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AIS Coastal Communities Federal Legislation Information Issues News Release Nutrient Pollution Toxic Substances Water Consumption

GLLC Joins Statement on U.S. Federal Great Lakes Priorities

On March 9, Great Lakes organizations across the region gathered in Washington D.C. to highlight U.S. federal priorities for the basin on Great Lakes Day. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus (GLLC) signed onto the joint statement addressing Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funding, water infrastructure investment, climate resiliency, harmful algal blooms, emerging contaminants, and aquatic invasive species.

“The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus is glad to once again stand beside the Great Lakes Commission and coalition of esteemed Great Lakes organizations in communicating a shared vision for Great Lakes U.S. federal policy, ” said Wisconsin Senator André Jacque, GLLC Chair. The GLLC is committed to working with partners at all levels of government and across non-profit and academic sectors to make progress on safe water consumption, nutrient management, cleaning up toxic substances, preventing the spread of aquatic invasive species, and protecting coastal communities.

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AIS Events Issues Lead Nutrient Pollution Toxic Substances Water Consumption Web Meeting

ICYMI: Tracking the Great Lakes Region’s Progress Through Blue Accounting

On February 10, the GLLC hosted speakers from the Great Lakes Commission (GLC) to talk about their Blue Accounting program. Program manager Nicole Zacharda and project manager Ceci Weibert presented on Blue Accounting’s drinking water, aquatic invasive species, and nutrient management data sets and visualizations.

Zacharda outlined the areas of focus for the newly launched drinking water portal, including drinking water protection, treatment requirements, and safe water distribution. Using safe water distribution as an example, Zacharda modeled how Blue Accounting tracks lead service line replacement in each state/province. The portal also contains a policy comparison table between states/provinces using the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus model policy on drinking water.

Weibert discussed the aquatic invasive species (AIS) section of Blue Accounting. She showed the group the metrics on recreational boating prevention programs by state/province, including a comparison of enacted regulations and programs. She shared that the province of Ontario used these tools to outline its recreational boating regulations in 2022 to align with regional partners. Weibert also presented data on harmonization of AIS prevention programs by species.

To close, Zacharda gave an update on the Blue Accounting ErieStat. ErieStat contains data on harmful algal blooms (HABs), phosphorus levels, and strategies to reduce phosphorus across the Lake Erie basin. Despite efforts to reduce phosphorus, the region has not yet achieved a decrease in HABs. ErieStat allows policymakers to review phosphorus levels by watershed across the region to track and assess which areas require the most attention.

The Great Lakes Commission is seeking feedback from and collaboration with Great Lakes legislators on how to update, expand, and improve Blue Accounting. If you have any thoughts to share, please contact Nicole Zacharda.

The recording of the webinar can be seen here.

The GLLC will be holding a webinar on “Climate Trends and Impacts in the Great Lakes Region” on Friday, March 31, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. CT/11:00 a.m. ET in partnership with Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments (GLISA). Register today!

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AIS Coastal Communities Information Issues News Release Nutrient Pollution Policy S/P Legislation Toxic Substances Water Consumption

A Look Back at Great Lakes Legislation: The 2021-2022 Session

During the 2021-2022 legislative session, the GLLC tracked more than three hundred pieces of legislation in the Great Lakes states and provinces related to our five issues areas: aquatic invasive species, coastal communities, nutrient management, toxic substances, and water consumption. one-third of the 2021-2022 bills and resolutions were introduced or co-sponsored by GLLC members.

Of the introduced bills, 61 were signed into law. Water consumption was the most active issue area. Legislators required water utilities to replace lead service lines (Illinois); allocated additional funds to water infrastructure (Michigan); banned new water-use permits for bulk transport sale of water (Minnesota); and bolstered lead testing programs for vulnerable populations (New York and Pennsylvania).

The second most active area for successful legislation was nutrient pollution. Legislators increased regulations on pesticides (Illinois); created and/or reauthorized programs to help landowners employ best practices on farmland (Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota); and increased funding for water quality and nutrient runoff work (Michigan, Ohio).

When it comes to toxic substances, GLLC jurisdictions banned incineration of PFAS (Illinois); banned use of PFAS compounds in dry cleaning and food packaging (Minnesota); listed emerging contaminants as hazardous (Minnesota, New York); and expanded funding for disposal and clean-up of PFAS (Wisconsin).

For coastal communities, legislation strengthened rescue equipment on the lakes (Michigan); removed requirements for municipal lakefront developments to include an oil refinery (Indiana); established funds for climate resiliency (New York); changed development regimes for floodzones (Québec); required permits for wetland, stream, or floodplain restoration (Wisconsin; and allowed removed sediment to be reused as beach nourishment (Wisconsin).

In the area of aquatic invasive species, Minnesota’s environmental and natural resources bill included funding for the University of Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center.

All of the tracked legislation can be reviewed in the archived 2021-2022 tracker.

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Information Members News Release Uncategorized

Executive Committee Welcomes New Representation from Michigan and Pennsylvania

At the January Executive Committee meeting of the 2023-2024 biennium, Representative Rachel Hood from Michigan and Senator Daniel Laughlin from Pennsylvania were confirmed as the new Executive Committee members for their respective states. Grand Rapids-based Representative Hood was a 2019 Birkholz Institute Fellow, served on the GLLC Task Force on Nutrient Management, and is the chair of the Michigan House Appropriations Subcommittee for Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. Senator Laughlin is a lifelong champion for Erie County, Penn. and is the vice chair of the Pennsylvania Senate Game & Fisheries Committee.

In addition, the following Executive Committee members have been selected to serve their second term: Illinois Representative Sonya Harper, Indiana Representative David Abbott, New York Senator Mark Walczyk, and Ontario MPP Jennifer French. In addition to our officers and state/provincial members, the Executive Committee also includes ex officio members, Illinois Representative Robyn Gabel, Indiana Senator Ed Charbonneau, and Minnesota Senator Ann Rest.

In February, the Executive Committee approved the nominations of Minnesota Senator Mary Kunesh, Ohio Senator Theresa Gavarone, Québec MNA Joëlle Boutin, and Wisconsin Representative Lisa Subeck.

The Executive Committee listing can be found here.

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Uncategorized

Now Accepting Applications for the Birkholz Institute Fellowship

2023 Birkholz Institute: Climate Resiliency in Great Lakes Communities

The GLLC is now accepting applications for the 2023 Birkholz Institute Fellowship, with a deadline of February 24, 2023.

The Institute will be held in Detroit on April 21-22, 2023 and will be an in-depth workshop on Climate Resiliency in Great Lakes Communities. After attending the two-day workshop, Fellows will form a task force to refine their policy recommendations over the next two years.

The Birkholz Institute Fellowship is open to all GLLC members and travel scholarships are available for the selected Fellows. If you have any questions, contact Jess Lienhardt at jlienhardt@csg.org.

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Information News Release

New Great Lakes Program Director

CSG Midwest is pleased to welcome Jessica Lienhardt as the new director of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus. In this role, Jessica will guide the many activities and services provided to state and provincial legislators through the nonpartisan, binational GLLC.

A native and resident of Michigan, Jessica most recently worked for five years as public affairs officer for the Consulate General of Canada in Detroit. Jessica will lead CSG Midwest’s support of the GLLC and its work: in-person and virtual events, advocacy on federal policy, a legislative tracker, in-depth training for legislators on select Great Lakes issues, and more.

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Information Toxic Substances Water Consumption

For states, the work on ‘forever chemicals’ has just begun, and potential economic effects on agriculture loom large

Over the past two years, policy “firsts” have cropped up in state legislatures across the country to deal with the problem of PFAS, a class of widely used chemicals linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals. In the Midwest, Illinois became the first U.S. state to ban the incineration of PFAS (HB 4818), and Minnesota is the first in the region to outlaw these chemicals in food packaging (SF 20).

Wisconsin, for the first time, now has enforceable limits on levels of certain PFAS chemicals in community drinking water systems, joining Michigan in the Midwest.

Outside the region, some of the recent actions have been even further-reaching. Maine, for instance, is prohibiting all non-essential uses of PFAS in products, and after sewage sludge was discovered to be a source of widespread PFAS contamination on farmland, the state banned the use of sludge as fertilizer. Also this year, Maine legislators established a $60 million trust fund for farmers whose land and products have been contaminated by PFAS. Through the fund, the state will purchase contaminated property, replace the lost income of farmers and monitor the health of affected families. In Vermont, residents exposed to PFAS contamination now have a right to medical monitoring (paid for by PFAS polluters).

“It’s everywhere, and the cleanup is very difficult to do and very expensive,” Minnesota Rep. Ami Wazlawik says about the challenges posed by PFAS contamination. “So you have the prevalence of the chemicals in the environment, the fact that they are ‘forever chemicals’ that stick around, and then the negative health impacts.”

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Information Members

New Logo Highlights Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River

If you’re visiting the GLLC website for the first time this year, you may notice that the GLLC is sporting a new look: a logo that incorporates the organization’s acronym and, more importantly, an image of the waterbodies that are the focus of the Caucus’s work.

Approved by the Executive Committee in late January, the logo finally makes its debut here and on the GLLC’s Twitter account. We hope you enjoy the new look!

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News Release

Remarks from GLLC Director at Great Lakes Commission Virtual Meeting (11/19/20)

Thank you, Chair Jackson. It’s my pleasure to give this first report from the GLLC as an official observer of the Great Lakes Commission. Thank you very much for approving Sen. Charbonneau’s request. I’d like to relay his reaction:

I am extremely pleased that the GLC has granted the GLLC “observer” status. I am a firm believer in partnerships and working together on significant issues that affect the 40 million US and Canadian citizens who rely on the Great Lakes in so many ways. I look forward to a great future as a result of this move.

Sen. Ed Charbonneau (Indiana), GLLC Chair

This “great future” that Sen. Charbonneau mentions will build on the strong working relationship between the Caucus and the GLC that has developed over the past two years under his leadership. Our two organizations partnered on the Caucus’s inaugural Birkholz Institute in 2019, which focused on nutrient pollution. Nicole Zacharda has been an amazing resource to the institute and to the GLLC’s Task Force on Nutrient Management, which organized following the institute. We’re looking forward to continuing to partner on this activity, and I’m hoping that our interaction will help identify some potentially interested parties for the Conservation Kick initiative.

The Caucus also appreciates the opportunity to serve on the Commission’s Standing Committee on Climate Resilience. I’d like to commend Eric Brown for doing such a great job leading a fairly large and very diverse group to produce what will be an important plan for the commission and also — because the commission is a convener, a collaboration leader — I believe it will be an important plan to guide the actions of other groups like the Caucus. Yesterday, Rep. Robyn Gabel (Illinois), GLLC Vice Chair and Chair-Elect, mentioned that the Caucus had decided to focus the 2021 Birkholz Institute on helping coastal communities to become climate resilient. I hope as we collaborate on the Birkholz Institute, the Caucus will be able to use the plan to zero in on some specific policy issues that require legislative action to advance. This is a great example of how our two organizations can be resources to one another.

Dr. Ralph Grundel made an excellent point earlier today about the U.S. Geological Survey translating data into “actionable intelligence.” Educating legislators about the Great Lakes is major part of the GLLC’s mission. And that’s because, to take coordinated regional action to benefit the Great Lakes, state and provincial legislators must first understand the enormous value the lakes bring to the region’s ecology and economy, as well as the threats that could potentially harm the lakes.  We’re partnering with the American Association for the Advancement of Science — specifically, the Center for Evidence in Public Issues, or EPI Center — to put together a virtual workshop for legislators on PFAS contamination of groundwater.

It’s difficult to find subject-matter experts who are able to distill their knowledge — their “terabytes of data” — into nuggets of actionable intelligence that is salient to lawmakers. We’re hoping our collaboration with the AAAS will be just the first of many opportunities to help bridge the gap between science and policy. The Caucus would welcome the opportunity to partner with other agencies and organizations that have this same “grand challenge” that Dr. Grundel described.

I want to give a shoutout to Blue Accounting. Caucus members have high hopes for the platform. We’ve talked about using it to track the GLLC’s progress in implementing policy recommendations — e.g., on nutrient management and lead in drinking water. Also, as Nicole Zacharda and others have heard me say, whenever legislators develop legislation on any topic, a first step is always to look at what other states and provinces are doing. So it would be very helpful for Blue Accounting to present information on the actions the individual states and provinces are taking and the funding they are investing in solving specific problems. This information on policies, programs, and funding from all 10 jurisdictions is useful for identifying areas in common as well as innovative, effective approaches that might be transferable to other jurisdictions. It’s also helpful for identifying areas where our differences could be counterproductive to the shared goal of ensuring that the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River continue to provide a plentiful source of clean, affordable water to the region’s residents, businesses, and industries.

Finally, as Rep. Gabel observed yesterday, she will become GLLC chair in January. The new leadership team will have some overlap with the Commission: Commissioner Jennifer Schultz, State Representative from Minnesota, will become vice chair and Commissioner Carrie Ruud, Senator from Minnesota, will represent the state on the Caucus’s Executive Committee. And, of course, Minnesota Commissioner Sen. Ann Rest will continue to be an important and valued member of the Executive Committee as a past chair of the Caucus.

Congratulations to the commission, to Erika Jensen, and to the rest of the staff for hosting an excellent virtual meeting. I and the leaders of the Caucus look forward to interacting with everyone in person someday soon. Thank you.

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Annual Meeting Events Issues Members

GLLC Annual Meeting Goes Virtual

Like so many other meetings these days, the GLLC 2020 Annual Meeting is going virtual. We had an exciting agenda lined up for the in-person meeting planned in Detroit — including some really great off-site activities. With the pandemic, though, we’ll have to postpone those site-based activities until 2022. We can, however, bring high-quality, timely programming to GLLC members and other interested attendees through the wonders of technology. The significant “up” side to going virtual with this programming is that far more GLLC members and other legislators will have a chance to tune in to the sessions than could ever attend in person — especially in an election year!

We have four excellent sessions planned, featuring issues on the GLLC policy agenda and a variety of GLLC business. The full line-up is available here on the GLLC 2020 Virtual Meetings web page. We even have a handy flyer for you to share with colleagues who might be interested. All sessions will take place in Zoom and will start at 9 am CDT/10 am EDT. All sessions are open to anyone who would like to attend (we especially encourage GLLC members and other legislators to attend). And all sessions are free. We do ask attendees to please register here.

Kicking off the first session on September 11 will be Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Elin Betanzo speaking about the long-term health effects of lead poisoning on the children of Flint, Michigan, and what state and provincial legislators are doing and still can do to eliminate lead in drinking water. The business session will feature a final chair’s report from Indiana Sen. Ed Charbonneau, outgoing GLLC Chair, and a report from the Caucus’s Task Force on Lead about the GLLC’s recommended policies for reducing exposure to lead in drinking water.

The remaining three virtual meetings will continue on September 21, October 2, and October 9. To learn what’s in store, visit the 2020 Virtual Meetings web page or view our flyer. Feel free to share the flyer, too, with colleagues who may be interested.

We thank the Joyce Foundation, the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for their generous support of the GLLC’s activities, including the 2020 Virtual Meetings.

Contact me at gllc@csg.org or 920.458.5910 if you have any questions about the virtual meetings or would like to learn about sponsorship opportunities.