II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2912 

To establish the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force, to establish the Great 

Lakes Regional Collaboration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 19, 2006 

Mr. DEWINE (for himself, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. STABENOW, and 

Mr. FEINGOLD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To establish the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force, to 

establish the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Great Lakes Coordina5 tion and Oversight Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this title: 


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1 (1) COLLABORATION.—The term ‘‘Collabora2 tion’’ means the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration 

3 established by section 4(a). 

4 (2) EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Exec5 utive Committee’’ means the Great Lakes Regional 

6 Collaboration Executive Committee established by 

7 section 4(b). 

8 (3) EXECUTIVE ORDER.—The term ‘‘Executive 

9 Order’’ means Executive Order 13340 (33 U.S.C. 

10 1268 note; relating to establishment of Great Lakes 

11 Interagency Task Force and promotion of regional 

12 collaboration of national significance for Great 

13 Lakes). 

14 (4) GREAT LAKE.—The term ‘‘Great Lake’’ 

15 means— 

16 (A) Lake Erie; 

17 (B) Lake Huron (including Lake Saint 

18 Clair); 

19 (C) Lake Michigan; 

20 (D) Lake Ontario; 

21 (E) Lake Superior; and 

22 (F) the connecting channels of those 

23 Lakes, including— 

24 (i) the Saint Marys River; 

25 (ii) the Saint Clair River; 


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1 (iii) the Detroit River; 

2 (iv) the Niagara River; and 

3 (v) the Saint Lawrence River to the 

4 Canadian border. 

5 (5) GREAT LAKES TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Great 

6 Lakes Tribe’’ means any Indian tribe, band, village, 

7 nation, or other organized group or community in 

8 the watershed basin of a Great Lake that is recog9 nized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as eligible for 

10 the special programs and services provided by the 

11 United States to Indians because of their status as 

12 Indians. 

13 (6) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 

14 means the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force es15 tablished by section 3. 

16 SEC. 3. GREAT LAKES INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE. 

17 (a) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The Great 

18 Lakes Interagency Task Force, as established by the Ex19 ecutive Order 13340 for administrative purposes, is estab20 lished as a task force within the Environmental Protection 

21 Agency. 

22 (b) DUTIES.—In addition to the duties described in 

23 the Executive Order, the Task Force shall— 


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1 (1) ensure that implementation of programs 

2 and projects under the authority of Task Force 

3 members is coordinated, effective, and cost-efficient; 

4 (2) submit to Congress a biennial report that 

5 describes the projects and activities carried out by 

6 the Collaboration during the 2-year period covered 

7 by the report, including a description of— 

8 (A) any actions that Federal agencies can 

9 take to address the biennial restoration goals; 

10 (B) Federal expenditures to meet the res11 toration goals and the amount of non-Federal 

12 funding leveraged by those Federal expendi13 tures; and 

14 (C) the indicators and monitoring used to 

15 determine whether the goals will be met; 

16 (3) establish a regular means of communication 

17 with the Executive Committee to exchange informa18 tion and recommendations for action; and 

19 (4) ensure that the activities of the Task Force 

20 are coordinated with the activities of the Lake 

21 Champlain Basin Program. 

22 SEC. 4. GREAT LAKES REGIONAL COLLABORATION. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Great 

24 Lakes Regional Collaboration. 

25 (1) MEMBERSHIP.— 


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1 (A) COMPOSITION.—The Collaboration 

2 shall be composed of— 

3 (i) the members of the Executive 

4 Committee; and 

5 (ii) each other individual or entity 

6 that notifies the Executive Committee, in 

7 writing, of the desire and intent of the in8 dividual or entity to participate in the Col9 laboration. 

10 (B) BALANCED REPRESENTATION OF

11 STAKEHOLDER GROUPS.—The Collaboration 

12 shall have a balanced representation of inter13 ested stakeholder groups, including— 

14 (i) members of academia; 

15 (ii) municipalities; 

16 (iii) nongovernmental organizations; 

17 (iv) property owners; 

18 (v) recreational boaters; 

19 (vi) recreational fisheries; 

20 (vii) representatives of environmental 

21 interests; and 

22 (viii) representatives of industry. 

23 (2) DUTIES OF THE COLLABORATION.—Not 

24 later than 3 years after the date of enactment of 

25 this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the CollaboraVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:59 May 22, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2912.IS S2912

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1 tion shall draft a strategy using the best available 

2 science— 

3 (A) to describe the health of the Great 

4 Lakes; and 

5 (B) to identify Great Lakes restoration 

6 goals. 

7 (b) THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.— 

8 (1) COMPOSITION.—The Executive Committee 

9 shall be composed of— 

10 (A) the Chairperson of the Task Force; 

11 (B) a representative of the Council of 

12 Great Lakes Governors, as agreed upon by the 

13 Governors; 

14 (C) a representative of the Great Lakes 

15 and Saint Lawrence Cities Initiative, as agreed 

16 upon by the majority of mayors of those cities; 

17 and 

18 (D) a designated representative of the 

19 Great Lakes Tribes, as agreed upon by those 

20 Tribes. 

21 (c) DUTIES.—The Executive Committee shall— 

22 (1) establish a process for communicating with 

23 the members of the Collaboration; 


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1 (2) work with the members of the Collaboration 

2 to develop a strategy for the restoration of the Great 

3 Lakes as required in subsection (a)(2); 

4 (3) after completing the strategy, develop a list 

5 of short-term and long-term goals and identify the 

6 level of government that is best able to achieve each 

7 goal; 

8 (4) hold semiannual public meetings to dis9 cuss— 

10 (A) Great Lakes restoration goals; and 

11 (B) the progress in carrying out those 

12 goals; 

13 (5) receive input and consider recommendations 

14 relating to the proposed goals described in para15 graph (3) from interested stakeholder groups de16 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(B); 

17 (6) submit to the Congress and the Task Force 

18 a biennial report that includes— 

19 (A) an analysis of progress in— 

20 (i) carrying out the restoration of the 

21 Great Lakes; and 

22 (ii) meeting the goals and the rec23 ommendations of the strategy developed by 

24 the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration 

25 and under this Act; and 


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1 (B) contributions made by— 

2 (i) Great Lakes States; 

3 (ii) municipal partners; and 

4 (iii) Great Lakes Tribes; and 

5 (7) ensure that— 

6 (A) the Collaboration has a balanced rep7 resentation of interested stakeholder groups de8 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(B); and 

9 (B) the strategy developed by the Collabo10 ration is coordinated with the activities of the 

11 Lake Champlain Basin Program. 

12 (d) SUBCOMMITTEES.—The members of the Execu13 tive Committee may designate representatives to work as 

14 1 or more subcommittees to provide staff support and oth15 erwise assist in carrying out responsibilities of the Execu16 tive Committee relating to the Collaboration. 

17 SEC. 5. EFFICIENCY EVALUATIONS OF COMMITTEES AND 

18 OFFICES. 

19 The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

20 Agency shall evaluate each committee and office that over21 sees a Great Lakes program— 

22 (1) to identify overlapping duties; and 

23 (2) to develop recommendations to improve the 

24 efficiency of those committees and offices. 

Æ 


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