great Lakes; few addressed issues at the ecosystem level. Consequently, stakeholders expressed the need for the federal government to initiate and implement a comprehensive approach for restoring the Great Lakes ecosystem. In 2010, the Obama Administration proposed and Congress began funding the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), which aims to restore the Great Lakes ecosystem under a single initiative. Specifically, GLRI aims to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem by directing activities to address five focus areas: (1) toxic substances and areas of concern (areas in the Great Lakes that are environmentally degraded); (2) invasive species; (3) nearshore health and nonpoint source pollution; (4) habitat and wildlife protection and restoration; and (5) accountability, monitoring, evaluation, communication, and partnerships. Most GLRI projects take place within the Great Lakes Drainage Basin (see Figure 1). Figure I. Great Lakes Drainage Basin .- ..--'N , Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District. Note: The Great Lakes Basin consists of the lakes and area in green. - mmm, go mppm qq\ , q I aS 11LIANJILiN, Updated July 3, 2017 ,,'Np, he m c7 i n, t a b- on, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the lead federal agency implementing and administering GLRI. In recent years, Congress has provided EPA authority, via language in annual Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations bills, to distribute appropriated funds to several federal agencies to undertake GLRI restoration activities and projects (see Table 2 for agencies receiving funding to date). EPA also administers a grant program to fund nonfederal projects and activities related to Great Lakes restoration. An interagency Great Lakes Task Force oversees implementation of GLRI and created the strategy to guide restoration, referred to as the Action Plan. The first Action Plan provided a framework for restoring the Great Lakes ecosystem. The task force is required to release new Action Plans to provide guidance for restoration every five years. The GLRI Action Plan II, published in 2014, is the second Action Plan and summarizes actions to be implemented from FY2015 to FY2019. For each focus area under GLRI, the Action Plan provides a problem statement, a set of goals, interim objectives, progress measures, final targets, and principal activities for restoring the ecosystem. Restoration activities are conducted under existing federal authorities. GLRI received approximately $2.26 billion in appropriated funds from FY2010 to FY2016; as of February 2017, $1.76 billion had been spent on 3,455 projects. (See Table 1.) Table I. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Annual Discretionary Federal Appropriations Appropriations Fiscal Year ($ in millions) FY2010 $475.0 FY201 I $300.0 FY2012 $299.5 FY2013 $298.8 FY2014 $288.9 FY2015 $300.0 FY2016 $300.0 FY2017 $250.0 FY2018 Request $0.0 Sources: FY20 I 0-FY2017 appropriations bills and explanatory statements, and FY2018 President's budget request. EPA received the majority of the funding to implement restoration projects. EPA's proposed budget for FY2018 eliminated agency funding for the GLRI program. .O 'T

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