Portman leads bipartisan letter citing concerns with EPA’s proposed Great Lakes funding cuts

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) led a bipartisan letter on Friday in which senators voiced concern about reports that the Trump administration planned to cut Great Lakes funding by 97 percent in its upcoming budget proposal.

Portman and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), co-chairs of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, led a letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt that cited their concerns that the EPA fiscal year 2018 budget would include “drastic” cuts to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) program.

“As members of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, we are writing to express our great concern about reports that the Environmental Protection Agency’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 budget might include drastic cuts to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative program, which enjoys bipartisan and bicameral support,” the senators wrote. “It is our understanding that an initial budget blueprint only included $10 million for the initiative, which if accurate, would be 97 percent below the $300 million Congress appropriated in FY 2016 and in previous fiscal years.”

Portman and Stabenow added that they were pleased by support expressed by Pruitt for the GLRI during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

“As you begin your tenure as EPA administrator, we hope that you will continue to support the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative by fully funding this program in the upcoming budget request,” the letter states.

As the largest freshwater body in the world, the lawmakers noted, the Great Lakes provide drinking water for 40 million people, contribute $10 billion in tourism each year, and support hundreds of thousands of Midwestern jobs.