Neil Gorsuch, Donald Trump

President Donald Trump signs an Energy Independence Executive Order, Tuesday, March 28, 2017, at EPA headquarters in Washington. Trump signed an executive order aimed at moving forward on his campaign pledge to unravel former President Barack Obama's plan to curb global warming.

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Update, 5/1: Great Lakes funding safe in 2017 spending deal

Update: 63 members of Congress oppose Great Lakes cuts

President Donald Trump wants to squeeze this year's Great Lakes cleanup funding to help make a down payment on a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

A $50 million cut to current fiscal year funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) is part of $18 billion in immediate federal budget cuts proposed this week by the White House, according to Sen. Debbie Stabenow's office.

The Associated Press reports the proposal to Congress would also cut $1.2 billion in National Institutes of Health research grants, $1.5 billion in community development block grants, and $30 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sea Grant program.

Trump has proposed eliminating the GLRI program altogether in his 2018 fiscal year budget as part of an effort to cut staffing and budget at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which administers the 8-state program.

The program is funded at $300 million this year. It funnels money to state and local projects to clean up pollution, restore watersheds, combat invasive species and build green infrastructure.

"After the President zeroed out Great Lakes funding in next year's budget, it adds insult to injury that his Administration is requesting close to a $50 million cut to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in this year's budget too," said Stabenow, D-Michigan. "I will continue to work across the aisle to stop cuts to this important initiative that helps protect and restore the Great Lakes."

Brian Patrick, spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, said Huizenga, who is co-chair of the House Great Lakes Task Force, believes GLRI funding "should remain at its current level of $300 million."

"The GLRI is a program that has achieved positive results and has growing bipartisan support on Capitol Hill," Patrick said. "Congressman Huizenga continues to have conversations with both Republicans and Democrats about the health of the Great Lakes and the important role the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative plays in preserving the ecosystem for future generations."

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, also pledged to fight the "drastic cuts."

The GLRI is the "premier tool for protecting the health of the Great Lakes and these additional cuts would not only harm cleanup efforts, they also threaten Michigan's multi-billion dollar commercial shipping, fishing and tourism industries," he said.

The national Sea Grant programs would also be eliminated next year as part of cuts proposed at NOAA. Michigan Sea Grant is a joint project between Michigan State University and the University of Michigan.

The proposed Great Lakes funding cuts have drawn bipartisan opposition in Congress. The White House submitted its latest budget cuts list as negotiations continue over a larger spending bill. The federal government is operating on a continuing resolution until late April.

"There's a bit of uncertainty right now in terms of our funding for both this and next year," Tinka Hyde, director of the EPA Great Lakes National Program Office in Chicago, said to attendees at the EPA's Great Lakes Areas of Concern conference being held this week in Grand Rapids.

Nonetheless, "I'm very proud of the success we've had in GLRI."

Areas of Concern (AOCs) are polluted areas on both the U.S. and Canadian sides of the Great Lakes with a legacy of industrial contamination.

The EPA and other federal agencies send GLRI funds to Areas of Concern projects to restore wildlife habitats, dig out contaminated sediment and conduct other cleanup efforts that aim to remove the areas from the international list.

There are 11 AOCs in Michigan. Since 2010, Michigan has received $606 million for 760 GLRI projects. In 2014, White Lake near Muskegon and Deer Lake in the Upper Peninsula were delisted as toxic concern areas after years of GLRI cleanup.

Hyde told attendees to look out the window the next time they are near a Great Lake and "keep that as a reminder of why we do this and how we need to continue to do this great work in these uncertain times."

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