EPA head praises Great Lakes program his agency's budget eliminates

Todd Spangler | Detroit Free Press

WASHINGTON — The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency indicated today that there may have been disagreements within the Trump administration about a proposed cut eliminating $300 million annually for Great Lakes restoration initiatives.

Speaking to a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said that in discussions with the White House Office of Management and Budget prior to its releasing the proposed budget for next year, the agency “talked to OMB about the importance” of the Great Lakes program.

Pruitt — who was called before Congress to defend plans for a 30% cut to EPA’s funding and a reduction of some 3,800 positions in the agency — didn’t say what level of funding for the Great Lakes program, if any, he proposed, but he praised the restoration initiative generally.

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Under questioning by U.S. Reps. David Joyce, R-Ohio, and Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, Pruitt indicated there is room to work with Congress as it works to set an appropriate level of funding and establish oversight for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, as well as determining how best to share responsibility for funding with the states.

He told Joyce — who said eliminating funding and oversight for the Great Lakes program could damage drinking water for millions of people and “cripple our collective efforts” to deal with toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie and fight the spread of Asian carp — that EPA officials “look forward to working with you to achieve these objectives.”

President Donald Trump’s budget has widely been seen as largely unpassable in Congress, with even many Republicans objecting to his gutting or eliminating programs such as the Great Lakes program that have bipartisan regional support in order to increase funding for defense and border security.

Congress has authority for setting funding levels for programs, not the administration or the OMB. When the Free Press first reported in March that Trump’s proposed budget looked to eliminate funding for geographic programs, including the Great Lakes initiative, it was met with widespread derision from members of both political parties.

In Michigan, the program has helped pay for numerous projects over the years, including improved fish habitat and a pier at Detroit’s Belle Isle. It also has been used to dredge river bottoms to remove mercury pollution, create artificial reefs for fish and protect wetlands.

Kaptur, who represents Toledo, said at today’s hearing that any such level of cut is “simply unacceptable,” noting that Ohio, Michigan and other Great Lakes states are relying on EPA leadership to help resolve regional differences and reduce nutrients entering Lake Erie that are blamed for toxic algae blooms.

She also extended an invitation to Pruitt to tour the Great Lakes with a regional delegation, which he accepted. In his testimony, Pruitt made it clear that while he has embraced a “back-to-basics agenda” for the agency, there is room to work with legislators to fund priorities.

That said, he added, “I believe we can fulfill the mission of our agency with a trim budget.”

Even the subcommittee chairman, U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., noted that the budget goes after programs “vitally important to each member” of Congress in one way or another. Calvert noted that many of the proposed reductions “are proposals that we are unlikely to entertain.”

“We all want clean water and clean air and a strong, robust economy,” said Calvert. “It’s not an either/or proposition.”

Pruitt also dispelled speculation that he and the Trump administration were at any point considering closing the EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago and moving it to Kansas City, a rumor that led to criticism by Great Lakes legislators and environmentalists.

“That’s pure legend,” he said.

Contact Todd Spangler: 703-854-8947 or tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler.



