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Great Lakes Funding

The President's 2007 budget recommended no new funding for the cost of Great Lakes clean-up, despite White House approval last December of a $20 billion, five-year plan to restore the lakes. Now a bi-partisan group of Great Lakes Congressional leaders has introduced joint House and Senate legislation they hope will overcome funding hurdles. Great Lakes governors including Ohio governor Bob Taft are applauding the effort. So are groups like the National Parks Conservation Association, represented by president Tom Kiernan.

Tom Kiernan: The Great Lakes are at a tipping point and this bill tips them in the right direction.

Kiernan says the legislation would fund nearly all of the clean-up and restoration projects outlined in the plan for a total of $10.5 billion. The money would be used to fight invasive species, restore fish and wildlife and improve water quality. About $13 billion would be used to beef up an EPA fund that helps municipal governments across the country pay for sewer improvements. David Miller of the New York Audubon Society believes that alone should be a strong selling point.

David Miller: For every billion dollars we invest in sewage infrastructure, there are 50,000 direct or indirect jobs that are created.

Conservationists admit there will be plenty of competition in the 2007 budget for other domestic programs already squeezed by spending on the war in Iraq. But Andy Buchsbaum, director of the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes office, is optimistic about the bill's strong bi-partisan support.

Andy Buchsbaum: The Great Lakes delegation is very firmly behind this bill. That's sixteen Senators and over a hundred members of the House of Representatives.

It will most likely be December before Congress passes next year's budget. But Great Lakes supporters are hopeful they can leverage enough votes from outside the region to guarantee Great Lakes funding. Karen Schaefer, 90.3.