I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4416
To establish the Great Lakes Protection and Restoration Committee. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 20, 2004
Mr. EHLERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation 
and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish the Great Lakes Protection and Restoration 
Committee.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Great Lakes Protection 
and Restoration Committee Act’’. 
SEC. 2. GREAT LAKES PROTECTION AND RESTORATION 
COMMITTEE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a com-
mittee to be known as the ‘‘Great Lakes Protection and
Restoration Committee’’ (hereinafter referred to in this 
section as the ‘‘Committee’’). 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Committee is to 
conduct a study and report on programs established and 
carried out to achieve restoration goals for the Great 
Lakes prepared by the Governors of Great Lakes States 
and to make recommendations for prioritization of such 
goals, legislation and funding to achieve such goals, and 
improvement of coordination among programs and govern-
ments with respect to such goals. 
(c) STUDY AND REPORT.—
(1) STUDY.—The Committee shall conduct a 
study, based on restoration goals for the Great 
Lakes prepared by the Governors of Great Lakes 
States, to identify the best methods by which to pro-
tect and restore the Great Lakes. The study shall in-
clude—
(A) an analysis of Federal and State fund-
ing for the 10-year period ending on the date 
of the enactment of this Act for programs es-
tablished and carried out to achieve the restora-
tion goals, including an assessment of the suc-
cess of the programs; and 
(B) an analysis of the expected accomplish-
ments of such programs for the 10-year period
beginning on the date of the enactment of this 
Act based on existing funding levels for the pro-
grams. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the initial meeting of the Committee under 
subsection (e)(1), the Committee shall submit to the 
President, Congress, and the Governor of each Great 
Lakes State, and make available to the national 
Government of Canada and the Premiers of the 
Provinces of Ontario and Quebec, a report that in-
cludes—
(A) the results of the study, including a 
detailed statement of the findings and conclu-
sions of the Committee; 
(B) recommendations for the prioritization 
of the restoration goals for the Great Lakes 
prepared by the Governors of the Great Lakes 
States; 
(C) specific benchmarks for the 10-year 
period beginning on the date of the enactment 
of this Act to measure the achievement of such 
restoration goals; 
(D) recommendations for proposed Federal 
and State legislation for obtaining additional
authority and funding as necessary to achieve 
such restoration goals; 
(E) recommendations for methods to im-
prove coordination among existing Federal, 
State, local, and non-governmental programs 
established to achieve the restoration goals pre-
pared by the Governors of the Great Lakes 
States; and 
(F) recommendations for methods to im-
prove coordination between Federal, State, and 
local programs in the United States and the na-
tional Government of Canada and the Govern-
ments of the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec 
with respect to environmental protection and 
restoration activities in the Great Lakes. 
(d) MEMBERSHIP.—
(1) VOTING MEMBERS.—The Committee shall 
be composed of 25 voting members, of whom—
(A) 8 members shall be the Governors of 
the Great Lakes States (or designees of the 
Governors); 
(B) 13 members shall be appointed by the 
President, of whom—
(i) 1 member shall be a representative 
of the Department of the Interior;
(ii) 1 member shall be a representa-
tive of the Corps of Engineers; 
(iii) 1 member shall be a representa-
tive of the Great Lakes National Program 
Office of the Environmental Protection 
Agency; 
(iv) 1 member shall be a representa-
tive of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration; 
(v) 1 member shall be a representative 
of the Department of Agriculture; and 
(vi) 8 members shall be chief execu-
tives of cities, counties, or municipalities in 
the Great Lakes Region, of whom 1 mem-
ber shall be from each Great Lakes State; 
(C) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives; 
(D) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
minority leader of the House of Representa-
tives; 
(E) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
President pro tempore of the Senate; and 
(F) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
minority leader of the Senate.
(2) NONVOTING
MEMBERS.—The Committee 
shall include 10 nonvoting members appointed by 
the President, of whom—
(A) 2 members shall be representatives of 
the environmental community; 
(B) 2 members shall be representatives of 
industry; 
(C) 2 members shall be representatives of 
the scientific community with expertise on the 
environmental conditions of the Great Lakes; 
(D) 2 members shall be representatives of 
Indian tribes located in the Great Lakes Re-
gion; 
(E) 1 member shall be a United States 
Commissioner of the Great Lakes Fishery Com-
mission appointed under section 3(a)(1) of the 
Great Lakes Fishery Act of 1956 (16 U.S.C. 
932(a)(1)); and 
(F) 1 member shall be the Chair of the 
United States Section of the International Joint 
Commission established by the Boundary Wa-
ters Treaty of 1909. 
(3) NONVOTING OBSERVERS.—The Committee 
may include nonvoting observers, including—