ANN ARBOR, Mich — President Trump signed the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2019 into law yesterday, reauthorizing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and increasing the funding authorization from $300 million to $475 million over the next five years. 

“The passage of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2019 is a major bipartisan victory for the Great Lakes, our economy and our way of life," said Mike Shriberg, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Regional Center. "The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is highly successful in protecting our drinking water, our fish and wildlife, and the millions of jobs dependent on a healthy Great Lakes ecosystem. This increased potential investment is a result of bipartisan cooperation from the Great Lakes delegation in Congress. We particularly thank Senators Stabenow (D-MI) and Portman (R-OH) and Reps. Joyce (R-OH), Huizenga (R-MI), Dingell (D-MI), and Kaptur (D-OH) for working together as co-chairs of the Great Lakes Task Force to get this done. The Great Lakes are great uniters, even in these divisive times. This Great Lakes Restoration Initiative increase will fund shovel-ready restoration jobs to help people recover from the economic toll of the pandemic, preserve jobs dependent on waters free from pollution and invasive species like Asian carp, and invest in the communities that have suffered most from environmental harm in our region.”