Today, House Appropriators approved the fiscal year 2022 Interior and Environment funding legislation, advancing historic funding levels for key agencies and providing robust funding for clean water and Great Lakes restoration programs.

Today, the House of Representatives passed comprehensive infrastructure legislation, advancing work to bring billions of dollars of new investment to communities across the Great Lakes region.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition and groups in the eight-state Great Lakes region are calling on the U.S. Congress to invest more than $1.5 billion to clean up toxic hot-spots as part of a national infrastructure package and to boost Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding. The Coalition made its requests in two letters to Congress that were signed by more than 90 Coalition partners.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, along with six partners, sent a letter to Congress advocating for federal investment in the infrastructure of the Great Lakes basin.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition recently sent a letter to Congress advocating for full funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $375 million for the 2022 fiscal year. The letter was signed by 93 Coalition members.

In a win for clean water, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is pleased to see that the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has passed the Water Quality and Protection and Job Creation Act out of committee, with a bipartisan vote of 42 to 25.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition welcomes the newly proposed Biden Administration budget that, taken in tandem with the American Jobs Plan, presents a historic opportunity to secure sizeable federal investments to accelerate progress to restore the Great Lakes, protect the health of communities, and reverse environmental justices that have harmed vulnerable communities.

New investment is sorely needed. The Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin face more than $188 billion in water infrastructure repairs and upgrades over 20 years to meet clean water objectives and to protect the health of local communities, according to the U.S. EPA.