|
PRESIDENT BUSH’S
BUDGET HANGS GREAT LAKES OUT TO DRY
Shortly after the Great Lakes Regional
Collaboration (initiated by the President in May 2004) unveiled a historic
plan to restore the Great Lakes, the President failed to provide the
funding that would have solidified the commitment put on paper to the
34 million residents of the Great Lakes.
The President released his budget for 2007 fiscal
year last Monday which contained cuts to many of the programs
necessary to restore the Great Lakes. His proposed budget fails to meet
the needs of the Great Lakes citizens, mayors,
governors, Tribes, members of the Congress, and other advocates who
united around the plan to restore and protect the Great
Lakes. Cuts in
the budget include:
Ř
$193 million to the
national Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which assists communities
in updating their sewer systems so that raw sewage does not
contaminate lakes and beaches;
Ř
$1 million to the Great
Lakes National Program Office, which administers grants to the region
and is responsible for implementing the $20 billion Great Lakes
Regional Collaboration plan; and
Ř
$2 million to the Great
Lakes Fishery Commission, which is responsible for controlling the
Sea Lamprey.
Furthermore,
funding for the Corps of Engineers’ work in the Great Lakes
was substantially cut. Many
of the environmental programs administered by the Corps including the
Great Lakes Fishery & Ecosystem Restoration, Great Lakes Remedial
Action Plans & Sedimentation Remediation, and John
Glenn Basin
program received no funding.
The President’s budget includes some increase to Great
Lakes programs including $19 million to the Great Lakes
Legacy Act to clean up contaminated sediments at Areas of Concern and
$2 million in the North American Conservation Action to preserve fish
and wildlife. Additionally, the EPA’s budget references a
federal/state effort to develop plans to restore, enhance, and
protect 200,000 acres of wetlands in the Great Lakes,
but additional information is not available.
Despite these slight increases, the health of the
Great Lakes remains in jeopardy. The current funding has not been
adequate enough to protect and restore the Great Lakes
and the situation will only continue to get worse if the funding
levels for the Lakes are further decreased.
Without
the commitment of the President, we now must turn to Congress to
invest in the Great Lakes. Congress is ultimately responsible
for funding and has the ability to step in and make Great Lakes a
priority. Everyone that united in support of the plan to restore and
protect the Great Lakes must remain as one
calling on Congress to provide the funding that will restore and
protect our Lakes for our health, economy, and way of life. We can no longer afford to leave the Great
Lakes unfunded.
CALL FOR PAPERS
Restore
America’s
Estuaries’
3rd National
Conference and Expo on
Coastal and Estuarine
Habitat Restoration
“Forging the National Imperative”
December 9-13, 2006
New Orleans, Louisiana,
Hilton Riverside Hotel
ť Call for Sessions,
Presentations & Posters ś
RAE is extremely interested in having
representation of Great Lakes issues at the
National Conference and I would encourage you to consider submitting
a proposal.
For
more information or to download the application, visit http://www.estuaries.org/conference. Email
inquiries to conference@estuaries.org,
or call 703-524-0248.
MICHIGAN
FINALLY PASSES GROUNDWATER PROTECTION LEGISLATION
Yesterday, the Michigan Legislature passed
comprehensive water use bills that create many new vital protections
for Michigan’s
waterways. Senate Bills 850,
851, 852, 854, and 857 passed the House Natural Resources, Great
Lakes, Land Use and Environment Committee and the House
of Representatives with the Senate concurring the House
amendments. The bills are a
significant improvement over current law. The bills establish a way
for Michigan to provide
oversight and protection for its groundwater resources.
For the first time, major water users in Michigan
will need to get a permit from the state that proves they will not
adversely impact waterways.
The protections only focus on trout streams for the first two
years. Upon the two year
mark, the protections will extend to every lake, river, and stream in
the state. Requirements for a
permit will also be applied to the largest water users, those over 2
million gallons per day from inland waters and 5 million gallons per
day from the Great Lakes. In addition, the bills require
each sector to design best management practices for the efficient use
of water. All users must
report their use accurately and provide the opportunity for
communities to become more involved in local water use
decisions.
Furthermore, large water bottling operations will
now need to seek a permit and prove they will not adversely impact
our natural resources or riparian rights and will offset any damage
to the environment that occurs as a result of their operations. While this is an improvement from
previous protections (or really the lack thereof), the bills only
apply to diversions in containers larger than 5.7 gallons. Containers smaller than the 5.7
gallons are exempt from being considered a diversion. Even though bottled water
operations are not considered diversions, they are now subject to
public scrutiny and strict standards before they can obtain
permission to use our water.
More work is needed on the exemption and many groups will
continue to work to protect Michigan’s
water from being exported regardless the size of the container. However, the bi-partisan efforts
of our legislature and the Governor to take these important steps are
to be commended.
|
