Significant Activities Report:
March 2005

Project Submissions Sought

USEPA’s Great Lakes National Program Office is seeking project submissions in this year’s Funding Guidance competition. Up to $4.7 million may be awarded under this announcement for furthering protection and cleanup of the Great Lakes ecosystem. The deadline for all project submissions is 8:00 AM Central time, Tuesday morning, May 31, 2005.  

GLNPO announced this year’s competition on April 12th by sending out 2,500 email messages and 1,300 postcards, as well as through the GLIN-Announce listserver, the GLNPO Web Site; and http://fedgrants.gov. 

On Tuesday, May 3rd at 1:00 Central time, GLNPO will conduct a public conference call, during which potential applicants can call in and ask ANY question about their projects. The toll-free call-in number will be: (866) 299-3188 and the Conference Code is 17023. An agenda and additional information is available at http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/fund/2005guid/conf.html. 

Projects are being sought for:

1. Pollution Prevention and Toxics Reduction - $ 500,000 for pollution prevention, reduction, or elimination projects, with an emphasis on substances which are persistent and toxic, especially those which bioaccumulate, in the Great Lakes basin.
    
2. Habitat (Ecological) Protection and Restoration. $250,000 for basinwide or regional Habitat (ecological) Protection and Restoration projects which are collaborative partnerships that demonstrate common goals and expected outcomes. $50,000 for conference/meeting or education material projects addressing Great Lakes ecological protection and restoration issues, information and/or actions.
    
3. Emerging or Strategic Issues. $0 to 600,000 for projects which identify and propose solutions/mitigation for Emerging or Strategic issues of Great Lakes Basin-wide applicability. $100,000 of this amount is targeted for Invasive Species.
   
   
4. RAP Priorities - $2,440,000 for projects which advance Remedial Action Plan implementation and development. $2.1 million of this funding is targeted for New York RAP projects.
   
   
5. LaMP Priorities. $852,000 for projects which will further advance Lakewide Management Plan implementation and development.  

All of the dollar amounts listed above are targets – refer to the Funding Guidance online for full descriptions at: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/fund/2005guid/. Projects will be developed and submitted electronically. The project submission software is available from the Funding Guidance Web Page. 

To be added to our mailing list which announces and provides information about our funding opportunities, we request that you register at: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/maillist/index.html. For general questions, please contact Michael Russ by email at: russ.michael@epa.gov or by telephone at (312) 886-4013. Specific contacts for each topic area are listed in the Funding Guidance. 

Contact: Mike Russ, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 886-4013

Top of page

Biology Program Reviewed 

As part of its ongoing effort to assure and improve its Great Lakes monitoring program, GLNPO convened a peer-review panel on March 22^nd and 23^rd in Chicago to review the long-term biological monitoring program. The review panel consisted of six members from government and academia, with expertise in monitoring and specific components of the biology program. Presentation of the biology program's history and current status was completed March 22^nd. The panel then deliberated on March 23^rd to produce their consensus recommendations on ways to make further improvements to the program. A final report containing the consensus recommendations as well as individual recommendations is being prepared by Dr. John Gannon of the International Joint Commission. In concluding remarks, the panel praised the program, recognizing the value of the data to managers and scientists. They recommended that GLNPO expand its outreach program to better communicate monitoring findings and improve the visibility of the program. 

Contact: David Rockwell, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 353-1373

Top of page

Recent Publications 

Several GLNPO scientists were among the authors of chapters in an upcoming book entitled State of Lake Michigan: Ecology, Health, and Management:

• Dr. Glenn Warren co-authored the chapters on “Recent and long-term nutrient trends in Lake Michigan” and “Atrazine in the Lake Michigan ecosystem: Monitoring results from the Lake Michigan Mass Balance Study.”
• Dr. Marc Tuchman co-authored a chapter entitled “Crustacean zooplankton communities in Lake Michigan,” and
• Dr. Paul Bertram, Paul Horvatin, and GLNPO intern Christina Forst co-authored the “Developing Indicators of Ecosystem Health” chapter.

A new Great Lakes Fishery Commission Special Publication The State of Lake Michigan in 2000 (Special Publication 05-01), included a chapter on “Nutrients” authored by Dr. Glenn Warren, and one on “Phytoplankton and Zooplankton” co-authored by Dr. Marc Tuchman.

This publication is available on the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s Web Site at: http://www.glfc.org/pubs/SpecialPubs/Sp05_1.pdf. 

Contact: Glenn Warren, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 886-2405

Top of page

Toxics Strategy Meeting 

The Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy (GLBTS) Substance Workgroups held meetings on March 22^nd in Windsor, Ontario to review and comment on drafts of their respective GLBTS Level 1 Substance Reassessment Reports (drafts are posted at www.glin.net/forum/index.php?bn=strategyteams_pbt). 

The purposes of these reassessment reports are to:

• evaluate the current status of the Level 1 substances identified in the GLBTS with respect to environmental presence in the Great Lakes Basin,
• explore the GLBTS role to effect further source reductions, and
• make recommendations to the Parties to the GLBTS on future management options and next steps beyond 2006, which is when the current interim reduction goals time-line ends.

Presentations and preliminary recommendations were made to the Integration Workgroup on March 23^rd for Alkyl Lead, Pesticides, Mercury, PCBs, Dioxins/Furans, HCB and B(a)P, Slides from the presentations can be viewed on the GLBTS Web Site at: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/bns/integration/2005/index.html. The recommendations in the reports and presentations are preliminary and subject to change. 

The next GLBTS Forum and Integration Workgroup Meetings will be held May 17^th and 18^th, 2005 in Toronto, Ontario Canada.

Contacts: Ted Smith, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 353-6571
 or E.Marie Graziano, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 886-6034

Top of page

State of the Streams Meeting 

GLNPO’s Rosanne Ellison was the keynote speaker at the Detroit River “State of the Streams” meeting on March 2^nd. Rosanne spoke about the history of the watershed and Detroit River, at the first “Water Quality/Benthic Monitoring Workshop” for Detroit River tributaries. The event was hosted by the Stream Team, a group of educators and volunteers interested in local water quality issues.

Contact: Rosanne Ellison, U.S. EPA - Michigan Office (734) 692-7689

Coordinated Restoration Funding 

GLNPO and NOAA Office of Response and Restoration and the Restoration Center staff met in Washington, DC on March 1st to discuss how to better coordinate or jointly fund habitat rest-oration for Great Lakes habitat priorities. NOAA currently funds restoration projects in Superfund and RCRA, Coastal Zone Management, and coastal Community Restoration programs. Representatives from the two agencies agreed to work together to:

• better coordinate funding,
• share information about projects, particularly those in the Great Lakes Areas of Concern, and
• investigate future joint funding of targeted projects.

Contact: Karen Rodriguez, U.S. EPA - GLNPO (312) 353-2690)