A Senate panel will convene Wednesday to discuss efforts to restore the Great Lakes five months before authorization of a major EPA program is set to expire.
The Environment and Public Works Committee hearing, “Examining Restoration Efforts in the Great Lakes Region,” will include testimony from the director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the director of the Ohio Sea Grant research program and a conservation officer at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
The federal government has invested billions of dollars to restore the Great Lakes over the past two decades. The lakes contain about 21 percent of the world’s freshwater supplies, provide drinking water for more than 40 million people in the United States and Canada, and serve as an economic engine for the Upper Midwest.
Launched in 2010, the federal Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is a key driver of rehabilitation efforts, with a focus on combating invasive species, restoring coastlines and stopping contamination.
