NEMWI New Logo Lg File

W E E K L Y  U P D A T E    December 6,  2016
In This Issue
Water Resources Agreement Released
NEMWI Launches Safe Drinking Water Research and Policy Program
EPA Releases Drinking Water Action Plan
Representatives Dingell and Kaptur Call on EPA to List Lake Erie as Impaired

Join Our Mailing List

QUICK LINKS 
 
Northeast-Midwest Institute


News
Water Resources Agreement Released 

Congress released an agreement on water resources infrastructure legislation yesterday that is a compromise of legislation that both the House and the Senate passed this fall. The " Water Infrastructure Improvements Act for the Nation (WIIN) Act ," includes the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) which authorizes certain Army Corps of Engineer projects, and the Water and Waste Act of 2016, which will help provide aid to Flint, Michigan and other communities facing drinking water contaminations. Additionally, the WIIN Act includes language authorizing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) at $300 million a year over five years, and improvements to the Great Lakes Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration Act and the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act and continues to support the Great Lakes Navigation System.  A summary of the legislation can be viewed here. 


For more information, contact  Matthew McKenna , Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program or  Jared Mott , Senior Policy Analyst for the Mississippi River at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
NEMWI Launches Safe Drinking Water Research and Policy Program

The Northeast-Midwest Institute (NEMWI) has launched the Safe Drinking Water Research and Policy Program in response to the safe drinking water issues facing the northeast and midwest regions. With start-up funding from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation received in November 2016, the new program is addressing drinking water issues common in aging cities. The work of the Safe Drinking Water Research and Policy Program started in response to the Flint Water Crisis, and continued after the City of Detroit, Michigan asked NEMWI to develop a program to proactively minimize lead in drinking water in early 2016. The new program builds on the Institute's long-standing engagement in water quality research, policy analysis, and education and outreach relating to water quality and safe drinking water by expanding its capabilities to the northeast and midwest regions more broadly.

Directing the new Safe Drinking Water Program is Elin Betanzo, Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute. She is also the technical expert for the Toward Sustainable Water Information project, which focuses on the availability of water quantity and water quality monitoring data in the region. More details about the Safe Drinking Water Research and Policy Program can be viewed on the NEMWI's website here.  

  For more information, contact  Elin Betanzo , Director of the Safe Drinking Water Research and Policy Program at  the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
 
EPA Releases Drinking Water Action Plan

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a Drinking Water Action Plan that outlines six priority areas for local government, utilities, community organizations, and other stakeholders to focus on in providing safe drinking water to their communities.  Contaminated drinking water in communities like Flint, Michigan and Sebring, Ohio have resulted in calls for increased measures for ensuring safe drinking water across the region. In response to these drinking water concerns, the Northeast-Midwest Institute has developed a new Safe Drinking Water Research and Policy Program that is tasked with addressing drinking water issues that are common in aging cities throughout the region. 
 
The six major priorities that EPA addresses in the Acton Plan are: 
  • Increasing capacity for water infrastructure financing and management in disadvantaged communities; 
  • Improving EPA's oversight of the Safe Drinking Water Act;
  • Strengthening source water protection of drinking water supplies; 
  • Addressing unregulated drinking water contaminants;
  • Increasing public education and outreach on drinking water safety; and 
  • Reducing lead risks and improving the Lead and Copper rule.
For more information, contact  Elin Betanzo, Director of the Safe Drinking Water Research and Policy Program at  the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
Representatives Dingell and Kaptur Call on EPA to List Lake Erie as Impaired 

Congresswomen Debbie Dingell (MI) and Marcy Kaptur (OH) sent a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy last Tuesday calling on the Agency to list the open waters of Lake Erie's Western Basin as impaired under the terms of the Clean Water Act. Currently, the state of Michigan has included Lake Erie on its list of impaired waters, but the state of Ohio has not. Both Reps. Dingell and Kaptur's letter asks that the EPA require Ohio to list the western waters of Lake Erie as impaired so as to bring Ohio into alignment with the State of Michigan to best maximize restoration and protection activities in Lake Erie. A copy of the letter and a press release can be viewed here.
 
For more information, contact  Matthew McKenna , Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
 

NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation