About

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

When running for president, Barack Obama issued a campaign promise to protect and restore the Great Lakes. The pledge built upon a May 2004 Executive Order that created the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force to coordinate federal restoration efforts. In 2005, some 1,500 stakeholders created the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy (GLRC Strategy) that outlines challenges facing the lakes, a framework for restoration and protection, and a common set of recommended solutions across eight priority issue areas:

• Aquatic Invasive Species
• Habitat/Species
• Coastal Health
• Areas of Concern (AOCs)/Sediments
• Nonpoint Source
• Toxic Pollutants
• Indicators and Information
• Sustainable Development[1]

 Released in May 2009, the President’s FY 2010 budget included $475 million for a new Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (Initiative), strategically targeting programs and projects to address the most significant problems in the Great Lakes ecosystem to demonstrate measurable results. EPA, in concert with its federal partners on the Task Force and other stakeholders, is leading the development and implementation of this Initiative and will administer the funding. Building upon the extensive planning and collaboration that was done by the Task Force and a wide variety of stakeholders and non-governmental partners in development of the GLRC Strategy, the Task Force developed a plan for FY 2010.[2]

 The Initiative presents an unprecedented opportunity to systematically tackle the environmental challenges that have persisted for decades.  In July and August 2009, EPA held a series of public meetings with agencies and stakeholders in the Great Lakes states to get public feedback on the highest priority issues in each focus area, both basinwide and locally, and to get suggestions for how to address these issues to maximize results under the Initiative. This Action Plan incorporates those basinwide and local priorities into a five year time frame for action. Federal agencies will begin implementing that FY 2010 plan upon appropriation of funding by Congress.

 

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[1] The Initiative collapses these eight focus areas into five. A ninth focus area, concerning water quantity issues, was excluded from the GLRC Strategy because it was being addressed through a separate process: the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. The Sustainable Development area also identified a $13.75 billion need over five years to update old water infrastructure in the Basin, which is deteriorating, thereby increasing risks to human health and the environment. Drinking water infrastructure is in similar need of repair and upgrade. Infrastructure needs are not being addressed by GLRI but through increased funding for the State Revolving Funds through EPA’s Regional offices.

[2] The FY 2010 plan, together with documents describing Agency actions therein and the programs and projects to carry it out, are posted to http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/glri/index.html.