WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, U.S. Representatives Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) to introduce the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Implementation Act to fund the policy recommendations made by the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration.  This bill will restore the Great Lakes by stopping invasive species introductions, halting sewage contamination, cleaning up toxic pollution and restoring wildlife habitats.

“Last year, the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration produced a strategic action plan for protecting and restoring the Great Lakes.  The Regional Collaboration worked across party lines at the federal, state, and local level to address critical threats to our Great Lakes,” said Emanuel.  “This bill will put critical funding behind their efforts to clean up the Lakes and preserve and protect them for our future.”

The Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act will:

• Stop the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species by enacting a comprehensive national program.
  
• Phase out mercury in products by establishing a new grant program and improving existing research programs. 
  
• Prevent the Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes by authorizing the Corps of Engineers to maintain and operate the dispersal barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and prohibit the importation and sale of Asian carp.
  
• Restore fish and wildlife habitat by reauthorizing the Great Lakes Fish & Wildlife Restoration Act.
  
• Prevent sewage contamination by reauthorizing the State Revolving Loan Fund and assisting communities with improving their wastewater infrastructure.
  
• Clean up contaminated sediment under the Great Lakes Legacy Act.
  
• Coordinate and improve Great Lakes programs by making permanent the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force and the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration.

Since his election to the House of Representatives, Emanuel has been a champion for the Great Lakes.  In 2003, Emanuel introduced the Great Lakes Restoration Act, a bipartisan bill to provide $4 billion in federal funds for Great Lakes’ restoration and revitalization.  The Great Lakes Restoration Act received bipartisan support in the Senate, the support of one hundred and six members of the U.S. House of Representatives, all eight governors of the Great Lakes States, and more than forty mayors of lakefront communities.