Great Lakes Restoration

Great Lakes NASA photo

Great Lakes Restoration

Since the creation of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), our nation has made strides in reviving and protecting our nation’s greatest freshwater treasure — our Great Lakes. Under the GLRI, we have supported more than 2,000 projects, removed 42 health impairments from 17 contaminated sites, and delisted finished work at six toxic areas of concern.

 

Kaptur is fighting in Congress to ensure the GLRI is fully funded through her role as a Co-Chair of the Great Lakes Taks Force and from her seat on the on the Appropriations Committee, which has jurisdiction over spending. This includes protecting programs like Sea Grant and ensuring that the Federal government provides adequate assistance and resources in combatting the damage of harmful algal blooms (HABs).

 

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur: Lake Erie Leaders event (July 10, 2017)

Congersswoman Kaptur convened a group of experts from Ohio Sea Grant, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Cleveland Water Alliance to speak with citizens of the Ninth District about the economic and environmental health of the Great Lakes.

More on Great Lakes Restoration

Kaptur, Joyce, Bonamici and Mast lead bipartisan group in letter to Trump budget office on Harmful Algal Blooms

December 19, 2018 Press Release

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Congressman Dave Joyce (OH-14), Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), and Congressman Brian Mast (FL-18) wrote a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney urging the Trump Administration to fully fund all programs related to addressing harmful algal blooms in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2020 budget.

Kaptur visits demonstration farm addressing runoff pollution

October 18, 2018 In The News

MCCOMB - While agriculture accounts for more than two-thirds of the phosphorus pollution in Lake Erie, many farmers are working hard to find and share conservation practices that will best address that problem. One of the most prominent examples in the western Lake Erie basin is the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Blanchard River Demonstration Farms Network. On Wednesday, U.S. Rep.

Kaptur negotiates for Ohio priorities in partial bipartisan government funding agreement

September 10, 2018 Press Release

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), who co-led Conference Committee negotiations as a member of the Appropriations “Minibus” Conference Committee, announced Ohio priorities secured in the spending deal which covers the Department of Energy, Department of Veterans Affairs, Military Construction, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Legislative Branch.

Kaptur cosponsors bill to increase funds and bolster federal response to combat toxic algal blooms

August 3, 2018 Press Release

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) announced her support as a lead cosponsor of bipartisan legislation dedicating more federal resources to combating toxic algae. This bill reauthorizes the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act and increases annual funding to $22 million.

Senator Brown, Congresswoman Kaptur announce $300,000 in federal funds for Toledo Metroparks to help restore Maumee River

June 26, 2018 Press Release

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) today announced that $300,000 in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funds will go to Toledo Metroparks to help restore the Maumee River Area of Concern. The funding is part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). Both Senator Brown and Congresswoman Kaptur have led the charge in the Senate and House respectively to ensure that Great Lakes restoration efforts are fully funded.

KAPTUR, JOYCE LEAD BIPARTISAN LETTER TO SAVE GREAT LAKES ADVISORY BOARD

May 22, 2018 Press Release

Washington, D.C. -- Representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and Dave Joyce (R-OH) along with some of their bipartisan colleagues, sent a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, in support of the Great Lakes Advisory Board. Recently, the EPA has threated the establishment and composition of the much-needed advisory group, which sparked the need for the letter after multiple attempts of outreach to the agency by Reps Joyce and Kaptur.

Excerpts of the letter read:

Kaptur statement on the failure of partisan GOP Farm Bill

May 18, 2018 Press Release

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Dean of the Ohio Delegation, released the following statement after voting no for the GOP led Farm Bill:

“America needs Congress to pass a bipartisan Farm Bill, not engage in political theatrics. Congress must immediately go back to the drawing board and produce a real Farm Bill that shows respect for our nation’s farmers and as well as consumers.

Kaptur: $249,000 to Bay Point Conservation in Ottawa County

April 13, 2018 Press Release

Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Co-Chair of the House Great Lakes Task Force, today announced $249,000 in federal conservation funds for the Bay Point Conservation Project in Ottawa County. The investment comes from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program.

Kaptur statement on State of Ohio declaring Lake Erie impaired

March 22, 2018 Press Release

Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Co-Chair of the House Great Lakes Task Force, today issued the following statement after news the State of Ohio will declare the open waters of Lake Erie impaired.

Kaptur: Resources for Great Lakes, opioid crisis, manufacturing and clean energy secured in spending agreement

March 22, 2018 Press Release

Washington, D.C. — Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), the Dean of the Ohio Delegation and senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, released the following statement regarding the release of the Omnibus Appropriations package that would fund the government through September 30, 2018.