Ohio Environmental Law Blog : Ohio Environmental Lawyer & Attorney : Joseph Koncelik : Frantz Ward Law Firm : Environmental Regulation, Land Use, Compliance : Cleveland, Ohio

Senators Stabenow and Feingold are trying to build support for Great Lakes funding in the economic stimulus package being developed.  The following letter is being circulated as a way of showing support for inclusion of funding. 

The letter highlights the traditional areas identified for Great Lakes Restoration- contaminated sediment, combined sewer overflows and eco restoration. 

 

Dear Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell:

As you move forward with an economic recovery package for our nation, we strongly urge that you include funding that will protect and promote jobs by restoring and protecting one of our most important natural resources – the Great Lakes. In particular, we urge you to provide funding for the Great Lakes Legacy Act, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, and the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act. These investments will put people to work cleaning up toxic sediments in our region’s rivers and harbors, ending decades of sewer overflows into 95 percent of our nation’s fresh surface water, and restoring hundreds of acres of vital wetlands and habitat.

Since 2002, cleanups funded under the Great Lakes Legacy Act have removed nearly a million cubic yards of toxic sediments from rivers and harbors in the Great Lakes. These cleanups—a priority under the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration plan—are creating thousands of jobs and opportunities for additional economic development in Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Gary, Duluth and other Midwest urban areas. By investing $262.0 million in 2009 and an additional $240.0 million in 2010 for toxic sediment cleanup projects, which were identified by our states, we can put thousands of people to work in struggling urban areas throughout our region. According to our states, these projects are ready to go and spending these funds can immediately begin to create jobs and economic activity in our region, with lasting impacts.

Another job-generating opportunity is investing in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. By investing in clean water infrastructure, we can put people to work tackling an important challenge of our times: aging water infrastructure and associated environmental, public health, and economic costs. It is estimated that for each $1 billion invested in clean water infrastructure, 47,000 jobs are generated. We recommend that the recovery package invest $10 billion in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, resulting in 470,000 jobs nationally. In the Great Lakes region alone, a $10 billion national investment translates into $3.7 billion for the region and over 170,000 jobs that can establish a modern and environmentally sound water infrastructure system.

The negative economic impacts of aging infrastructure are well documented throughout the region and nation: from sewage-related closures every summer at Great Lakes beaches and water-borne illnesses and deaths to road damage, such as sinkholes caused by breaking water infrastructure. Old and ailing waste water treatment facilities are the cause of more than 23 billion gallons of raw sewage entering the Great Lakes in 2006. Stresses on our aging infrastructure are further compounded—until Congress acts—by reduced stream and wetland protections under the Clean Water Act as a result of recent Supreme Court decisions, further taxing water infrastructure that must compensate for lost natural filtration and water storage functions, for example. Also, climate change is expected to bring heavier rains that will inundate overtaxed waste water systems and lead to increased untreated sewage overflows in the Great Lakes. Addressing all of these threats will ensure the economic vitality of the Great Lakes and the nation’s resources, which we all depend on for jobs, drinking water, and quality of life.

We also support investing in ecosystem restoration programs, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act program, to fund wetlands and habitat projects. Restoring habitat, aquatic ecosystems, and wetlands not only can reduce the overall cost of water infrastructure projects; they also contribute to our state’s hunting, fishing, and wildlife watching economies. These projects will also immediately generate jobs on par with other infrastructure pursuits--a $130 million dollar investment in ready-to-go restoration projects in the Great Lakes region will generate nearly 3,000 jobs.

We look forward to supporting legislation that builds economic opportunity and puts people back to work while enhancing environmental quality. Investing in clean water infrastructure, toxic sediment remediation, and habitat restoration accomplishes all three goals. We urge you to include these investments in the recovery package that we will consider next year.

Sincerely,

cc: Senator Boxer, Chairman, Environment and Public Works
Senator Inhofe, Ranking Member, Environment and Public Works

(Photo: flickr vice48sr5005/everystockphoto.com)

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Rep. Ross McGregor introduced H.B. 632 to require the Director of Natural Resources to establish a plan to make available for lease areas of the bed of Lake Erie for the purpose of wind energy development and to require Lake Erie wind farms to be certified by the Power Siting Board.

Legislation is necessary to create a mechanism to place wind turbines on Lake Erie.

For those who have not been following this proposal, here are some links of interest:

Great Lakes Energy Development Task Force-  This group, lead by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason, has been exploring the feasibility of developing off-shore wind in Lake Erie. The feasibility study will recommend whether or not to proceed with the development of the Great Lakes Wind Energy Center – and if so, how to fund and implement its development. The study will provide a conceptual design for the offshore turbines, including the technical function and scope of the site.  The feasibility study is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2009. 

Volokh Conspiracy- Blog post regarding design issues faced by locating in the Great Lakes versus Salt Water.  Good array of comments that further flush out the issues...

Opposition View from Local Cleveland Blog-  Bill Callahan questions whether the Region's first investment "should be a handful of experimental wind plants that can’t go on line in less than five years; must be engineered from the ground up with unpredictable costs, unpredictable construction and operating problems, and unpredictable output economics; and for all these reasons can only be built with millions of dollars in scarce public subsidies that would otherwise support lots of smaller, less risky initiatives?"

Proponent View Green Energy Ohio-  On their wind activities page they discuss the progress being made on the project.

My View-  In yesterday's post I discussed the prospect of Ohio becoming a leader in developing Clean Tech to boost its economy.  In that post I discuss the need for Ohio to find ways to lead the nation in Clean Tech development.  Austin (Texas) and Research Triangle (N.C.) and Silicon Valley (Calif.)  where the first to identify and lead in promoting technology to develop their economies.  For Ohio, and hopefully Cleveland, to beat all the other areas competing for Clean Tech jobs it must be a visible leader.  It must do something bold and first.  For those reasons, being the first to develop fresh water wind makes sense.

(Photo: Flickr Phault)

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With Michigan and Pennsylvania's passage of the Compact, all of the Great Lake States have now endorsed it.  The next step is to go to Congress for ratification.   While the press has almost exclusively concentrated on the diversion aspects of the Great Lakes Compact, there are other provisions that could have important ramifications for businesses.  Ohio has yet to pass enabling legislation that will grant authority to the Ohio Department of Natural Resource to implement other important aspects of the Compact, most notably regulation of water withdraws. 

The driving force behind the Compact was to ban diversions to other States and Countries.  But the Compact also requires each of the eight states to establish a regulatory program for new or increased withdraws from the Great Lakes basin. Ohio's enabling legislation will decide critical issues such as- how much water must be withdrawn before a permit will be required?  The Compact sets a default number of 100,000 gallons per day (gpd).  Other states have established higher thresholds, such as 1,000,000 gpd.

Another critical question - what type of review is required if a business triggers the need for a withdraw permit?  The Compact contains very broad language that requires a review of impacts to the Great Lake basin from which the withdraw takes place.  However, the Compact grants the states a tremendous amount of discretion to establish the level of review associated with new withdraws.  For example, Ohio could prohibit issuance of a withdraw permit if the proposed project would result in decreased flow in a tributary of Lake Erie.  Ohio could also require a detailed review of the impacts to the ecosystem if a withdraw is allowed.

While focus has rightfully been on protecting this tremendous freshwater resource from being diverted elsewhere, there are important policy questions that still remain unanswered.  How Ohio and the other Great Lake States regulate withdraws within their states will arguably have a more direct and immediate impact on its constituents. 

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