The Senate and House Great Lakes Task Force is convening, in coordination with NEMWI, a bicameral briefing on recent historic water levels in the Great Lakes on Tuesday, December 4, from 11 am - 12 pm in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Senate Meeting Room 215 (SVC-215). The Senate and House Great Lakes Task Force Co-Chairs Senator Carl Levin, Senator Mark Kirk, Congresswoman Miller, Congressman Dingell, Congressman Duffy, and Congresswoman Slaughter are Honorary Cosponsors of the event. In March 2012, the International Joint Commission (IJC) released the final report of the International Upper Great Lakes Study, entitled Lake Superior Regulation: Addressing Uncertainty in Upper Great Lakes Water Levels. Since then, the IJC has received numerous public comments on the report. ACOE and IJC jointly will brief congressional staff on recent analyses of record-reaching Great Lakes water levels, including how various controlling works and physical changes have impacted water levels, while also providing an update on public comments received on the IJC's International Upper Great Lakes Study, which examines the physical processes driving current Great Lakes water level conditions. 

For more information, contact Danielle Chesky, Director, Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute. 

The Northeast-Midwest Institute, in coordination with Senator Carper and the House Delaware River Basin Task, is sponsoring a bicameral briefing on the economic importance of the ecological goods and services of the Delaware River Basin ecosystem.  The briefing is designed to provide more information about the economic benefits of conservation as it relates to proposed legislation, the Delaware River Basin Conservation Act (H.R. 2325 and S. 1266).  The briefing will occur on Thursday, December 6 from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, Congressional Meeting Room - South (CVC 217).  Speakers include: Dr. Gerald Kauffman, Project Director, University of Delaware; Rachel Dawson, Legislative Representative, The National Wildlife Federation; and Michael Parr, Senior Government Affairs Manager, DuPont. The meeting will be open to the public.

Federal funding requests for Hurricane-related repairs and protection against future storms are now expected to reach the tens of billions, with Governor Cuomo (NY) seeking more than $40 billion, including $9 billion for stronger sea-surge prevention infrastructure, and Governor Christie (NJ) asking for $29.4 billion for repairs and an additional $7.4 billion for prevention.  

Senators from some Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states echoed the governors' concerns about federal relief and storm preparedness in a hearing last week.  Those senators, including Kristan Gillabrand (NY), Frank Lautenberg (NJ), and Charles Schumer (NJ), testified in front of the Environment and Public Works Committee, encouraging federal aid and the development of better flood prevention infrastructure. Senator Lautenberg also plans to introduce legislation that "would protect public health by allowing Congress to provide emergency funding to contain pollution at Superfund sites following a natural disaster like Sandy."  The Senator sent a letter to U.S. EPA calling for "an additional assessment of Superstorm Sandy's impact on Superfund sites in New Jersey."

Superstorm Sandy discussion continues this week on Capitol Hill, where FEMA's administrator and HUD's secretary will speak at a Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing about the storm's damage and recovery. The discussion on transportation and infrastructure post-Sandy also continues, with meetings held by the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security, as well as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Governor Cuomo is on Capitol Hill today to discuss federal aid to New York State.

For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.