Great Lakes Coalition to Take Case for Funding to Congress (Photo of Congresswoman Kaptur and her name mentioned in the caption)
February 15, 2016
By: Tom Henry, Toledo Blade
February 15, 2016
Disappointed but not surprised, the Great Lakes region’s largest coalition said it will take its case to Congress again for more robust funding of federal programs designed to protect drinking water, beaches, and shorelines.
The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is irked that President Obama’s $4.1 trillion budget for fiscal year 2017 calls for a $50 million cut to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which Congress funded in the current fiscal year at $300 million.
Released last week, the Obama Administration’s budget plan also calls for cutting the U.S. EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund, the account communities such as Toledo use for low-interest loans to fix sewage systems and prevent sewage overflows into rivers and streams. President Obama recommends $979 million for that program, $414 million less than what’s currently appropriated.
Money from that fund is split among states by formula. States then distribute the money as grants and loans.
If enacted, President Obama’s budget would send about $355 million to the Great Lakes region — a cut of about $148 million from what the eight states received in the current budget. A U.S. EPA report released in January estimated the cost for maintaining or improving the nation’s wastewater at $271 billion, much of which would have to be committed to aging Great Lakes region infrastructure.
The coalition has more than 125 member groups. They are in each of the eight Great Lakes states and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
In Ohio, they include Lake Erie Waterkeeper, the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association, the Lake Erie Improvement Association, the League of Women Voters of Ohio, the Ohio Environmental Council, Ohio League of Conservation Voters, Partners for Clean Streams Inc., the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, and the Winous Point Shooting Club.
The coalition was formed in 2004 as former President George W. Bush’s administration was preparing to release a landmark inventory for Great Lakes needs.
After more than a year of meetings involving thousands of people throughout the basin, the Bush administration outlined what amounted in 2005 to nearly $23 billion of work. Citing the war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina, though, it was never funded.
During his 2008 campaign, Mr. Obama vowed to bring the region its first $5 billion in new money if elected president.
He never did. The program he created, the GLRI, was funded at $500 million its first year in 2009. It has usually been funded at $300 million a year or less since, meaning Mr. Obama — a Chicago native —likely won’t meet even half that campaign promise.
Todd Ambs, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition campaign director, called Mr. Obama’s budget plan “disappointing.”
“Congress has rebuffed President Obama’s proposed cuts to Great Lakes programs before. And we look forward to working again with Republicans and Democrats in Congress to restore funding to Great Lakes protection efforts that are producing results for the environment and economy in communities across the region,” Mr. Ambs said.
The U.S. EPA did not respond to questions about the administration’s proposed GLRI cuts. It said in a news release the administration’s request is for $127 million more than what the agency got for the current fiscal year and said Mr. Obama has laid out “a strategy to ensure that steady progress is made in addressing known environmental problems” and “challenges of the future.”
On a more positive note, Mr. Obama has proposed $1.02 billion — a $157 million increase — in funds for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, which helps communities improve their tap water with low-interest loans that help fix deficiencies in water systems.
The coalition said the Flint, Mich., water crisis “has underscored the need” for such fixes.
Before the Flint crisis emerged, Toledo’s algae-induced water crisis of August, 2014, had been the nation’s most high-profile one, mentioned in several of U.S. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy’s speeches.