Trump Speech

President Donald Trump after addressing a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017. (Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool Image via AP)

(Jim Lo Scalzo)

Update: Backlash greets news of Great Lakes cuts

Update: Trump budget completely eliminates Great Lakes funding

The White House is proposing to slash Environmental Protection Agency funding that pays for Great Lakes pollution cleanup by 97 percent, according to a budget document obtained by the National Association of Clean Air Agencies.

The potential cuts are part of President Donald Trump's initial 2018 budget proposal, detailed in a U.S. Office of Management and Budget "passback" to the EPA that outlines drastic cuts to an agency Trump has called a "job killer" and promised to reduce to "tidbits" as a candidate.

The proposal would virtually eliminate annual Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funding, slashing it from $300 million to $10 million among other cuts that would altogether reduce the EPA's total budget by a quarter.

Specific program cuts were reported by the Oregonian and have been confirmed by other news agencies like the Detroit Free Press.

The Trump administration says it will release its final budget the week of March 13. The EPA and State Department are expected to take major blows to meet Trump's goal of increasing military spending by 10 percent.

The EPA has the option to appeal the cuts before the budget is sent to Congress, but has not yet made any public statements about a counter proposal.

The Great Lakes funding cut is the largest total dollar reduction on a list that includes major cuts to climate change programs, restoration funding for Puget Sound and Chesapeake Bay, research into chemicals that disrupt human reproductive and developmental systems, enforcement of pollution laws and funding for Brownfield cleanups.

The plan also includes a $13 million cut in compliance monitoring, which the EPA uses to ensure the safety of drinking water systems. State grants for beach water quality testing would also be eliminated.

"When you see these reductions, you'll be able to tie it back to a speech the President gave, or something the President had said previously," Mick Mulvaney, administration budget director, said at a White House press briefing Monday. "We are taking his words and turning them into policies and dollars."

Regional environmental advocates blasted the proposed cuts to Great Lakes restoration spending, which also drew Republican criticism.

The GLRI funds state and local projects that combat invasive species, restore wildlife habitats and clean up watersheds polluted by a Rust Belt economic legacy across the eight-state Great Lakes region. It has traditionally enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Congress, which in the past has restored smaller, $50 million cuts proposed under President Barack Obama.

In December, Congress authorized the GLRI at $300 million a year through 2021 with standalone authorization, meaning Congress could choose to restore funding up to that level each year even if Trump holds to the proposed cut.

Brian Patrick, spokesperson for U.S. House Great Lakes Task Force Chair Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, said the White House could expect Republican pushback from the delegation if the proposed GLRI cuts remain.

Last month, the task force sent the White House a letter advocating for continued funding of the program at $300 million each year, calling it a "tremendous success" which has brought together governments, tribes and businesses.

The letter called the threat of Asian carp entering the Great Lakes "one of the greatest challenges the region currently faces."

If the GLRI cut is included in Trump's final budget, Patrick said "it would face strong bipartisan opposition" from Huizenga and other members of the task force. "Congressman Huizenga believes the GLRI plays a critical role in maintaining the environmental health of the Great Lakes region," he said.

A coalition of environmental and conservation groups that advocates for GLRI funding said the cuts would devastate a working program.

The GLRI was instrumental in watershed restoration efforts that resulted in White Lake in Muskegon County and Deer Lake in the Upper Peninsula coming off the Great Lakes Areas of Concern toxic hotspot list in 2014.

In August, the GLRI allocated $7.9 million to the Lower Muskegon River Hydrological Reconnection and Wetland Restoration Project, which hopes to remove Muskegon Lake from the area of concern list.

"If true, the level of cuts being discussed would be devastating," said Chad Lord, policy director for the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.

"These cuts will essentially stop restoration efforts in their tracks in states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio," he said.

All were battleground states won by Trump during the election.

The GLRI took flight under President Barack Obama, but the program framework was developed under President George W. Bush. The program has tackled more than 3,000 projects since inception.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., called the proposed GLRI cuts "outrageous."

"This initiative has been critical to cleaning up our Great Lakes and waterways, restoring fish and wildlife habitats, and fighting invasive species like Asian carp," she said. "Our Great Lakes are part of our DNA and an important driver of our economy in Michigan and I call on President Trump to reverse course on these harmful decisions."

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, called them "extreme and dangerous."

"Protecting the Great Lakes has never been a partisan issue and it shouldn't be now under a new administration," he said. "If these careless cuts are presented to Congress, I will fight them in every way that I can."

Other EPA cuts in the plan include a 30 percent reduction in state and local air grants from 2017 levels, a 24 percent cut to the overall budget, decrease of staffing by 19 percent, elimination of the Indoor Air Radon Program and state indoor radon grants, elimination of the Environmental Justice office and a reduction of environmental justice funds by more than 77 percent from 2017 levels, according to the National Association of Clean Air Agencies.

In a March 1 letter to Mulvaney and new EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), a national nonprofit, nonpartisan association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders, said proposed cuts to state and tribal assistance grants or EPA programs operated by states "will have profound impacts on states' ability to implement the core environmental programs as expected by our citizens."

On Tuesday, Pruitt told CNN that it is "very important to protect" grants that help states with water infrastructure, and called the proposals "the beginning of the process, not the end of the process."