Healing Our Waters Coalition » US House

New Study: We Can Stop Asian Carp, Protect Great Lakes—and not Break the Bank

Jordan Lubetkin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:06:23 +0000

Doable, affordable: Conceptual rendering of Asian carp barrier on the Calumet River. Photo/ Great Lakes Commission

This just in: We have a solution to stop Asian carp for a price that will not break the bank.

A new study, released today by the Great Lakes Commission and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, lays out solutions to stop invasive species like the Asian carp from using man-made canals connecting the Great Lakes and Mississippi River from spreading throughout U.S. waters, where they inflict damage on the environment and economy.

The report offers three different scenarios to sever the man-made connection between the two iconic waters by building a barrier (or barriers). The cost: between $3 billion and $9.5 billion.

Commenting on the report, here’s what the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition’s Jeff Skelding had to say:

“The study has the potential to be a game-changer in the effort to restore and protect the Great Lakes. It proves that we have affordable solutions to the Asian carp crisis that benefit both our environment and economy. This report should put an end to excuse-making and food-dragging and light a fire under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to do its job so that the nation can move forward on a solution to protect the Great Lakes and the jobs which depend on them.”

The study underscores three things:

1. We can do this. The study lays out in black and white that we have the technology to block the spread of harmful aquatic invasive species. As Tim Eder of the Great Lakes Commission, explained on a Michigan Public Radio report, it’s like building an earthen dam to sever the artificial connection. The solutions outlined in the report are more than feasible, they are eminently doable. Look at the above artist rendering from the summary report issued today. Anyone familiar with modern ports will see that we can do this. Today.

2. We can afford this. The price tag will attract attention, and it should. Costs ranging from $3 billion to $9.5 billion are not cheap—but they’re not exorbitant either. In fact, I see it as a bargain for several reasons.

First, the Great Lakes are worth that—and so much more. The investment will go to protect a global resource that supplies drinking water to more than 30 million people. More than 1.5 million people depend on it for their jobs—worth more than $60 billion in wages annually. The sport fishing industry alone is valued at $7 billion per year. Recreational boating is valued at $16 billion. To be sure the Asian carp and other species don’t threaten all of that—but no one can argue that the non-native fish don’t present a clear a present danger to both the environment and economy.

Second, those costs are in-line with what cities need to do to maintain infrastructure and keep their cities functioning. Maintaining roads, bridges and sewers costs money. Midwestern cities such as Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee have multi-year, multi-billion plans to upgrade their sewers. The carp barrier can be viewed as a regional infrastructure investment that will benefit citizens in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. In fact:

Third, the whole region benefits from stopping the spread of Asian carp and other invasive species. The region’s citizens, cities and businesses have paid a steep price for invasive species (see below). Similarly, the entire region will benefit from preventing further invasions. The study estimates that the region will save between $1.4 billion and $9 billion by erecting the barriers.

Fourth, if we don’t pay now, we’re going to pay a lot more later. Invasive species are living, breathing biological pollution. Once they take hold, they’re impossible to eradicate—as are their damages. Invasive species introduced via ballast water cost Great Lakes citizens, utilities and cities at least $200 million per year. What’s more, it costs roughly $20 billion to manage the invasive sea lamprey. (If you want to see an ecosystem turned on its head by invasive species, see reports by Washington Post and BBC on impacts from the Burmese pythons in Florida’s Everglades National Park.)

It’s clear that if we don’t take action now, the problem will only get worse and more costly. Or, as Dave Ullrich of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative told the Associated Press: “Yes, it’s expensive. But the cost of doing nothing is greater.”

3. We need to move faster towards a solution. The Asian carp crisis has been brewing for years, yet federal action to solve the problem has moved at a snail’s pace. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been tasked with offering its own study of options to separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River. It has dragged its feet since 2007—and claims, incredibly—that it won’t complete its own study until 2015 at the earliest.

That’s not acceptable. The U.S. Army Corps needs to expedite its study—and incorporate the findings of the new study.

Congress can help advance solutions to this problem in two ways:

1. Maintain strong support for interim measures. The Great Lakes congressional delegation needs to support policy action and necessary funding to support an aggressive, strategic short-term plan to beat back the Asian carp until a long-term solution can be implemented. It’s going to take years to solve this problem. The Great Lakes congressional delegation needs to remain united and vigilant so that we can buy time for a permanent solution.

2. Pass the Stop Asian Carp Act. The act mandates the U.S. Army Corps to complete its study by 2013 so that the nation can move forward on a solution that protect the Great Lakes and the millions of people which rely on them for their drinking water, jobs and way of life.

Coalition: 2012 Budget ‘Significant Victory for Millions Who Depend on Great Lakes’

Jordan Lubetkin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:30:12 +0000

$300 Million for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

$533 million for region to address sewage overflows

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (December 20, 2011) – The Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition is praising the 2012 federal budget bill, which has passed both chambers of Congress and is waiting to be signed into law by President Obama. The budget provides $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to clean up toxic pollution, restore wildlife habitat, stop invasive species and reduce polluted run-off from farms and cities.

The budget also includes $1.468 billion to help communities across the nation address the chronic problem of sewage overflows. Based on a fixed formula, the eight Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin will receive about $533 million through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which provides low- and no-interest loans to communities to fix old sewers.

Funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative remains relatively unchanged, receiving $300 million in fiscal year 2012 compared with $299 million in fiscal year 2011. Funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund decreased by 3.5 percent. Congress approved $1.53 billion in fiscal year 2011 and $1.46 billion in fiscal year 2012. Great Lakes states will receive an estimated $533 million in fiscal year 2012, compared with $552 in fiscal year 2011.

“The 2012 budget represents a significant victory for the millions of people who depend on the Great Lakes for their drinking water, jobs and way of life,” said Jeff Skelding, campaign director for the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “This investment will help support programs that are delivering results in communities across the region.”

The House of Representatives passed the bill 296-121 on Friday. The Senate passed the bill 67-32 on Saturday. President Obama is expected to sign the budget into law this week.

Members of Congress from the Great Lakes states were instrumental in holding the line against cuts to Great Lakes programs, including appropriations committee members Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Dan Coats (R-Ind.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), and Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.), and Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.).

“We thank the region’s congressional delegation for stepping up to the plate to make Great Lakes restoration a priority in the federal budget,” said Skelding. “Great Lakes programs are producing results—but there’s more work to do. We look forward to working with the U.S. Congress and President Obama to continue supporting Great Lakes programs that offer some of the best returns on the dollar in the federal budget.”

The Brookings Institution found that restoration activities generate at least $2 for every $1 investment. Economists at Grand Valley State University in Michigan concluded that a $10 million investment to restore Muskegon Lake in Michigan is generating more than $66 million return on investment through higher property values, increased tourism and an expanded tax base.

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is supporting more than 900 local projects in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin aimed at restoring the Great Lakes, which provide drinking water for 30 million people and support one of the world’s largest regional economies. More than 1.5 million U.S. jobs are directly connected to the Great Lakes, generating $62 billion in wages annually, according to an analysis by Michigan Sea Grant at the University of Michigan.

The budget bill did not include an amendment offered by Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) that would have forced the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete in 18 months its study that examines options to separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River. Completion of the study is essential in the effort to keep the non-native Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.

States will receive the following estimated funds through the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund based on a set national formula.

State	Fiscal year 2011 funding	Fiscal Year 2012 funding (estimate)
Illinois	$68,777,500.00	$66,243,150.00
Indiana	$36,600,000.00	$35,251,300.00
Michigan	$65,422,500.00	$63,011,800.00
Minnesota	$27,907,500.00	$26,879,100.00
New York	$167,902,500.00	$161,715,500.00
Ohio	$85,705,000.00	$82,546,900.00
Pennsylvania	$60,237,500.00	$58,017,800.00
Wisconsin	$41,175,000.00	$39,657,800.00
Total	$553,727,500.00	$533,323,450.00

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition consists of more than 120 environmental, conservation, outdoor recreation organizations, zoos, aquariums and museums representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes.

For more information visit: http://www.healthylakes.org

For Immediate Release:
Dec. 20, 2011

Contact:
Jordan Lubetkin, Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition, 734-887-7109

U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy Named as Great Lakes Task Force Co-chair

Jordan Lubetkin — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:52:41 +0000

This week the Northeast-Midwest Institute named U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) a co-chair of the Great Lakes Congressional Task Force, a bi-partisan, bicameral group that works to enhance the economic and environmental well-being of the Great Lakes.

Rep. Duffy will serve as co-chair with Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.), Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), and Candice Miller (R-Mich.) In a statement on the announcement, Rep. Miller said:

“I am very proud to welcome Congressman Sean Duffy and thank him for joining as the fourth co-chair on this bipartisan group of members who are dedicated to protecting our nation’s national treasure, the Great Lakes. I look forward to serving with him in this task force.”

The Great Lakes Task Force Senate co-chairs are Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.).

The Great Lakes Task Force has been a leader in galvanizing support from the region’s Congressional delegation from the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin for programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Better Great Lakes Through Chemistry

cgrubb — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:22:20 +0000

What do most of the 37 Great Lakes Areas of Concern have in common? A legacy of toxic chemicals, which are extremely expensive to cleanup. Today at the HOW Conference, we heard from policy professionals about opportunities to use “Green Chemistry” to make the products we use in our daily lives safer for people and the environment.

Green Chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. Dr. Lin Kaatz Charry gave a great presentation on “Green Chemistry 101” and encouraged participants to get involved in the Great Lakes Green Chemistry Network, which holds monthly webinars and is planning a 2012 Great Lakes Green Chemistry Conference in Chicago, IL.

Darrel Gerber from Clean Water Action let us know about some successful efforts on the green chemistry at the state-level in his home state of Minnesota. Notably, 2009 was a big year for advocates in that state, with advocates successfully convincing the legislature there to pass a BPA ban in baby bottles and sippy cups. Additionally, Minnesota passed the Toxic Free Kids Act.

At the federal level, Alexis Bilzman from the Ecology Center and the Michigan Network for Children’s Environmental Health discussed current efforts to update the Toxic Substances Control Act. Senator Lautenberg has introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 (S. 847) to do just that. He has garnered a number of co-signers on the bill, but so far Senators Stabenow and Levin have not signed-on.

Want to do more to support these Green Chemistry efforts? Contact your U.S. Senators and encourage them to co-sign S. 847, the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011.

Great Lakes $50 Million Funding Boost Remains Undermined by Ballast Boondoggle

Jordan Lubetkin — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 20:41:01 +0000

Some good news emerged this week in the effort to improve Great Lakes restoration funding in the 2012 House Interior-EPA funding bill. The House passed an amendment offered by Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) to add $50 million to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. His amendment passed the House 220 to 206. See how your member voted here.

That boosts Great Lakes funding in the Interior spending bill from $250 million to $300 million – a significant increase that allows more projects that protect drinking water, public health, and quality of life for people throughout the region to be funded.

The bump in restoration funding is being touted by Rep. LaTourette in the media. On Cleveland TV station WKYC’s Web site, Rep. LaTourette said:

“This is a huge victory for the Great Lakes, which contain 20 percent of the world’s fresh water. We need to make sure we protect this valuable resource,” LaTourette said.

There’s just one issue: The funding increase could be a mirage for most of the Great Lakes states. As long as Rep. LaTourette’s ballast provision remains in the spending bill, six-of-eight Great Lakes states— including LaTourette’s home state of Ohio – are at risk of losing tens of millions of dollars of federal funding.

Why? Because they’re taking action to protect their water quality and economy from the onslaught of invasive species introduced through ballast water of foreign ships. Any state like Ohio that enacts more protective standards than the ineffective federal standards are in danger of losing all EPA funding.

The ballast provision could set back restoration efforts by delaying critical protections to prevent new species from invading the Great Lakes through ballast water and causing more damage to the environment.

The provision also sells out the Great Lakes to an industry that has fought tooth and nail against cleaning up its act. For years, shippers made excuses for inaction while continuing to dump biological pollution into the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters that caused incredible economic and environmental damage. Federal public officials were complacent, doing nothing to stop the onslaught even as invasive species such as the zebra mussel spread across the country.

People, small businesses, communities and utilities were left to foot the bill. Economists estimate that the cumulative damage of invasive species in the Great Lakes in the billions of dollars—with the annual tab of at least $200 million in damages and control costs.

The shipping industry is back, working with public officials like Rep. LaTourette to escape accountability for polluting U.S. waters. The new wrinkle is that the shipping industry wants to cut states off from funds that, ironically, are being used in part to clean up the mess the shipping industry made in the first place.

In short, it’s one big ballast boondoggle.

Until this disastrous provision is stripped from the bill, our Great Lakes restoration scorecard in the Interior bill reads: one step forward and two steps – if not more – back.

It’s important to remember that the ballast provision and restoration funding comprise only a portion of the interior bill, which, as a whole, still stinks. Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding—even with the recent boost—remains far below 2010 funding levels of $475 million. Other essential programs – namely the Clean Water State Revolving Fund which helps communities stop sewage contamination into area waters – suffer huge cuts as well. Throw in the poisonous provisions in the bill which undermine clean water protections and hamper professionals at the EPA from doing their jobs, then there’s only one conclusion: This bill needs to be opposed, sent back to the drawing board and rewritten.

Mayors to Congress: Boost Restoration Funding

Jordan Lubetkin — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 19:09:39 +0000

Mayors from across the Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are calling on the U.S. House of Representatives to restore Great Lakes funding.

In a letter sent today to Speaker of the House John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor Majority and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative is urging the House to fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $475 million.

The letter is signed by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, vice chair of the cities initiative.

Coalition to Congress: Ballast Provision Undermines Restoration, Economy, Battle against Invasive Species

Jordan Lubetkin — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:54:05 +0000

As reported earlier on this site, the U.S. House Interior and EPA spending bill contains an egregious provision that undermines Great Lakes restoration, hurts state economies and sets back the national effort to stop the influx of harmful invasive species into the Lake and other U.S. waters.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition sent a letter signed by 81 member groups opposing the provision, which would strip states like New York of all EPA funding for enacting laws that are more protective than ineffective national standards. For states like Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, that amounts to losing tens of millions of dollars annually—not to mention losing ground in the effort to protect clean drinking water, prevent sewage contamination and clean up toxic pollution.

The letter states:

“State leadership has been, and will continue to be, a critical driver advancing the development of stronger standards and timelines, culminating in federal ballast water regulations that are both protective of state waters and unified across the nation. States are creating an urgency in which cutting-edge technologies are developed, verified and implemented for use. Today, we are at a crossroads in efforts to prevent aquatic invasive species introductions to our nation’s waters. As aquatic invasive species are very rarely eradicated, and extremely difficult to control, the cost incurred by more invasive species to taxpayers will be a growing burden the nation will carry forever.”

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is working to oppose the anti-Great Lakes provision—and the House Interior and EPA spending bill as a whole. The nation’s public officials can do better—and need to do better to protect the Great Lakes, one of the wonders of the world that more than 30 million people depend on for drinking water.

Coalition Opposes Provision that Strips Funding from States that are Taking Action on Invasive Species

Jordan Lubetkin — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:26:28 +0000

Ecosystem Shock: Zebra mussels and other aquatic invasive species introduced from the ballast water of ships have contributed to the breakdown of the Great Lakes aquatic food. The more than 183 non-native species in the Lakes now inflict more than $200 million annually in damages and control costs. PHOTO / EPA

There are a lot of reasons to oppose the U.S. House Interior and EPA spending bill that is expected to come to a floor vote as early as next week. The bill guts funding to essential Great Lakes restoration programs. It slashes funding to programs that help prevent sewage overflows. And it contains horrific policy riders that undermine clean water protections.

And, there is this: A provision which holds hostage federal funding from states that are taking action to prevent the introduction of invasive species through ballast water discharge.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition yesterday sent a letter to congressional offices, opposing the provision, which threatens to strip funding from states that have acted to stop invasive species introductions by implementing ballast water regulations that are more protective than federal or international standards.

The coalition’s letter states:

“This provision penalizes states for adopting long-overdue restrictions that try to stop the introduction and spread of harmful invasive species. Ship ballast is the primary pathway for the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species, which cause tremendous damage in their new homes.”

The provision, if it becomes law, would have serious consequences for Great Lakes states—barring them from receiving any EPA funding through programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund, Superfund, Brownfields funding and other EPA programs. That would amount to each state losing tens of millions of dollars of federal funding each year.

To put it in perspective, Great Lakes states received between $27 million (Minnesota) and $167 million (New York) from the EPA-administered Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund in the 2011 budget. The program helps communities modernize wastewater infrastructure to halt sewage overflows.

The provision is squarely aimed at punishing New York – which has taken strong action to protect its waters from invasive species. The law’s ambiguity, however, also likely means that states such as Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin would also lose millions of dollars of federal funding as well.

It is unfathomable to think that the federal government would ever consider penalizing states for taking action to stop invasive species. For decades, the federal government turned a blind eye to the ongoing onslaught of invasive species spilling into the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters from ballast discharge of foreign vessels. As the federal government dragged its feet and ignored the problem, a steady stream of invaders kept coming: zebra mussels, quagga mussels, round gobies, spiny water fleas and more.

The environmental and economic harm in the Great Lakes has been staggering: Aquatic invasive species have crashed the base of the aquatic food web and now cause at least $200 million annually in damages and control costs on citizens, utilities, businesses and cities.

But the damage was not contained to Great Lakes waters. The Great Lakes have been an entry point for foreign, harmful species to spread to other U.S. waters, as the colonization of zebra and quagga mussels as far west as California make clear.

The federal government did finally act—after being sued. In a case of “too little, too late,” the U.S. EPA issued a weak ballast water discharge permit that still left the Great Lakes and other U.S. waters vulnerable to invasive species. That led, predictably, to another lawsuit to force the EPA to issue a strong, protective permit.

Maybe the EPA will get it right this time. Until then, the millions of people who have waited years for a solution to the vexing problem of invasive species introduced via ballast water have states like New York to thank for standing up to stop the influx of invaders. We need to be applauding and defending states that are stepping up to the plate to protect the Lakes, not punishing them.

That’s why the federal rider that threatens to strip funding from New York and other states is plain wrong. As Jennifer Nalbone of Great Lakes United said recently in discussing the egregious bill:

“Threatening to keep funding from states that are doing the right thing on invasive species undermines the effort to restore the Great Lakes. Invasive species cost the region at least $200 million annually – and that cost will grow unless strong protections are put in place to stop the next invasion. We need both strong invasive species protection and robust restoration funding to restore the Lakes and the communities which rely on them.”

The provision holds federal funding hostage from states that are doing the right thing to protect the Great Lakes. It’s time to kill this provision and get to work to restore the Lakes.

This misguided provision is one of many atrocious riders in the 2012 interior spending bill that undermine clean water programs that millions of people in the Great Lakes and across the country depend on. It’s a bill that combines bad policy with steep funding cuts – which is why the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is urging the Great Lakes Congressional delegation to oppose the bill.

As Jeff Skelding, campaign director for the coalition recently said:

“This 2012 spending bill is bad for the Great Lakes and the millions of people who depend on them for their drinking water, jobs and way of life. Now is not the time to pull the rug out from federal restoration efforts. Great Lakes restoration efforts are producing results—but there is more to do. Unless Congress changes course, the problems facing the Lakes will be harder and more costly to solve. We urge the House to oppose this bill, go back to the drawing board and produce a bill that is good for the Lakes, our economy and way of life.”

Coalition Opposes Funding Bill that Guts Great Lakes Programs

Jordan Lubetkin — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:45:24 +0000

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition today announced its strong opposition to a House spending bill that guts programs to restore the Great Lakes and prevent sewage contamination. The bill also contains a laundry list of harmful policy riders that undermine the nation’s efforts to restore the Great Lakes and all our nation’s great waters, protect water quality, and prevent the introduction of aquatic invasive species.

Read the press release here.

Said Jeff Skelding of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition:

“This bill is bad for the Great Lakes and the millions of people who depend on them for their drinking water, jobs, and way of life. This bill will not save the nation one penny. Problems like sewage contamination and invasive species are getting worse. Cutting restoration now will make the problems harder and more costly to solve. We urge the Great Lakes Congressional delegation and the U.S. House to reject this bill, go back to the drawing board, and pass a bill that supports successful restoration programs.”

The Fiscal Year 2012 Interior and Environment Appropriations Bill decimates programs that millions of people depend on to ensure clean water for drinking, public health, recreation, and quality of life. For example, the bill:

Slashes funding to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to clean up toxic pollution, restore habitat, and control and prevent invasive species;
Guts funding for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund, which helps communities modernize wastewater infrastructure to prevent sewage overflows which contribute to beach closures;
Threatens funding to states that have acted to protect the Great Lakes from invasive species introduced by ballast water discharge; and;
Rolls back clean water protections by prohibiting the EPA from doing its job to uphold the Clean Water Act.

The coalition is urging the U.S. House of Representatives to oppose the bill, which could come up for a vote as early as this weekend. The House Appropriations Committee passed the bill last week.

U.S. House Passes Budget Bill that Slashes Programs to Restore Great Lakes and Prevent Sewage Overflows

Jordan Lubetkin — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 20:44:58 +0000

Clean water programs remain in the cross-hairs of Congressional budget-cutters.

Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee passed its fiscal year 2012 Interior-EPA funding bill. It cuts funding for the primary federal program to restore the Great Lakes and slashes funding to a national program to help communities halt stormwater and sewage overflows.

Said Jeff Skelding, campaign director for the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition:

“Cutting spending on the Great Lakes won’t save money. Problems like outdated sewage treatment, algal blooms, and invasive species are getting worse and becoming more expensive to solve with every day that we wait. Simply, the nation cannot afford not to restore the Great Lakes—more than 30 million people depend on them for drinking water. We’re counting on the Great Lakes leaders in the U.S. House to restore funding for Great Lakes restoration.”

The spending bill funds the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $250 million for fiscal year 2012, a reduction of 50 million (17 percent) from fiscal year 2011 and whopping $225 million reduction (52 percent) from fiscal year 2010.

The Clean Water State Revolving Fund fares worse. The federal program to prevent sewage waste from entering our waters (and closing beaches and posing a risk to human health) receives $689 million in the fiscal year 2012 budget. That’s a cut of $836 million (55 percent) from the fiscal year 2011 budget and more than $1.4 billion (67 percent) from the fiscal year 2010 budget.

The following chart explains how these and other clean water programs fared in the House budget, which passed on a vote of 28-18.

As if that’s not bad enough, the bill contains a laundry list of bad riders that undermine important clean water protections. (Riders are amendments that have nothing to do with the bill, but have a huge impact on the programs funded in the bill, as you can read in the following summary of riders).

All told, the bill is bad news for the millions of people in the Great Lakes region and around the country who live with beach closings, drinking water restrictions and fish consumption advisories—daily reminders of the huge amount of work that still needs to be done to restore our waters and our communities.

The next step for this bill is for the full House to consider it, which is expected the week of July 25.

The bill is a wake-up call for Great Lakes advocates. The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition will work to restore funding for these important programs and to defeat bad amendments that roll-back protections to our drinking water, public health and way of life.