EPA Releases Great Lakes Action Plan

Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition: ‘Any plan is only as good as the resources behind it.’ANN ARBOR, MICH. (October 22, 2019) – The EPA released its five-year strategy that will guide federal investments to restore and protect the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan 3 was released by EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler in Detroit, in a ceremony on Belle Isle, the same day the administrator was slated to address the Detroit Economic Club to discuss the Trump Administration’s roll-back of clean water and environmental protections.The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition supports both robust federal investments and strong clean water protections as essential ingredients to successful Great Lakes restoration and protection.Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, said:“The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition supports the restoration priorities in the new plan. However, any plan is only as good as the resources behind it. For the past three years, the Trump Administration has worked to cut Great Lakes funding and eviscerate clean water protections. If the Trump Administration is serious about accelerating the restoration and protection of the Great Lakes, then it can start by reversing its decision to gut clean water protections for streams and wetlands. They can then follow the lead of bi-partisan leaders in the U.S. Congress who are working to boost federal Great Lakes restoration investments.”The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan 3 contains federal restoration priorities to clean up toxic pollution, prevent and control invasive species like Asian carp, reduce polluted runoff from cities and farms, and restore fish and wildlife habitat.