U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow made history in 2000 when she became the first woman from Michigan elected to the United States Senate. She is known for her ability to build coalitions to get things done for Michigan and our nation.
As Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Budget Committee, and a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, she has a powerful and unique role to play in shaping our nation’s health care, manufacturing, infrastructure, environment, and agriculture policies.
As someone who has lived in Michigan all her life, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow understands how important the Great Lakes are to the health of Michigan residents, to the future of our state’s economy and to our Michigan way of life. Yet our lakes face constant threats, from Canadian nuclear waste to Asian carp, from algae blooms to microbeads.
That is why Senator Stabenow is working to address these threats in a number of roles – as Co-Chair of the bipartisan Senate Great Lakes Task Force, as a leader of Michigan’s Congressional delegation and as Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. She is bringing together community leaders and stakeholders to find solutions to the difficult challenges facing our Great Lakes. She believes that our only chance to protect the Great Lakes for the next generation will be for this generation to work together and rally behind the most effective, commonsense strategies.
Pipeline Safety: Five years after a spill from the rupture of an oil pipeline devastated the Kalamazoo River, Senator Stabenow is focused on preventing a similar disaster from occurring in northern Michigan, where a 90-mile Line 5 pipeline crosses 11 tributaries and runs under the Straits of Mackinac. She believes more must be done to raise awareness about the serious risks of this aging pipeline and she is working to improve oversight of the existing pipeline and to make sure our first responders are prepared in the event of a catastrophic spill.
Canadian Trash: In 2003, the City of Toronto closed its landfill and started shipping all its trash to Michigan, and many other Ontario municipalities soon followed suit. Michigan citizens were outraged that our great State had become Canada's dumping ground. This trash poses serious health, safety, and security threats to Michigan families and communities. In 2006, Senators Stabenow and Levin entered into a groundbreaking agreement with Ontario officials to phase out and stop the dumping of 1.5 million tons of Ontario's municipally-managed trash in Michigan. This agreement was a success. Ontario officials report that as of December 31, 2010, Toronto and three other Ontario municipalities ceased shipping their waste to Michigan. This equates to over 40,000 truckloads of trash that would have been dumped in Michigan each year without this agreement.
Microbeads: The water in our Great Lakes is especially vulnerable to the microbeads commonly used in cleaning and cosmetic products. These synthetic beads are small enough to get through water treatment facilities, and when they end up in the Great Lakes they accumulate as plastic pollution and are often mistaken for food by fish. Senator Stabenow is a cosponsor of the Microbeads Free Waters Act (S. 1424) that would ban the sale of products that contain microbeads.
Building Conservation Partnerships: The recent discovery of toxic algae blooms on the Western Lake Erie Basin and the August 2014 crisis that left families in Southeast Michigan and Northwest Ohio without clean drinking water for several days is an important reminder that we can’t take the quality of our Great Lakes waters for granted.
In writing the 2014 Farm Bill, Senator Stabenow created the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, which creates unique partnerships between businesses, conservationists, university researchers, state agencies and nonprofits to improve water quality in the Great Lakes. In February five Michigan projects were awarded a total of $40 million for improving Great Lakes water quality through this program, which will be matched with an additional $40 million from partner organizations. It represents one of the largest commitments ever made to water quality in the Great Lakes.
In addition to RCPP, over $37 million has been obligated toward conservation practices that improve water quality in Michigan. The majority of those funds will flow through programs reauthorized through the 2014 Farm Bill, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Conservation Stewardship Program and the Agriculture Conservation Easement Program.
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: After years of hard work, last year the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) helped bring about the historic delisting of two EPA Areas of Concern, in White Lake and Deer Lake. To build on that success, Senator Stabenow is fighting for additional funding for GLRI in this fiscal year – she is pushing for passage of the Great Lakes Ecological and Economic Protection Act (GLEEPA) that calls for an increase in GLRI funding to $475 million.
Stopping Invasive Species: Senator Stabenow knows that the vitality of our Great Lakes fishing industry is critical not only to our tourism industry but to the sports and recreation we enjoy as Michigan residents. Unfortunately, Our Great Lakes ecosystem has been threatened by more than 180 invasive and non-native species. Over the years, Senator Stabenow has worked to defend against these threats, supporting several Federal programs focused on depopulating hostile species such as zebra mussels and sea lamprey and blocking the spread of new species.
One of the most recent and serious threats is from Asian carp. Once Asian carp become established in an ecosystem they are nearly impossible to eradicate. So in February of 2015 Senator Stabenow introduced a bipartisan bill, the Defending our Great Lakes Act (S.589), which gives the Army Corps of Engineers the broad authority needed to stop the spread of invasive species in the short-term and to develop a permanent solution to prevent the spread of Asian carp throughout the Great Lakes.
Harbor Maintenance: Maintaining our ports, harbors and waterways is essential to the continued growth of Michigan’s economy. During the 2014 negotiation of the Water Resources Development Act, Senator Stabenow fought for the Great Lakes to be treated as a single navigation system, a status that increases funding for harbor maintenance projects, such as dredging, to ensure that shipping vessels can safely get to port. As part of that same effort, Senator Stabenow pushed for planning to ensure that the fees collected by the federal government for harbor maintenance were actually spent for that specific purpose, which has not always been the case.
Replacing Aging Soo Locks: When it comes to maritime shipping in Michigan and across the Great Lakes, there may be no infrastructure more important than the Soo Locks, where some 10,000 vessels and 80 million tons of cargo pass every year. Currently, only two of the four parallel locks are open for traffic, and only one – the Poe Lock – is big enough to allow passage of the largest vessels, which carry 70 percent of all cargo through this critical passageway. An unscheduled outage of the Poe Lock would result in an estimated $160 million in economic losses. The recent closure of two locks for mechanical failures has significantly slowed shipping traffic through Sault Ste. Marie. In June of 2015 Senator Stabenow joined with Senator Peters to urge Office of Management and Budget Director Sean Donovan to approve the Army Corps of Engineers’ request to replace two of the smaller locks with those similar in size to the Poe Lock, as a way to increase efficiency and guard against the economic damage inflicted by an outage of the Poe Lock.
North Country Trail: The North Country Trail spans 4,600 miles from North Dakota to New York, including through the lower and upper peninsulas in Michigan, attracting over a million visitors annually. A longtime champion for expanding and completing the trail, Senator Stabenow fought for approval in the Senate Energy Committee of the North Country National Scenic Trail Route Adjustment Act (S.403). The bill adds 400 miles of federally protected scenic trails to the North Country Trail and extends it into Vermont to connect with the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
National Marine Sanctuaries: Since Thunder Bay was designated in 2000 as the nation’s only freshwater sanctuary, it has drawn tens of thousands of annual visitors and added millions to Michigan’s economy. This month Senator Stabenow joined with Senator Peters to introduce the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Assessment Act, which would direct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to consider designating other areas of the Great Lakes as National Marine Sanctuaries. This national treasure would provide educational opportunities and promote economic development.
Preserving Historic Lighthouses: For decades, Michigan lighthouses not only helped guide marine vessels to our shores but helped attract thousands of visitors to the state every year. That is why Senator Stabenow worked to enact the Michigan Lighthouse and Maritime Heritage Act in 2006. The bill directed the National Park Service to recommend the best actions to promote and protect our lighthouses and maritime resources. This law has helped preserve Michigan’s 130 lighthouses for future generations.