The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded organizations, agencies and universities working in Ohio $4.5 million in grants under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). The 11 grants are the first of 70 totaling nearly $30 million that EPA is awarding under the GLRI in 2011.
“These grants are an investment in accelerating Great Lakes restoration, community by community," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "This is another important step toward lasting protections for the waters that affect the health and jobs of millions of Americans."
Funded projects will advance the goals and objectives of the GLRI Action Plan, which Jackson released in cooperation with 15 other participating agencies and several Great Lakes governors in February 2010.
The Great Lakes provide 30 million Americans with drinking water and underpin a multi-billion dollar economy. In February 2009, President Obama proposed the GLRI, the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades.
The plan also provides accountability by including measures of progress and benchmarks for success over the next three years. Some of the other federal agencies that are part of the task force have their own grant programs under the GLRI.
Source: EPA
