Huizenga, Joyce lead bipartisan contingent in seeking FY 2022 Great Lakes funding

U.S. Reps. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) and Dave Joyce (R-OH) joined their fellow co-chairs of the bipartisan House Great Lakes Task Force and 32 congressional lawmakers in releasing the task force’s fiscal year 2022 budget priorities for the Great Lakes region. 

Their funding priorities include combating Asian carp, conducting a coastal resiliency study to help mitigate erosion damage, restoring and updating the Soo Locks, and supporting fishery and habitat restoration efforts.

“The Great Lakes deserve robust investment and attention in FY 2022,” wrote Rep. Huizenga, Rep. Joyce, and their colleagues in an April 20 letter sent to Office of Budget and Management Acting Director Shalanda Young and Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jaime Pinkham. “Every dollar spent on these projects will have a profoundly positive impact on our region.” 

Among the other members who cosigned the letter were U.S. Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI), Pete Stauber (R-MN), John Moolenaar (R-MI), Peter Meijer (R-MI), Jackie Walorski (R-IN), John Katko (R-NY), and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH).

Specifically, the House Great Lakes Task Force members urged the Biden administration to include funding in the FY 2022 budget request totaling $4.94 million for Preconstruction Engineering and Design work at Brandon Road and $16.7 million for operations and maintenance of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal electric dispersal barriers to prevent Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes. They also requested that the Asian Carp coordinating activities be funded at $350,000 within the investigations account for stakeholder coordination and engagement, according to their letter.

The lawmakers also requested full funding for the Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study, which would develop a coordinated strategy to identify, manage and protect the Great Lakes and its 5,200-mile coastline. Their letter did not list the full funding amount.

“The Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study is needed more today than ever,” wrote Reps. Huizenga, Joyce, and their colleagues. “We urge you to request this study as a new start in the FY 2022 budget.”

The members in their letter also asked that $37.3 million be included in the budget request for Soo Locks Major Rehabilitation Construction and requested more than $69.38 million for operation and maintenance of the St. Mary’s River at the Soo Locks, which serve as a gateway to transport nearly 80 million tons of goods and raw material that supply the region’s manufacturing, mining, and agricultural industries. 

Additionally, the members requested that $10 million be included in the FY 2022 budget request for the Great Lakes Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration, which enables the Corps of Engineers to use its planning, design and construction expertise for projects to restore the Great Lakes fishery and ecosystem.

“A wide range of environmental projects can be funded under this program, including restoration of riparian and wetland habitat, dam removal to reestablish free-flowing tributaries, construction of fish passage over existing structures, improving spawning and nursery habitat, and erosion and sedimentation control,” they wrote.