II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 508 

To provide for the environmental restoration of the Great Lakes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2005 

Mr. DEWINE (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. 

BAYH, Mr. DAYTON, and Mr. KOHL) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

A BILL 

To provide for the environmental restoration of the Great 

Lakes. 

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 Environ5 mental Restoration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the Great Lakes and the connecting chan9 nels of the Great Lakes form the largest freshwater 

system in the world, holding 1 10 ⁄5 of the fresh surface 
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water supply of the world and 9 1 ⁄10 of the fresh sur2 face water supply of the United States; 

3 (2) 30 years after the date of enactment of the 

4 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

5 1251 et seq.), water quality in the Great Lakes has 

6 improved, but the Great Lakes remain in a degraded 

7 state; 

8 (3) evidence of the degraded environment of the 

9 Great Lakes includes— 

10 (A) a record 599 closings of Great Lakes 

11 beaches in 2001; 

12 (B) an increase to 20 percent in the per13 centage of Great Lakes shoreline that contains 

14 polluted sediments; and 

15 (C) the issuance by State and local au16 thorities of 1,400 fish consumption advisories 

17 relating to the Great Lakes; 

18 (4) the Great Lakes are sources of drinking 

19 water for approximately 40,000,000 people in the 

20 United States and Canada; 

21 (5) in the years since the Great Lakes Water 

22 Quality Agreement was signed and the United 

23 States and Canada agreed to ‘‘restore and maintain 

24 the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the 

25 waters of the Great Lakes Basin and give priority 
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1 attention to the 43 designated Areas of Concern’’, 

2 no sites have been restored in the United States; 

3 (6) it is the responsibility of the Federal Gov4 ernment and State and local governments to ensure 

5 that the Great Lakes remain a clean and safe source 

6 of water for drinking, fishing, and swimming; and 

7 (7) while the total quantity of resources needed 

8 to restore the Great Lakes is unknown, additional 

9 funding is needed now to augment existing efforts to 

10 address the known threats facing the Great Lakes. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 

14 Great Lakes Environmental Restoration Advisory 

15 Board established by section 5(a). 

16 (2) GREAT LAKE.—The term ‘‘Great Lake’’ 

17 means— 

18 (A) Lake Erie; 

19 (B) Lake Huron (including Lake Saint 

20 Clair); 

21 (C) Lake Michigan; 

22 (D) Lake Ontario; 

23 (E) Lake Superior; and 

24 (F) the connecting channels of those 

25 Lakes, including— 
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1 (i) the Saint Marys River; 

2 (ii) the Saint Clair River; 

3 (iii) the Detroit River; 

4 (iv) the Niagara River; and 

5 (v) the Saint Lawrence River to the 

6 Canadian border. 

7 (3) GREAT LAKES STATE.—The term ‘‘Great 

8 Lakes State’’ means each of the States of Illinois, 

9 Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, 

10 Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. 

11 (4) GREAT LAKES SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Great 

12 Lakes system’’ means all the streams, rivers, lakes, 

13 and other bodies of water in the drainage basin of 

14 the Great Lakes. 

15 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

16 the Great Lakes Environmental Restoration Grant 

17 Program established by section 4(a). 

18 (6) PROGRAM OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Program 

19 Office’’ means the Great Lakes National Program 

20 Office of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

21 (7) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 

22 means the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force es23 tablished by section 6(a). 
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1 SEC. 4. GREAT LAKES RESTORATION GRANTS. 

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

3 Lakes Environmental Restoration Grant Program, to be 

4 administered by the Program Office. 

5 (b) GRANTS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—In coordination with the 

7 Board, the Program Office shall provide to States, 

8 municipalities, and other applicants grants for use in 

9 and around the Great Lakes in carrying out— 

10 (A) contaminated sediment cleanup; 

11 (B) wetland restoration; 

12 (C) invasive species control and prevention; 

13 (D) coastal wildlife and fisheries habitat 

14 improvement; 

15 (E) public access improvement; 

16 (F) water quality improvement; 

17 (G) sustainable water use; 

18 (H) nonpoint source pollution reduction; or 

19 (I) such other projects and activities to re20 store, protect, and assist the recovery of the 

21 Great Lakes as the Board may determine. 

22 (2) DISTRIBUTION.—In providing grants under 

23 this section for a fiscal year, the Program Office 

24 shall ensure that— 

25 (A) at least 1 project or activity is funded 

26 in each Great Lakes State for the fiscal year; 
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1 (B) the amount of funds received by each 

2 Great Lakes State under this section for the 

3 fiscal year is at least 6 percent, but not more 

4 than 30 percent, of the total amount of funds 

5 made available for grants under this section for 

6 the fiscal year; 

7 (C) each project or activity for which fund8 ing is provided results in 1 or more tangible im9 provements in the Great Lakes watershed; and 

10 (D) each project or activity for which fund11 ing is provided addresses 1 or more priority 

12 issue areas identified by the Board for the fiscal 

13 year. 

14 (3) GRANT EVALUATION.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—In evaluating grant 

16 proposals, the Program Office shall give great 

17 weight to the ranking of proposals by the Board 

18 under section 5(c)(3). 

19 (B) DECISION NOT TO FUND.—Not later 

20 than 30 days after the date of the determina21 tion, if the Program Office decides not to fund 

22 a grant proposal ranked by the Board as 1 of 

23 the top 10 proposals meriting funding, the Pro24 gram Office shall provide to the Board a writ-
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1 ten statement explaining the reasons why the 

2 proposal was not funded. 

3 (4) FUNDING LIMITATIONS.—Funds provided 

4 under the Program shall not be used for any of the 

5 following activities: 

6 (A) Design, construction, or improvement 

7 of a road, except as required in connection with 

8 a sewer upgrade. 

9 (B) Design, implementation, or evaluation 

10 of a research or monitoring project or activity, 

11 except as required in connection with a project 

12 or activity that will result in a tangible improve13 ment to the Great Lakes watershed. 

14 (C) Design or implementation of a beau15 tification project or activity that does not result 

16 in a tangible improvement to the Great Lakes 

17 watershed. 

18 (D) Litigation expenses, including legal ac19 tions to address violations of the Federal Water 

20 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.), 

21 the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

22 1531 et seq.), or any other environmental law 

23 or regulation. 
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1 (E) Lobbying expenses (as defined in sec2 tion 2 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 

3 (2 U.S.C. 1602)). 

4 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

6 appropriated to carry out this section $600,000,000 

7 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 2015. 

8 (2) COST SHARING.—The Federal share of the 

9 cost of any project or activity carried out using 

10 funds made available under paragraph (1) shall not 

11 exceed 80 percent. 

12 (3) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The non-Fed13 eral share of the cost of any project or activity car14 ried out using funds made available under para15 graph (1) may be provided in cash or in kind. 

16 SEC. 5. GREAT LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION AD17 VISORY BOARD. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com19 mittee to be known as the ‘‘Great Lakes Environmental 

20 Restoration Advisory Board’’. 

21 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall be com23 posed of 21 voting members (or designees of the 

24 members), of whom— 
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1 (A) 8 shall be the Governors of the Great 

2 Lakes States; 

3 (B) 1 shall be the Director of the Great 

4 Lakes National Program Office; 

5 (C) 1 shall be the Secretary of the Interior; 

6 (D) 1 shall be the Director of the National 

7 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; 

8 (E) 1 shall be the Chief of Engineers; 

9 (F) 1 shall be the Secretary of Agriculture; 

10 and 

11 (G) 8 shall be chief executives of cities, 

12 counties, or municipalities in the Great Lakes 

13 basin and selected by the Steering Committee 

14 of the Great Lakes Cities Initiative, including 1 

15 member from each Great Lakes State. 

16 (2) OBSERVERS.—The Board may include ob17 servers, including— 

18 (A) the Premiers of the Canadian Prov19 inces of Ontario and Quebec; 

20 (B) a representative of the Government of 

21 Canada; 

22 (C) a representative of the State Depart23 ment; 

24 (D) 8 representatives of environmental or25 ganizations (with 1 member appointed by the 
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1 Governor of each Great Lakes State), includ2 ing— 

3 (i) Great Lakes United; 

4 (ii) the Lake Michigan Federation; 

5 (iii) the National Wildlife Federation; 

6 (iv) the Sierra Club; and 

7 (v) The Nature Conservancy; 

8 (E) 5 representatives of industry selected 

9 by the chairperson of the Board; 

10 (F) the Chairperson of the United States 

11 section of the International Joint Committee; 

12 (G) the Vice Chairperson of the United 

13 States section of the Great Lakes Fishery Com14 mission; 

15 (H) the Chairperson of the Great Lakes 

16 Commission; and 

17 (I) 3 representatives of Native Americans 

18 selected by the President. 

19 (3) DATE OF APPOINTMENTS.—The appoint20 ment of each member of the Board shall be made 

21 not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

22 of this Act. 

23 (4) TERM; VACANCIES.— 

24 (A) TERM.—A member of the Board shall 

25 be appointed for 5 years. 
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1 (B) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the 

2 Board— 

3 (i) shall not affect the powers of the 

4 Board; and 

5 (ii) shall be filled in the same manner 

6 as the original appointment was made. 

7 (5) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet at the 

8 call of the chairperson. 

9 (6) CHAIRPERSON.—The Board shall select a 

10 chairperson of the Board from the members ap11 pointed under paragraph (1)(A). 

12 (c) DUTIES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before the beginning of the 

14 fiscal year, the Board shall determine by majority 

15 vote, and shall submit to the Program Office, the 

16 funding priority issue areas that shall apply to all 

17 grants provided under section 4 during the fiscal 

18 year. 

19 (2) GREAT LAKES GOALS.—The priorities shall 

20 be based on environmental restoration goals for the 

21 Great Lakes that— 

22 (A) are prepared by the Governors of 

23 Great Lakes States; and 
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1 (B) identify specific objectives and the best 

2 methods by which to produce a tangible im3 provement to the Great Lakes. 

4 (3) GRANTS.— 

5 (A) PROGRAM OFFICE.—The Program Of6 fice shall provide to the Board, in a timely man7 ner, copies of grant proposals submitted under 

8 section 4. 

9 (B) BOARD.—The Board shall— 

10 (i) review the grant proposals; and 

11 (ii) by a date specified by the Pro12 gram Office, provide to the Program Office 

13 a list of the grant applications that the 

14 Board recommends for funding, ranked in 

15 order of the applications that most merit 

16 funding. 

17 SEC. 6. GREAT LAKES INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established, in the 

19 Environmental Protection Agency, the Great Lakes Inter20 agency Task Force. 

21 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Task Force 

22 are— 

23 (1) to help establish a process for collaboration 

24 among the members of the Task Force, the members 

25 of the working group established under subsection 
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1 (e)(1), the Great Lakes States, local communities, 

2 tribes, regional bodies, and other interests in the 

3 Great Lakes region regarding policies, strategies, 

4 projects, and priorities for the Great Lakes system; 

5 (2) to collaborate with Canada and binational 

6 bodies involved in the Great Lakes region regarding 

7 policies, strategies, projects, and priorities for the 

8 Great Lakes system; 

9 (3) to coordinate the development of consistent 

10 Federal policies, strategies, projects, and priorities 

11 for addressing the restoration and protection of the 

12 Great Lakes system and assisting in the appropriate 

13 management of the Great Lakes system; 

14 (4) to develop outcome-based goals for the 

15 Great Lakes system relying on— 

16 (A) existing data and science-based indica17 tors of water quality and related environmental 

18 factors, and other factors; 

19 (B) focusing on outcomes such as cleaner 

20 water, sustainable fisheries, and biodiversity of 

21 the Great Lakes system; and 

22 (C) ensuring that Federal policies, strate23 gies, projects, and priorities support measurable 

24 results; 
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1 (5) to exchange information regarding policies, 

2 strategies, projects, and priorities related to the 

3 Great Lakes system between the agencies rep4 resented on the Task Force; 

5 (6) to coordinate action of the Federal Govern6 ment associated with the Great Lakes system; 

7 (7) to ensure coordinated Federal scientific and 

8 other research associated with the Great Lakes sys9 tem; 

10 (8) to ensure coordinated development and im11 plementation of the Great Lakes portion of the 

12 Global Earth Observation System of Systems by the 

13 Federal Government; and 

14 (9) to provide assistance and support to agen15 cies represented on the Task Force in the activities 

16 of the agencies related to the Great Lakes system. 

17 (c) MEMBERSHIP AND OPERATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall con19 sist of— 

20 (A) the Administrator of the Environ21 mental Protection Agency; 

22 (B) the Secretary of State; 

23 (C) the Secretary of the Interior; 

24 (D) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

25 (E) the Secretary of Commerce; 
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1 (F) the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

2 Development; 

3 (G) the Secretary of Transportation; 

4 (H) the Secretary of Homeland Security; 

5 (I) the Secretary of the Army; and 

6 (J) the Chairperson of the Council on En7 vironmental Quality. 

8 (2) OPERATION.—A member of the Task Force 

9 may designate to perform the Task Force functions 

10 of the member any person who is part of the depart11 ment, agency, or office of the member and who is— 

12 (A) an officer of the United States ap13 pointed by the President; or 

14 (B) a full-time employee of the United 

15 States serving in a position with pay equal to 

16 or great than the minimum rate payable for 

17 grade GS–15 of the General Schedule. 

18 (d) CHAIRPERSON.—The Administrator of the Envi19 ronmental Protection Agency shall serve as chairperson of 

20 the Task Force. 

21 (e) DUTIES.— 

22 (1) GREAT LAKES REGIONAL WORKING

23 GROUP.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall 

25 establish a Great Lakes regional working group 
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1 to coordinate and make recommendations on 

2 how to implement the policies, strategies, 

3 projects, and priorities of the Task Force. 

4 (B) MEMBERSHIP.—The working group 

5 established under subparagraph (A) shall con6 sist of the appropriate regional administrator or 

7 director with programmatic responsibility for 

8 the Great Lakes system for each agency rep9 resented on the Task Force, including— 

10 (i) the Great Lakes National Program 

11 Office of the Environmental Protection 

12 Agency; 

13 (ii) the United States Fish and Wild14 life Service of the Department of the Inte15 rior; 

16 (iii) the National Park Service of the 

17 Department of the Interior; 

18 (iv) the United States Geological Sur19 vey of the Department of the Interior; 

20 (v) the Natural Resources Conserva21 tion Service of the Department of Agri22 culture; 

23 (vi) the Forest Service of the Depart24 ment of Agriculture; 
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1 (vii) the National Oceanic and Atmos2 pheric Administration of the Department 

3 of Commerce; 

4 (viii) the Department of Housing and 

5 Urban Development; 

6 (ix) the Department of Transpor7 tation; 

8 (x) the Coast Guard in the Depart9 ment of Homeland Security; and 

10 (xi) the Corps of Engineers. 

11 (2) PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESSFUL REGIONAL

12 COLLABORATION.—The chairperson of the Task 

13 Force shall coordinate the development of a set of 

14 principles of successful regional collaboration to ad15 vance the policy set forth in section 1 of the Great 

16 Lakes Interagency Task Force: Executive Order 

17 dated May 18, 2004. 

18 (3) REPORT.—Not later than May 31, 2005, 

19 and annually thereafter as appropriate, the Task 

20 Force shall submit to the President a report that— 

21 (A) summarizes the activities of the Task 

22 Force; and 

23 (B) provides any recommendations that 

24 would, in the judgment of the Task Force, ad25 vance the policy set forth in section 1 of the 
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1 Great Lakes Interagency Task Force: Executive 

2 Order dated May 18, 2004. 

3 SEC. 7. GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY INDICATORS AND 

4 MONITORING. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 118(c)(1) of the Federal 

6 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1268(c)(1)) is 

7 amended by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(B)(i) not later than 2 years after the 

10 date of enactment of this clause, in cooperation 

11 with Canada and appropriate Federal agencies 

12 (including the United States Geological Survey, 

13 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin14 istration, and the United States Fish and Wild15 life Service), develop and implement a set of 

16 science-based indicators of water quality and re17 lated environmental factors in the Great Lakes, 

18 including, at a minimum, measures of toxic pol19 lutants that have accumulated in the Great 

20 Lakes for a substantial period of time, as deter21 mined by the Program Office; 

22 ‘‘(ii) not later than 4 years after the date 

23 of enactment of this clause— 

24 ‘‘(I) establish a Federal network for 

25 the regular monitoring of, and collection of 
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1 data throughout, the Great Lakes basin 

2 with respect to the indicators described in 

3 clause (i); and 

4 ‘‘(II) collect an initial set of bench5 mark data from the network; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) not later than 2 years after the date 

7 of collection of the data described in clause 

8 (ii)(II), and biennially thereafter, in addition to 

9 the report required under paragraph (10), sub10 mit to Congress, and make available to the pub11 lic, a report that— 

12 ‘‘(I) describes the water quality and 

13 related environmental factors of the Great 

14 Lakes (including any changes in those fac15 tors), as determined through the regular 

16 monitoring of indicators under clause 

17 (ii)(I) for the period covered by the report; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(II) identifies any emerging problems 

20 in the water quality or related environ21 mental factors of the Great Lakes.’’. 

22 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

23 118 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

24 U.S.C. 1268) is amended by striking subsection (h) and 

25 inserting the following: 
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1 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

3 appropriated to carry out this section (other than 

4 subsection (c)(1)(B)) $25,000,000 for each of fiscal 

5 years 2006 through 2010. 

6 ‘‘(2) GREAT LAKES WATER QUALITY INDICA7 TORS AND MONITORING.—There are authorized to 

8 be appropriated to carry out subsection (c)(1)(B)— 

9 ‘‘(A) $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

10 ‘‘(B) $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

11 ‘‘(C) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and 

12 ‘‘(D) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2009.’’. 

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