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             WEEKLY UPDATE March  10, 2014  

In This Issue
Action Item: Appropriations Letters for NEMW and Great Lakes-Relevant Programs Circulating in the House
NEMWI Board Chair Talks Bipartisanship to Great Lakes Stakeholders
NEMWI and GLC Host Annual Great Lakes Congressional Breakfast; Honor Great Lakes Leader
NEMWI President Presents on Ballast Water to Conference in India

COMING SOON 

NEMWI's "The Northeast-Midwest Region and the President's FY2015 Budget,"

 a regional analysis of key federal programs and proposals in the President's Budget.  

 

Also look for updated funding levels and requests for more than 60 programs here.

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APRIL 11, 2014:
USGS
National Water Quality Assessment (NAQWA) Capitol Hill Briefing
10:00 AM
US Capitol Visitor Center
Congressional Meeting
Room South

 

for staff, members and the public on Water Quality Trends in the Nation's Streams.




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Action Item:  Appropriations Letters for NEMW and Great Lakes Relevant Programs Circulating in the House

     
This week, the NEMW Congressional Coalition and Great Lakes Task Force will begin circulating letters to Congressional Appropriations Committee and Subcommittee leadership supporting programs important to the Northeast-Midwest region and the Great Lakes basin.  These letters demonstrate critical support for program funding in a time when program cuts are prevalent.  The more numerous and bipartisan the group of signatories, the more influential the letters tend to be with Appropriators.  For stakeholders of these programs, now is therefore a good time to weigh in with Congressional Offices on the programs' merits.

 
NEMW Coalition-wide draft letters address the following programs, respectively: Manufacturing Extension Partnership (deadline March 31); Trade Assistance Available to Firms (deadline: March 31); Weatherization Assistance Program (deadline: April 2); Community Development Block Grants (deadline: April 2); Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (deadline: April 4); and Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (deadline: April 2). 

 

Great Lakes Task Force draft letters address the following programs, respectively: NOAA programs including the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Coastal Zone Management Act Grants, National Sea Grant, and Great Lakes Observatory System (deadline: March 31); Great Lakes Restoration Initiative by itself (deadline: April 2); EPA and Department of Interior programs including the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, Great Lakes Science Center, Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, BEACH Grants, and National Cooperative Geological Mapping Coalition (deadline: April 2); Army Corps programs including the Great Lakes Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration and Remedial Action Programs, Navigation Operation and Maintenance Activities, Great Lakes Tributary Model, and Asian carp and aquatic invasive species control activities (deadline: April 2); St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (deadline: April 2); and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and International Joint Commission (deadline: April 4).

 

For more information, please contact Samuel Breene, Legislative Director, Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition.

 

NEMWI Board Chair Talks Bipartisanship to Great Lakes Stakeholders

 

Last week, as part of the Great Lakes Day events, Northeast-Midwest Institute Board Chair, the Hon. Steve LaTourette, spoke to Great Lakes stakeholders at the Great Lakes Commission Semi-Annual Meeting. Mr. LaTourette stressed the benefits of the bipartisan Northeast-Midwest Coalition and its Great Lakes Task Force to maintain attention to the needs of the region in Congress. He pointed to the important policy advancements that the Coalition and the Task Force have achieved, praised the Northeast-Midwest Institute as a source of nonpartisan, trusted research and advice to inform those policy efforts, and highlighted the role of the Great Lakes Commission and other regional groups in supporting their passage. The Great Lakes Day events annually bring Great Lakes regional leaders and stakeholders to Washington, DC to discuss and support pressing regional issues with Great Lakes Congressional Delegation members. 
 

For more information, contact Danielle Chesky, Director, Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute. 

 

NEMWI and GLC Host Annual Great Lakes Congressional Breakfast; Honor Great Lakes Leader

 

On Thursday, March 6, the Northeast-Midwest Institute and the Great Lakes Commission co-hosted the annual Great Lakes Congressional Breakfast. Members in attendance included Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs Sens. Carl Levin (MI) and Mark Kirk (IL) and Rep. Sean Duffy (WI-07); Great Lakes Task Force Members Sen. Debbie Stabenow (MI), and Reps. Dan Benishek (MI-01), David Joyce (OH-14), Jim Renacci (OH-16), and Mike Quigley (IL-05); and Great Lakes Delegation Members Sens. Tammy Baldwin (WI) and Ron Johnson (WI). The breakfast provides an opportunity for Great Lakes regional leaders, stakeholders, Congressional Members, and their staff, numbering over 100 collectively this year, to come together to celebrate the Great Lakes. At this year's event, the breakfast honored the long, successful career of Great Lakes Senate Task Force Co-Chair, Senator Carl Levin (MI), who will be retiring at the end of 2014. Sen. Levin's bipartisan co-chair, Sen. Mark Kirk (IL), and fellow Michigan Member Sen. Debbie Stabenow (MI) spoke on Sen. Levin's history of defending and supporting the Great Lakes. In his remarks, Sen. Levin noted that the lakes unite the region, affecting all residents in some way. As part of the honor, Sen. Levin received a photo of the Sleeping Bear Dunes, a protected wilderness area which recently was expanded by Congressional vote.  

 

For more information, contact Danielle Chesky, Director, Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.       

   

NEMWI President Presents on Ballast Water

to Conference in India  

        

On Thursday, March 6, NEMWI President, Allegra Cangelosi, presented on ballast water initiatives and challenges, including the NEMWI's Great Ships Initiative Testing Facility, to her colleagues and renowned experts at the International Conference on Advanced Technologies for Management of Ballast Water and Biofouling in Chennai, India. Researchers, stakeholders, and policy makers from around the world shared their insights and discussed the latest trends in addressing ballast water management and biofouling concerns. The conference addressed issues related to ballast water policies and management, ballast water treatment technologies, marine bioinvasion, biofilm, and biofouling control.

    
For more information please contact Allegra Cangelosi, President at the Northeast-Midwest Institute. 

 


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