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by Dan Egan | Source: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
President Bush signed the Great Lakes compact into law Friday morning, culminating a decade-long push to pass sweeping protections for the world’s largest freshwater system.
The two Canadian provinces that border the Great Lakes have signed a parallel agreement.
James Rowen | Source: The Political Environment
The Great Lakes Compact won overwhelming approval in the US House of Representatives today, and moves to the White House for the president’s promised signature.
On balance, this is an important advancement for Great Lakes preservation, and hats off to the many activists and public officials who spent years getting this document created and approved.
Several issues remain.
The first is the need for …
by Jeff Alexander | Source: The Muskegon Chronicle
A state permit approved Thursday will allow Nestle to dramatically increase the amount of Ice Mountain water the Swiss company bottles near Big Rapids.
All the water bottled by Nestle in Michigan comes from the Muskegon River watershed.
“This permit shows the loopholes in Michigan’s new water law; it certainly didn’t stop Nestle’s privatization of water.”
Michigan legislators recently approved a law requiring permits for large water withdrawals. The Legislature also approved the Great Lakes Compact, a U.S.-Canada agreement designed to prohibit diversions of Great Lakes water outside of the lakes’ basin.
The compact and state law prohibit companies from shipping Great Lakes water out of the basin in pipelines, tanker trucks or freighters. Companies can send unlimited amounts of water out of the region, provided it is in containers smaller than 5.7 gallons.
Read the DEQ’s findings, permit specifics at the Muskegon Chronicle >>
Source: WisPolitics.com
US Senator Herb Kohl applauded his colleagues in the Senate for unanimously approving the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. The Compact is an historic agreement among the eight Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario to protect and preserve the largest freshwater bodies in the world.
“The Great Lakes play a vital role in the daily lives of the people of Wisconsin providing drinking water, jobs, energy, shipping and recreation,” Kohl said. “The Compact protects the Great Lakes by banning new or increased diversions outside of the Great Lakes Basin, and will promote efficient water use and minimize waste.
“I applaud the Senate for approving this historic agreement, which would preserve and protect one of our national treasures for us and future generations. It now falls on the House of Representatives to approve the Compact as the final step in its ratification.”
Senator Kohl, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, participated in a hearing held by the panel on the Compact earlier this week. Governor Jim Doyle testified before the committee as a witness at the hearing, which was chaired by Senator Russ Feingold.
Two weeks ago, Senators Kohl, Feingold, and a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of federal lawmakers sent a letter to the Great Lakes states governors, applauding their success in winning approval of the Compact in their individual states. The letter also stated the lawmakers’ commitment to ensuring Congress ratifies the agreement.
by Mike Miller | Source: The Capital Times
The Great Lakes Compact, years in the making, now appears to be on the fast track for Congressional approval, at least in the Senate.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, late Wednesday announced that Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., would chair a hearing on the Senate Joint Resolution approving the compact next Wednesday in the Senate Dirksen Office Building.
The announcement came at the end of a day which saw Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, chair of the Council of Great Lakes Governors, appear at a Washington news conference with House and Senate authors of legislation to approve the compact.
“I applaud the members of Congress for the leadership in protecting the Great Lakes,” Doyle said.
See Also: Feingold Backs Federal Approval of Great Lakes Compact - Press Release/LexisNexis News
Source: Congressman Oberstar
Congressman Jim Oberstar is taking the lead on an effort to win approval for an agreement that protects the Great Lakes from water diversion projects.
Oberstar and other congressional members from the House and the Senate today announced the introduction of bipartisan legislation to ratify the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. Oberstar, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) introduced the legislation today.
Oberstar was joined at a Capitol Hill press conference today by the other five lead sponsors of the legislation, Senator Carl Levin (Mich.), Senator George Voinovich (Ohio), Rep. John Conyers (Mich.), Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (Ohio) and Rep. Vernon Ehlers (Mich.), as well as Governor Jim Doyle (Wisc.), who chairs the Council of Great Lakes Governors (CGLG). Read the rest of this entry »
Source: Small Business Times
Wisconsin’s U.S. Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl say they are part of a bipartisan coalition of members of Congress pledging to ratify the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact at the federal level.
“Preserving the Great Lakes is essential to ensuring the economic vitality and environmental well being of Wisconsin and the greater region,” Kohl said.
Source: Chicago Tribune
The Pennsylvania state Senate has unanimously approved a bill that would allow the state to join a multistate compact to protect and manage the water in the Great Lakes.
The bill goes to Governor Ed Rendell, who plans to sign it. When he does, Pennsylvania will become the last of eight Great Lakes states to adopt the compact.
The bill would still need approval from Congress and the president to become law.
Source: Great Lakes Environment
Senator Patty Birkholz (R-Saugatuck Twp) and Representative Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) announced that they had reached consensus on Michigan’s landmark water protection legislative package to adopt the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and implement a new standard for evaluating large quantity water withdrawals.
While most interest groups are pleased with the compromise, the major unsettled issue remains the lack of a “public trust” doctrine provision that was the central concern of former Governors William Milliken (R) and James Blanchard (D) and many environmental interests.
Source: Toledo Blade
COLUMBUS - After three years of rough seas, a landmark agreement binding eight states in their protection of Great Lakes waters sailed through the Ohio Senate and House yesterday on its way to Gov. Ted Strickland’s signature.
“This has been a long road, but well worth the effort,” said Mike Eckhardt, policy director of the Ohio League of Conservation. “Ohio has finally joined with the other Great Lakes States and is committed to protecting Lake Erie.”
Ohio is the seventh state whose legislatures have voted to ratify the landmark agreement designed, in cooperation with the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, to dramatically reduce the chances that the lakes’ water could be diverted in the future to thirstier regions of the nation or globe.
“If people want our water, they are more than welcome to bring their jobs and families here to Ohio. Only then will we be happy to share our water,” said Sen. Mark Wagoner (R., Ottawa Hills).
Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer
Northeast Ohio members of the Ohio House, all Democrats, voted against putting a constitutional amendment regarding property rights on the November election ballot. The vote derailed a deal in which the Senate would have approved the Great Lakes Compact.
Source: Superior Daily Telegram
Gov. Jim Doyle is expected to sign legislation Tuesday to strengthen protection for the Great Lakes.
Doyle plans to act on the bill during a ceremony on the Green Bay waterfront, according to a news release issued by his office this morning. A coalition of lawmakers, environmental groups and local officials join him as he signs legislation designed to protect and preserve the Great Lakes.
By TODD RICHMOND | Source: Superior Daily Telegram
MADISON — Wisconsin lawmakers finally ratified an interstate treaty Wednesday that is designed to block arid states from getting access to Great Lakes water.
The Great Lakes Compact now goes to Gov. Jim Doyle, who is expected to sign it, making Wisconsin the fifth Great Lakes state to approve the treaty.
Read the full story, including concessions and concerns, at the Superior Daily Telegram >>
by Jim Provance | Source: Toledo Blade
“Why not bring and develop an industry cluster based on companies that deal with safe, clean water?” he asked. “It seems to me that we need to bring not only more companies that take advantage of the shipping routes, but also companies that deal with water in general.”
The compact, already approved by four of eight Great Lakes states, is stuck in the Ohio General Assembly. The version ratified in other states matches what was twice overwhelmingly passed in the House, but it is competing with a less restrictive version in the Senate.
Shelley Nelson | Source: Superior Daily Telegram
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle plans to make what his office called a “major announcement” regarding the Great Lakes Compact that has stalled in the Legislature under Republican opposition.
Doyle scheduled a news conference this afternoon in New Berlin along with several mayors from the area, state lawmakers and others to address the compact, which would regulate the transit of Great Lakes water to cities inside and outside of this region, along with industrial users.
Doyle has urged the Legislature to approve the compact, but Assembly Republicans have blocked it. They are concerned about a provision that allows any Great Lakes governor to block any request to pull water from any of the lakes.
There also has been concern locally, where a larger Murphy Oil refinery may need considerably more water than the existing plant. That concern was addressed in the final bill passed by the Wisconsin Senate. Dave Podratz, refinery manager for Murphy Oil, praised the senate’s final bill.
The governor is expected to call a special session of the Legislature to consider the compact, said Shauna Cook, communications creative director with Clean Wisconsin.
Michael Scott | Source: Plain Dealer
The future of the Great Lakes may be decided in Ohio and Wisconsin.
As lawmakers in those two states debate details of an interstate compact aimed at protecting their waters from being drained away by diversion or wasted away by misuse, the measure is moving swiftly through six other Great Lakes states.
And some supporters of the document — officially titled “The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact” — are worried that Ohio and Wisconsin are treading water too long.
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