Governor Bayh stood with EPA Administrator Carol Browner and me when the final Federal guidance was announced in March 1995. Since then, Indiana has completed an immense amount of work in a very short time to establish its own set of rules. The rules the Governor signed Friday will go a long way to limit toxic pollutants entering Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes Initiative is a comprehensive plan to restore the health of the Great Lakes, which contain 95 percent of the nation's fresh water. It includes water-quality criteria specifically tailored to protect Great Lakes human, animal, and aquatic life.
Criteria are numerical limits expressing the amount of pollutants that can safely enter the waters.
The Federal guidance became final in April 1995 and the Great Lakes States and Tribes have until March 1997 to develop their own plans.