January 09, 2025
Today, U.S. Representative David Joyce (R-Ohio), joined by Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), and Bill Huizenga (R-MI) as co-leads, introduced the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2025. This bill is essential to continue the vital federal program that helps restore and protect the Great Lakes. The bill increases the Fiscal Year 2026 authorization level to $500 million from $475 million starting in FY 2027.
“The Environmental Law & Policy Center supports this bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the successful Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) for fiscal years 2027-31. Protecting safe, clean drinking water, healthy fisheries, and enjoyable outdoor recreation for all is not a partisan issue. The Great Lakes are where we live, work, and play.
“The Great Lakes provide drinking water supplies to 42 million people. Reauthorizing GLRI for the next five years with increased funding is essential to alleviate toxic algae blooms in western Lake Erie, Green Bay, and Lake Superior, reduce threats from invasive carp and other invasive species, and protect shoreline wetlands and coastal resilience. More intense storms driven by climate change create significantly more stress on Great Lakes’ infrastructure and the ecosystem.
“Since GLRI was launched in 2010, it has provided about $4 billion in essential funding to protect and restore the world’s largest system of surface freshwater bodies. GLRI projects protect safe, clean drinking water for 42 million people and support a $62 billion economy based on fishing, boating, and recreational activities.” Since 2010, GLRI has invested about $4 billion for wetlands restoration, beach protection, clean-ups of toxic waste sites, and invasive species management through thousands of projects administered by the U.S. EPA and other federal agency partners.”