Position on S. 1024 and S. 1674

Along with America’s Great Waters Coalition, NPCA urged members of the committee to support S. 1024, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2015, and S. 1674, the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act.

• S. 1024, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2015, would authorize the bipartisan Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) for five years. The GLRI is an innovative, action-oriented approach targeting the region’s biggest environmental problems like invasive species, legacy contaminants, habitat loss, and polluted runoff. This coordinated effort between federal agencies and nonfederal stakeholders has delivered significant restoration results to the Great Lakes region, yet more work remains to protect the drinking water supply for more than 48 million people.
• S. 1674, the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act, would combine and authorize two complementary water quality and shore restoration programs for five years and provide for additional coordination of federal activities related to the restoration of Long Island Sound. Enacting this legislation would allow important gains that have been made to restore coastal habitat and address failing septic systems, polluted runoff, invasive species, beach closures, and massive fish kills to continue, while addressing emerging threats to further protect and restore the Long Island Sound watershed for future generations.

The health and resiliency of America’s Great Waters, like the Great Lakes and Long Island Sound, depend on consistent support and resources provided through federal programs. Across the nation, our Great Waters are under constant threat from pollution and habitat loss, and they face a massive backlog of projects to clean up and restore these important engines of regional and national economies. We view authorizing important ecosystem restoration programs as a national priority and a way to provide the resources necessary to achieve meaningful watershed restoration.