Reminder: NEMWI Briefing/Webinar: Nutrient Trading - Can it Help Make the Lake Less Green? April 27
On Monday, April 27, 2015, at 4:00 pm in Rayburn 2103, the NEMWI will host a Capitol Hill briefing, discussing the potential for nutrient trading to help address nutrient management challenges. Nutrient trading is a potential solution to conservation efforts to partner non-point and point-source nutrient inputs in order to reduce the overall levels of nutrients entering the waters. Speakers for the event will include: Elin Betanzo, NEMWI Sr. Policy Analyst, who will discuss her collaborative work with the U.S. Geological Survey on water monitoring infrastructure; Bruce Knight, former chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resource Conservation Service; Brent Fewell, head of the National Water Quality Trading Alliance; Alex Echols, NEMWI Board Member; and Victoria Pebbles with the Great Lakes Commission. Speakers will provide staff background on nutrient trading; benefits of the approach; challenges, both legal and practical; an overview of the infrastructure necessary to implement nutrient trading in hot spots, including the Ohio River, the Fox River, and the Mississippi River; specific examples of these challenges as well as starting up a nutrient trading program for the Fox River in Wisconsin; and the federal role throughout the many steps. A webinar option is available by registering here. Honorary cosponsors of this briefing are Senate Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs Senator Mark Kirk and Senator Debbie Stabenow, Senate Vice-Chairs Senator Rob Portman and Senator Amy Klobuchar, House Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs Congresswoman Miller, Congresswoman Kaptur, Congressman Duffy, and Congresswoman Slaughter.
For more information, contact Danielle Chesky, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
|
Bipartisan Great Lakes Task Force Leads on Nuclear Waste in the Great Lakes
Last week, House and Senate Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs and Members introduced a resolution, opposing the siting of a nuclear waste site in Canada within one mile of the Lake Huron shores. The resolution would encourage the President and the Secretary of State to work with the Canadian government to find an alternate location for the permanent storage of their nuclear waste outside the Great Lakes Basin, which provides drinking water for 40 million people in the U.S. and Canada. Similar resolutions opposing the proposed site of the nuclear waste storage facility were passed by multiple state and local governments, as well as multiple letters and comments submitted by the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative.
The House resolution, led by Rep. Dan Kildee (MI-05) and co-sponsored by all four Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chair offices, includes 16 total sponsors. The Senate resolution, led by Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs Sens. Debbie Stabenow (MI) and Mark Kirk (IL) as well as Sen. Gary Peters (MI), includes five total sponsors.
For more information, contact Danielle Chesky, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
NEMWI
Briefing Recap: Invasive Species Success Stories -
They Exist!
On Thursday, April 16, 2015, the NEMWI hosted a Capitol Hill briefing entitled "Invasive Species Success Stories - They Exist!." Although the discourse regarding invasive species has been doom and gloom, through coordination, research, and federal support, the speakers showed how large investments have led to success in management and control. Many of these efforts originated in the Great Lakes and are being applied in other regions as invasive species spread and new species arrive. Co-Chairs of the Invasive Species Caucus, Reps. Dan Benishek (MI-01) and Mike Thompson (CA-05), kicked off the briefing, noting the wide-ranging impacts of invasive species across the nation as well as on the federal budget. They noted that a GAO review of federal government spending and initiatives on invasive species -- required by the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 -- is a first step to better understanding and tackling the problem. Great Lakes Task Force Member Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI-12) joined Reps. Benishek and Thompson, noting that invasive species issues, like other Great Lakes issues, are an opportunity for bipartisan efforts. Dr. Marc Gaden with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) discussed the invasion by, management of, and success in controlling sea lamprey in the Great Lakes. The GLFC has reduced the amount of fish killed by sea lamprey by 90% since the fisheries devastation began. However, Dr. Gaden noted that the GLFC will continue to manage sea lamprey but will never be able to fully eradicate them, and will continue to require an annual investment of over $20 million. Dr. Leon Carl with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) highlighted the success of partnerships in combatting invasive species, including zebra and quagga mussels, as well as Asian carp. Through its research and partners, the USGS has developed and tested the use of microparticles, or engineered silver bullets, to manage species. As part of its most recent efforts, the USGS has helped develop and test Zequanox, a commercial product able to target the invasive zebra and quagga mussels, which have moved beyond the Great Lakes into the Mississippi River system, inland lakes, and other waters extending into the Western states. As part of its continuing efforts to partner and implement solutions, the USGS has formed the Invasive Mussel Collaborative to join efforts, research, and education across the U.S. on invasive mussels and their prevention and/or management. Both speakers emphasized that prevention is the easiest and cheapest approach to invasive species management. Honorary cosponsors of this briefing were Senate Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs Senators Mark Kirk and Debbie Stabenow, Senate Vice-Chairs Senators Rob Portman and Amy Klobuchar, House Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs Congresswoman Candice Miller, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, Congressman Sean Duffy, and Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, and Invasive Species Caucus Co-Chairs Congressmen Dan Benishek and Mike Thompson.
For more information, contact Danielle Chesky, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
Innovative Stormwater Infrastructure Bills Introduced in House and Senate
Related bills (
H.R. 1775
and
S. 896
) were introduced on April 14 by Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) in the House and Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) in the Senate that direct the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish and maintain from three to five centers of excellence for innovative stormwater control infrastructure in various U.S. regions. The "Innovative Stormwater Infrastructure Act of 2015" would authorize each center to conduct research, and provide technical assistance and job training that help mitigate the impacts of or reduce quantities of stormwater runoff. EPA would make grants available on a competitive basis to implement innovative stormwater technologies, and work with state, tribal, and local governments to assist them with the construction, operation and maintenance of the stormwater control infrastructure projects. At least one of the centers established under the legislation would be designated as the "national electronic clearinghouse center," which would collect and disseminate information relating to innovative stormwater control infrastructure. Similar bills were introduced during the 113th Congress but never advanced beyond their respective House and Senate committees.
For more information, please contact Mark Gorman, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
Bill to Establish a Delaware River Basin Restoration Program Reintroduced in Senate
On April 14, seven U.S. Senators representing states encompassing the 13,600-square-mile Delaware River Basin reintroduced the "Delaware River Basin Conservation Act" (S. 921), a bill that would establish a Delaware River Basin Restoration Program at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The bill would create a competitive and voluntary $5 million annual grant program to fund watershed restoration, with a maximum federal share of 50 percent. The legislation would require that federal and state agencies, regional partnerships, local governments, and other organizations coordinate to identify and implement restoration and protection efforts across the River Basin, and to ensure that the program's strategy is science-based, cost-effective and facilitates measurable outcomes. The measure is sponsored by Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), and co-sponsored by Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Robert Casey (D-PA). Similar legislation was also introduced both in the Senate and House during the last three congresses, but did not advance.
For more information contact Mark Gorman, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
Departments of Labor and Education Release Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Draft Regulations for Public Comment
On July 22, 2014, President Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), the first legislative reform of the public workforce system in more than 15 years. Draft regulations to implement WIOA are now
available
on the Federal Register website. The regulations come in five "Notices of Proposed Rulemaking," which address different aspects of the law:
The public can submit comments for 60 days (until June 15, 2015). According to the Department of Labor, final rules for the implementation of WIOA must be published by January 22, 2016 (18 months after enactment).
For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
Capitol Hill Briefing on Community Development Block Grant Program, April 28
The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Coalition, a group of 20 national organizations that supports higher funding for the CDBG program, will host an informative briefing on CDBG on April 28, 2015 at 3pm (Russell House Office Building Rm. 188). The CDBG program has been cut by nearly $1 billion since FY2010. The briefing will provide results from a recent CDBG Coalition survey on the consequences of these cuts to communities. The briefing will provide a brief overview of the program and remarks from elected officials and practitioners who work with the program. Panelists will include elected officials and experts from national community development organizations. Confirmed speakers are: The Honorable Setti Warren, Mayor of Newton, MA; The Honorable George P. Hartwick III, Commissioner of Dauphin County, PA; and Tim Ware, Executive Director of the George Washington Regional Commission, Fredericksburg, VA. Light refreshments will be served.
For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Sr. Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
|
|
