LEGISLATIVE UPDATES
- Appropriations and Budget
- Updated numbers for Great Lakes program funding for FY2012-15 request
- The House passed the CJS bill, which includes funding for NOAA
- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Agriculture bills, along with others, are expected in June in the House; the Senate has posted its report for theAgriculture bill
- The GLWP will publish updated numbers on Great Lakes and Northeast-Midwestregional programs as they become available from the Committees
- Water Resources Reform and Development Act Passes
- The House and Senate passed the WRRDA Bill with larger majorities
- The Conference Committee includes Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chair, Rep. Candice Miller (MI-10), as well as delegation member, Rep. Rick Nolan (MN-08)
- NEMWI released a summary comparison of the Senate and House bills
EVENTS
Senate Holds Hearing on Winter Propane Shortage
On Thursday, May 1, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing, entitled “Short on Gas: A look into the propane shortages this winter”. The hearing focused on the propane shortage in the Midwestern states during the 2013-4 winter and included witnesses from the Department of Energy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and regional representatives of pipelines, and propane services and customers. Great Lakes Task Force Member, Sen. Al Franken (MN), was joined in questioning witnesses on the past problem and future solutions by Great Lakes Delegation members Sens. Tammy Baldwin (WI) and Rob Portman (OH). Potential solutions offered for consideration included: increased storage capacity with mention of the Finger Lakes storage facility; a streamlined emergency response from FERC; dedicated pipelines; and better information and connections to market status.
REPORTS/LETTERS
Senators Send letter to EPW requesting hearing on GLEEPA
10 Senators, led by Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs Sens. Carl Levin (MI) and Mark Kirk (IL), sent a letter to Environment and Public Works leadership, requesting a hearing on the Great Lakes Ecological and Economic Protection Act (S. 1232). The request cites the need to ensure Congress is wisely spending taxpayer dollars, improving accountability and results in cleaning up the Great Lakes. A hearing within the EPW Committee would be a first step towards consideration and potential passage of the bill into law. A companion bill in the House, led by the Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs Reps. Candice Miller (MI-10), John Dingell (MI-12), Louise Slaughter (NY-25) and Member Rep. David Joyce (OH-14), is still awaiting consideration by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Great Lakes Task Forces receive response to questions on GLMRIS
In March and April, the Great Lakes Delegation Members in the House and Senate, including Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs Sen. Carl Levin (MI) and Reps. Candice Miller (MI-10), John Dingell (MI-12), Sean Duffy (WI-07), and Louise Slaughter (NY-25), sent companion letters to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy, requesting additional information regarding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Great Lakes-Mississippi River Interbasin Study. The study looked at the potential for species to transfer between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins, focusing the Chicago Area Waterway System. The letters asked questions regarding what the Corps plans to do with the remaining FY2014 funding for GLMRIS, what steps and partners would be needed to implement the non-structural options identified in Alternative 2 of the GLMRIS report, whether the Corps will undertake an independent peer review of the GLMRIS report, needs to fully study the Brandon Road option, among others. The Corps’ response noted the amount of funding projected to be left over from FY2014 ($1.5 M), as well as the potential to further study aquatic nuisance species control technologies like the GLMRIS Lock.
ADMINISTRATION
Draft FY2015-19 GLRI Action Plan Released
The FY2010-14 Action for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is set to expire at the end of the fiscal year in September. The administration has released its Draft Action Plan for FY2015-19, on which numerous webinars and a Capitol Hill briefing will be held. Public comment is open until the Action Plan is published but will be most helpful, the agency notes, if received by June 30, 2014.
UPCOMING EVENTS
NEMWI Briefing: 21st Century Innovation in Great Lakes Monitoring: Fisheries Science and Technology | June 10, 1:30 pm | Capitol Visitor’s Center, SVC-200 | Washington, DC
NEMWI Briefing: GLRI Draft Action Plan FY2015-19 | June 11, 1:30 pm | Rayburn House Office Building 2167 | Washington, DC
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative Annual Meeting | June 17-19 | Thunder Bay, ON
NEMWI Briefing: Wastewater Infrastructure in the Great Lakes | June 23, 1:00 pm | Capitol Visitor’s Center, SVC-214 | Washington, DC
NEMWI Briefing: Asian Carp Monitoring Framework 2014 | June 24, 1:30 pm | Capitol Visitor’s Center, SVC-200 | Washington, DC
THE GREAT LAKES “IMPACT” – peculiar
Great Lakes Brewers making an impact
Fog Rolls in Lake Michigan