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FY2000 - 2001 Great Lakes Priorities and Funding Guidance
GENERAL GREAT LAKES PRIORITIES
The Great Lakes Basin is home to 33 million people, including
more than one-tenth of the population of the United States. It contains
some of the world's largest concentrations of industrial capacity; agricultural
land; forests; dunes; wetlands; and 141 globally rare plant and animal
species. The Lakes themselves constitute the largest system of fresh,
surface water on earth, containing 20% of the world's supply. They are
sensitive to a range of pollutant sources, including runoff, waste, industry
discharges, and disposal leachate. Their size increases their vulnerability
to atmospheric deposition. Pollutants bioaccumulate and are retained in
the system for decades - outflows are less than 1 % annually and water
retention ranges from 2.6 years in Lake Erie to 191 years in Lake Superior.
Great Lakes Program partners are united in their efforts,
as set forth in the U.S./Canada Water Quality Agreement, to restore and
maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the waters
of the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem. This mission is supported through:
- Reducing toxic substances, with an emphasis on persistent, bioaccumulative
substances.
- Protecting and restoring vital habitats.
- Protecting biological integrity; restoring and maintaining diverse
living populations.
To achieve those objectives, a nested structure of Great
Lakes activities is managed and implemented by an alliance of Federal,
State, Tribal, and non-governmental agencies. This structure fosters cross-program
and cross-agency integration of programs at a variety of scales; from
Areas of Concern to issues of lakewide and those of basinwide concern.
Thus, the Great Lakes priorities include a variety of tools and focuses,
including:
A. Toxics Reduction
- Great Lakes Water Quality Guidance. All Great Lakes States
have submitted rules packages and associated materials pursuant to the
requirements of the Critical Programs Act (CWA Section 118) and the
Great Lakes Water Quality Guidance (40 CFR 132). Priority Activity:
Completion of USEPA reviews of these materials, in order to assess whether
or not the States’ programs are as protective as the Guidance.
- Binational Toxics Strategy. The Strategy, a ground breaking
international toxics reduction effort, targets a common set of persistent,
toxic substances for reduction and virtual elimination from the Great
Lakes. It focuses on pollution prevention efforts, using voluntary and
regulatory tools to achieve reductions, and contains reduction challenges
for a targeted set of substances, e.g., mercury, PCBs, dioxins/furans,
and certain canceled pesticides. Toxic reductions are being achieved
through FY 1999 commitments made by DaimlerChrysler and Ford to eliminate
PCB containing electrical equipment at their facilities, in North America
and globally, respectively, and by Olin Corporation to achieve a goal
of zero discharge of mercury at their chlor-alkali facilities. Noteworthy
progress on mercury reduction has also been made under existing agreements
with the American Hospital Association, three Northwest Indiana steel
mills, and the Chlorine Institute. Priority Activities: Each targeted
substance will be addressed at the appropriate phase of an analytical
framework which consists of information gathering, analysis of current
regulations/ initiatives, identification of options, and implementing
reduction actions.
- < Air Toxics. Regional work
continues with the States, the Office of Air and Radiation, the Office
of Research and Development, GLNPO, and the Office of Water on a dual
track approach to address the air pathway of toxic pollutants entering
the Great Lakes ecosystem.
- The first track seeks emission reductions through voluntary programs,
such as the Binational Toxics Strategy, and regulatory programs, such
as development of technology-based emission standards for air toxics
(i.e. MACT standards). Associated priorities include delegating of
authority of Clean Air Act Title III activities to the Region 5 States,
allowing the States to implement and enforce the MACT standards; increasing
compliance activity on a selection MACT standards; and working with
the States and OAR to develop and implement risk-based initiatives including
the Urban Air Toxics Strategy and the residual risk program.
- Work also continues along a second track to develop multi-media strategies
and studies under the Great Waters atmospheric deposition program, in
order to ensure continued progress in reducing sources and loadings
of atmospheric deposition to the Great Waters, and to further reduce
the environmental and public health effects. These studies rely on a
balanced effort of emission inventory development, deposition modeling,
and ambient monitoring to provide input to a multi-media mass balance
model which will assess the need for further emission reductions. The
Lake Michigan Mass Balance Study and the Mercury Total Maximum Daily
Load Air Deposition Pilot Projects are examples of ongoing multi-media
initiatives addressing air toxics. Much of the activities concern the
atmospheric deposition of mercury to lakes and land, a national priority
and a global concern. Associated priorities include:
- Inventory and Monitor. Assist States in (i)
developing the Great Lakes Regional Air Toxics Emissions Inventory
to define and regulate sources, evaluate control technologies and
reduce atmospheric deposition of toxic pollutants to the Great Lakes
and other inland lakes and (ii) monitoring of air toxics trends.
- Toxics Modeling. Continue research on toxic pollutant
modeling in order to better understand the fate and cycling of toxic
pollutants through the Great Lakes ecosystem. In particular, force
the computation linkages between atmospheric models and water-based
models to simplify and enhance the prediction of relative loadings
of contaminants from air and water to a given waterbody.
- Long Range Transport. Assess and identify long-range
transport of substances from sources outside of the Great Lakes
per the Great Waters Report.
- Control Technologies. Further investigate the
development of cost-effective control technologies for mercury as
well as other pollutants (both end-of-pipe controls and pollution
prevention options).
- Contaminated Sediments. Polluted sediments are the largest
major source of contaminants to the Great Lakes food chain - over 2,000
miles (40%) of the shoreline are considered impaired because of sediment
contamination. The Region 5 sediment inventory contains 346 contaminated
sediment sites. Fish consumption advisories remain in place throughout
the Great Lakes and many inland lakes. Contaminated sediments also cause
restrictions and delays in dredging of navigable waterways, which in
turn can negatively affect local and regional economies. Although over
1 million cubic yards of Great Lakes sediments were remediated over
the past 2 years, many times that amount must still be addressed. Contaminated
sediments must be cleaned up - before these sediments move downstream
or into open waters, which makes them inaccessible and cleanup impossible.
Associated priorities include: (i) provide communities with technical
assistance, especially in Areas of Concern, to clean up contaminated
sediments in their rivers and harbors through application of regulatory
authorities and cooperative approaches including on-the-ground cleanup,
remedial design, and field work and assessment; (ii) prioritize Regional
sediment sites and develop a Regional Sediments database; and (iii)
improve the process for managing dredged materials from navigable waterways.
- B. Ecological (Habitat) Protection and Restoration. Much of
the Great Lakes basin ecosystem has been permanently altered by anthropogenic
stressors, but viable remnants of most of the biological components
remain. Habitat priorities are focused on efforts to:
- Protect ecosystems possessing ecological integrity, bio-diversity,
or rare ecological occurrences from adverse impacts of anthropogenic
stressors.
- Restore physical processes, ecological structures, and functions
to formerly degraded ecosystems that have the potential to be ecologically
significant.
C. Ecosystem tools and approaches, addressing both toxics and habit:
- Lakewide Management Plans (LaMPs). USEPA and its partners are
working to restore and protect the biological, chemical, and physical
integrity of the Great Lakes. Priorities being addressed through lake
management teams for each of the Lakes include:
- Lake Michigan. The basin contains the Nation’s third largest
population center, the world’s largest concentration of pulp and
paper mills, 40 percent of the Nation’s steel mills, and substantial
fruit and grain production. While water quality at Lake Michigan
has improved, contamination still exists. Nonpoint source runoff,
air deposition, and large contaminated sediment sites are main sources
of the lake’s contamination. Fish advisories and beach closings
are still necessary. Habitat destruction, developmental pressures,
invasive species, and food chain disruption present significant
challenges. Priority Activities: Engaging public and private
entities to implement ALaMP
2000" activities to preserve and restore Lake Michigan's ecosystem.
LaMP 2000 will include goals; ecosystem status and trends; pollutant
causes, sources, and pathways; and results from the Lake Michigan
Mass Balance Study and from a stakeholder comparative risk exercise.
The ecosystem plan will include indicators and a draft monitoring
plan and human health information integrated into the plan of proposed
actions and milestones.1
- Lake Ontario. There have been significant improvements
since the 1960s and 1970s, when colonial waterbirds experienced
nearly total reproductive failures due to high levels of toxic contaminants
in the food chain. Following actions to ban and control contaminants
entering the Great Lakes and GLWQA renewal, levels of toxic contaminants
have decreased significantly, and colonial waterbird populations
have overcome most of the recognized contaminant-induced impacts
of 25 years ago (i.e., their eggshells show normal thickness, they
are reproducing normally, and most population levels are stable
or increasing). However, bioaccumulative toxics persist in sediment,
water, and biota at levels of concern for some fish species and
for higher order predators.Priority Activities: The Stage I (problem
definition) LaMP was finalized in May, 1998. The LaMP workgroup
will work with its partners to implement the binational workplan
laid out in the Stage I document, towards the development of a draft
LaMP 2000 document. Top priority will be given to activities that
lead to the (i) identification of inputs of LaMP critical pollutants;
measurement of critical pollutant loadings in tributaries and wastewater
pollutants; and (iii) protection and restoration of significant
nearshore, shallow water, tributary, wetland, or upland habitats
in the Lake Ontario Basin. Other priority items identified in the
binational workplan include enhancing existing mass balance models,
facilitating cooperative lakewide monitoring, refining beneficial
use impairment assessments, and finalizing ecosystems objectives
and indicators for the Lake
- Lake Superior. The largest fresh-water lake in the world
by surface area, the lake basin is sparsely populated and relatively
pristine. Through the Binational Program’s Zero Discharge Demonstration
Program, the Lake Superior community will work with local industry
and communities to reduce and eventually eliminate all discharges
of targeted toxic substances to the Superior Basin. Priority
Activities: Completion of the LaMP 2000 Document by April 2000,
which will include both chemical and ecosystem reduction strategies
for the Lake Superior Basin. The ecosystem components will include
information and strategies relating to habitat, terrestrial/wildlife,
sustainability, aquatics, and human health. Of particular importance
will be implementation activities and projects which carry out the
strategies specifically outlined in the LaMP 2000 document. These
will include activities and projects to prevent, reduce, and/or
remediate impaired uses by continuing implementation of the zero
discharge demonstration, special protection designations, the development
of an integrated monitoring plan, and protection and restoration
of important habitat.
- Lake Erie. The smallest, warmest, shallowest, and most
biologically productive Great lake supports major industrial, recreational,
and fishing uses. Stresses from urbanization, agricultural use,
and invasive species impact habitat and threaten food sources. Priority
Activities: (i) Critical Pollutants: Complete action plans for further
reductions in PCBs and mercury levels and support action plan implementation,
including pollution prevention efforts, sediment remediation, enforcement-compliance
assistance, and support for RAP activities addressing PCBs and mercury.
(ii) Habitat Protection/ Restoration: Complete action plans and
support their implementation, including support for RAP activities
addressing habitat. (iii) Problem Definition: Complete the development
of ecosystem objectives and indicators, finalize beneficial use
impairment assessments, and complete pollutant sources and loads
analysis, in order to further develop and implement action plans
to protect/restore the beneficial uses of Lake Erie. Further develop
analysis of: human health impacts from Lake Erie (beach closings/fish
advisories), long-range transport of pollutants, invasive species,
use/impact of pesticides, nitrates trends/impacts, impacts of climate
change, and impacts of water level changes. (iv) Public Involvement:
Continue to support an active Public Forum, as well as other public
involvement/outreach activities in the Lake Erie basin.
- Lake Huron. The third largest Lake by volume has the largest
lakeshore (extending 3,827 miles), and is characterized by shallow,
sandy beaches and the rocky shores of Georgian Bay. Lake Huron’s
drainage area, which covers parts of Michigan and Ontario, is relatively
large compared to the other Great Lakes. Because of the lesser degree
of development in the watershed, environmental issues in Lake Huron
are focused around reducing habitat impairment and/or destruction,
as well as addressing the leveling-off of declines of toxic contaminants.
The Lake Huron Initiative, led by Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality and partially funded through a cooperative agreement with
GLNPO, has identified issues and efforts toward ensuring a sustainable
Lake Huron watershed. Priority Activities: Protecting key habitat,
especially coastal wetlands, spawning reefs, and island habitat;
prioritization of non-point source areas for funding through Section
319 and Clean Michigan Initiative funds; identification of dam removal
demonstration projects to increase available fish habitat; the restoration
of the Saginaw Bay ecosystem, including environmental dredging,
non-point source controls, and habitat restoration; sea lamprey
control, especially in St. Mary's River; support of clean-up efforts
of Lake Huron tributaries, including AOCs; support of enforcement/compliance
efforts to ensure reductions in atmospheric deposition; and the
promotion of pollution prevention throughout the watershed.
- AOCs and Special Places. Special attention is placed on geographic
areas where beneficial use of water or biota is adversely affected or
where environmental criteria are exceeded to the extent that use impairment
exists or is likely to exist. The purpose of establishing "Areas
of Concern" (AOCs) is to encourage jurisdictions to form partnerships
to rehabilitate these acute, localized problem areas and to restore
their beneficial uses.
- Through ecosystem-based efforts, reduce toxic substances and
protect/restore beneficial uses in the AOCs through community-based
environmental protection. In supporting such efforts the Agency
aims to enhance public communication and focus and coordinate implementation
of all relevant Federal, State, and local media programs.
- Target multi-media regulatory and non-regulatory actions to
achieve risk-based environmental improvements in and around the
Niagara River, Northwest Indiana, Greater Chicago, Southeast Michigan,
Northeast Ohio, and on Tribal Lands.
- Promote and support brownfields initiatives, including information
dissemination to assist brownfields redevelopment in AOC communities.
D. Support Federal-State-Tribal Partnership and Integration
- Develop the new Great Lakes Strategy, expanding the participation
of partners and forging linkages with the Government Performance and
Results Act.
- Improve State and Tribal capability to address Great Lakes environmental
problems through a cross-program approach based on environmental information.
- Initiate coordinated post-State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference
(SOLEC) indicator development, monitoring, information management, and
reporting
- Provide broad access (including Federal and State agencies) to
a common environmental database and analytical tools, facilitating Federal/State/Tribal
information exchange.
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