Great Lakes Advisory Board could be abolished

A board providing guidance on the Great Lakes to the Environmental Protection Agency could be coming to an end, but two members of Ohio’s U.S. congressional delegation are pushing to keep it running.

The Great Lakes Advisory Board held its inaugural meeting nearly five years ago to the day. The board was created by the EPA to ensure “transparent, credible and diverse views in guiding the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative’s investments.”

That voluntary board — composed of many of what Joyce and Kaptur called the region’s most respected experts — has provided “invaluable advice for the guidance of the GLRI to the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force and its Great Lakes Regional Working Group.”

The board’s charter is set to expire in June, and Joyce, R-Bainbridge Township, and Kaptur, D-Toledo, understand that the EPA is considering abolishing or replacing board.

“We wish to reiterate, as we have done in past appropriations reports, that we support the establishment and maintenance of the board,” Joyce and Kaptur wrote in a letter to EPA head Scott Pruitt. “We urge you to maintain the board and request you seek our input should EPA consider any change to this important entity.”

The pair wrote in the letter that Pruitt was asked during a subcommittee hearing last year if the board would be maintained. Pruitt responded that he would work with Congress in addressing the matter. That, however, has not happened.

Joyce and Kaptur’s letter was signed by 24 members of Congress, including fellow Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Warrensville Heights.

The advisory committee last met in July 2017. Since it was approved in 2009, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has given more than $2 billion to the eight-state region for projects that have removed toxic wastes from industrial harbors, fought invasive species such as Asian carp, restored wildlife habitat and supported efforts to prevent harmful algal blooms.

The GLRI has faced severe cuts in recent years — last year, President Donald Trump released a proposed budget that would have slashed all federal funding to the program — but those attempts have been thwarted so far. The program typically receives about $300 million annually.

Last week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies passed the Interior Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2019 with full funding for the GLRI. That bill now heads to the full Appropriations Committee then to the House floor.

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