Budget Deal Keeps Great Lakes Efforts on Track
Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition
Contact: Lindsey Bacigal, BacigalL@nwf.org, (734) 887-7113
Jordan Lubetkin, Lubetkin@nwf.org, (734) 904-1589
Budget Deal Keeps Great Lakes Efforts on Track
Ann Arbor, Mich. (December 20, 2022)—The congressional budget deal announced today to fund the U.S. government through Sept. 30, 2023, will support efforts to restore the Great Lakes, protect community drinking water, and safeguard public health for the millions of people in the eight-state region of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, according to the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.
“This budget is good news for the Great Lakes and the millions of people who depend on them for their drinking water, health, jobs, and quality of life,” said Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “The budget boosts funding to core programs and will help communities that have been most impacted by pollution and environmental harm. We thank the region’s congressional delegation for continuing to make Great Lakes restoration and protection a national priority. Federal Great Lakes restoration investments have been producing results, although we know that serious threats remain. We look forward to continuing to work with members of Congress and the Biden Administration to tackle these serious threats, before they get worse and more expensive to solve.”
The $1.7 trillion budget contains $368 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative—an increase of $20 million over current funding levels—to restore habitat, confront invasive species, reduce runoff pollution, and clean up toxic pollution. The budget also supports programs to help communities update their drinking water and wastewater infrastructure with increased funding for small and disadvantaged communities, lead reduction, and workforce development.
Congress is expected to pass the budget this week, before a temporary budget deal expires on Friday, December 23.
Since 2004, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has been harnessing the collective power of more than 175 groups representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Learn more at HealthyLakes.org or follow us on Twitter @HealthyLakes.
