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Nature Preserves > Lake Michigan Coastal Program > Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

EPA Is Currently Reviewing 2011 Applications

GLRI Workshop Documents

On January 25th the Lake Michigan Coastal Program and Save the Dunes along with the Healing Our Waters Great Lakes Coalition conducted a GLRI workshop focused on coordination and information sharing. Over 70 individuals from 63 organizations attended the event. For your convenience workshop documents can be downloaded below:

Documents

Background Information
The President's 2010 Budget provided $475 million in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) budget for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which targeted the most significant problems in the region, including invasive aquatic species, non-point source pollution, and contaminated sediment. EPA issued funding to other federal agencies through interagency grants and to other public and non-profit entities through competitive grants. The first round of grants has been administered with the second round anticipatory RFP expected to come in January 2011.

The Initiative uses outcome-oriented performance goals and measures to target the most significant problems and track progress in addressing them. EPA and its Federal partners will coordinate State, tribal, local, and industry actions to protect, maintain, and restore the chemical, biological, and physical integrity of the Great Lakes.

The Initiative is not intended to be another grand statement about the Great Lakes; it is intended to operationalize those statements. It builds on countless hours by elected, agency, business, public interest and other leaders, which resulted in the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy (GLRC Strategy). The GLRC Strategy provides a framework for the Action Plan, and the Action Plan is just that: an action driver. It articulates the most significant ecosystem problems and efforts to address them in five major focus areas in which grants will be awarded:

  • Toxic Substances and Areas of Concern, including pollution prevention and cleanup of the most polluted areas in the Great Lakes.
  • Invasive Species, including efforts to institute a “zero tolerance policy” toward new invasions, including the establishment of self-sustaining populations of invasive species, such as Asian Carp.
  • Nearshore Health and Nonpoint Source Pollution, including a targeted geographic focus on high priority watersheds and reducing polluted runoff from urban, suburban and, agricultural sources.
  • Habitat and Wildlife Protection and Restoration, including bringing wetlands and other habitat back to life.
  • Accountability, Education, Monitoring, Evaluation, Communication and Partnerships, including the implementation of goal- and results-based accountability measures, learning initiatives, outreach and strategic partnerships.

GLRI Timeline of Events
2004: President Bush signs an Executive Order creating the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force to coordinate federal restoration efforts. This Order recognized the Great Lakes as a “national treasure” and charged the Task Force to improve federal coordination on the Great Lakes.

2004: The Great Lakes Regional Collaboration (GLRC) was launched creating a partnership of key members from federal, state, and local governments, tribes, and other stakeholders for the purpose of developing a strategic plan providing recommendations to restore and protect the Great Lakes ecosystem. For a link to the plan see the documents section above.

2010: The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan created for the purpose of outlining methods and actions to advance implementation of the Initiative through FY 2014. The GLRC Strategy provides a framework for the Action Plan, and the Action Plan is the implementing driver backed by federal funding under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. In addition to including many of the elements of the GLRC Strategy, it draws upon the priorities, goals, and objectives of numerous pre-existing plans that have been developed by federal, state, tribal, and local and non-governmental stakeholders. For a link to the plan see the documents section above.

Project Selection
The EPA has listed the following criteria and principals in the GLRI Action Plan to guide the selection of projects. Applicants are strongly encouraged to follow these criteria before submitting an application.

  • Ability to strategically achieve measurable environmental outcomes linked to the highest priority issues
  • Ability to advance applicable ecological priorities of existing plans, such as Lakewide Management Plans, Remedial Action Plans for Areas of Concern, as well as other relevant national and regional coordinated strategic planning efforts, as mentioned above
  • Feasibility of prompt implementation, including a bias for projects that are both ready-to-go and will have results soon (however, some funding will be used for planning and design to ensure cost effective implementation and for monitoring, particularly where it is needed to establish baseline conditions and/or to better understand environmental problems to inform implementation actions)
  • Observable local impacts, especially for projects at the “field” level
  • Strong bias for interagency/inter-organizational coordination and collaboration\
  • Support new work, or enhance (but do not replace) existing Great Lakes baseline activities
  • Public support
  • Ability to leverage non-federal resources
  • Promotion of long-term societal, economic, and environmental sustainability
  • Minimization of transaction costs

Links

For more information on GLRI contact Colin Highlands: Nonpoint, GLRI, and LaMP coordinator, 219-921-0863, chighlands@dnr.in.gov

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