Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

The President's 2010 Budget provides $475 million in EPA's budget for a new Environmental Protection Agency-led, interagency Great Lakes restoration initiative, which will target the most significant problems in the region, including invasive aquatic species, non-point source pollution, and contaminated sediment.

This initiative will use outcome-oriented performance goals and measures to target the most significant problems and track progress in addressing them. EPA and its Federal partners will coordinate State, tribal, local, and industry actions to protect, maintain, and restore the chemical, biological, and physical integrity of the Great Lakes.

The Initiative builds upon 5 years of work of the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force (IATF) and stakeholders, guided by the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy . The IATF includes 16 cabinet and agency organizations, including: EPA, State, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, HUD, Transportation, Homeland Security, Army, CEQ, and Health and Human Services.

To jump-start the Initiative, the IATF has developed a Plan (PDF) (18pp, 103KB) for the proposed $475 million budget, including over $250 million in grants and project agreements and jump-starting achievement of long term goals: safely eating the fish and swimming at our beaches, assuring safe drinking water, and providing a healthy ecosystem for fish and wildlife. A companion Agency Actions (PDF) (26pp, 97KB) document describes what proposed accomplishments for each Agency pursuant to the Initiative. A summary of FY 2010 proposed programs and projects (28pp, 516KB) is also available. The Initiative is proposed to Congress as part of EPA's 2010 Congressional Justification (PDF) (319pp, 1.9MB)

In the summer of 2009, Agencies will initiate processes for one or more Requests for Proposals for competitive grants advancing the Initiative, in order that some grants may be issued as early as December, 2009. A series of stakeholder meetings, open to the public, will be held in July and August 2009 in various Great Lakes locations.

Throughout the summer of 2009, the Interagency Task Force will work to develop a Great Lakes Restoration Plan for FY 2011 and beyond. The IATF will seek public input in developing this Plan.

To be added to a listserv which will provide updates on funding information, including funding information about the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, we request that you go to to http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/maillist/index.html.

Documents of interest: