The Great Lakes Task Forces have achieved much success in their nearly 25-year history. Key accomplishments include:

• Authorization for the Army Corps of Engineers to upgrade the current Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal dispersal barrier, complete a second permanent dispersal barrier, and maintain both barriers at federal expense in the Water Resources Development Act of 2007. This barrier will prevent non-native species from entering the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River through the Ship and Sanitary Canal.
• Listing of two species of Asian carp (black and silver carp) as injurious under the Lacey Act in 2007 so they cannot be imported into the country or sold across state lines.
• Passage of an amendment to allow Great Lakes domestic shipping to qualify for an alternative tonnage tax, rather than the normal corporate income tax, for operations in foreign trade in 2007.
• Authorization of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act in 1990 and subsequent reauthorizations in 1998 and 2006 to support fish and wildlife in the Great Lakes. This program authorizes $16 million in fish and wildlife restoration work throughout the region.
• Prohibition of new directional drilling for oil and natural gas under the Great Lakes. Though platform drilling has been prohibited by the eight Great Lakes states, Congress passed a series of two-year moratoriums on new drilling from Fiscal Year 2002 until Fiscal Year 2007 until a permanent prohibition was included in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The prohibition will prevent deterioration of the ecosystem and avoid the threat of drinking water contamination.
• Securing Great Lakes Restoration Funding with a one-time $30 million appropriation through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2001 for competitive grants for community-based coastal restoration activities in the Great Lakes region. Funds were divided among the Great Lakes states for competitive grants for contaminated site cleanup, storm water controls, wetland restoration, acquisition of greenways and buffers, and other projects designed to control polluted runoff, and protect and restore coastal resources.
• Authorization and funding for the Great Lakes Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration program in the Water Resources Development Act of 2000. The language authorized the Corps of Engineers to develop a general plan to restore the fishery, ecosystem, and beneficial uses of the Great Lakes fisheries, as well as implementation of the plan, including design and construct projects. This authority is being used for a variety of projects such as the Boardman River dam removal project.
• Authorization of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 and the National Invasive Species Act of 1996 to regulate ballast water in ships and establish ballast water management in the Great Lakes.
• Strengthening water quality standards throughout the Great Lakes region through passage of the Great Lakes Critical Programs Act of 1990, which required the U.S. EPA to establish water quality criteria for pollutants. The EPA estimates that this act will reduce direct toxic water discharges by six to eight million pounds per year.