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Federal Programs

Listed below are US government programs related to the Great Lakes. The last column of the list shows whether each program is focused specifically on the lakes or simply affects them.

 

Department Program Purpose Specific to the Great Lakes?
(blank = "no")
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Air Program The purpose of this program, which began in 1970, is to (1) protect and enhance the quality of the nation's air resources, (2) initiate and accelerate a national research and development program to achieve the prevention and control of air pollution, (3) provide technical and financial assistance to state and local governments in connection with the development and execution of their air pollution prevention and control programs, and (4) encourage and assist the development and operation of regional air pollution prevention and control programs.
Aquatic Stressors Research Program The goal of this research program, which began in 1975, is to advance scientifically sound approaches for monitoring trends in ecological conditions of the nation's aquatic resources, including the Great Lakes; identify impaired watersheds and diagnose causes of degradation; and develop risk-based assessments for supporting restoration and remediation decisions.
Children's Health Program This program (1) identifies and evaluates children's health issues, (2) develops approaches for addressing these issues, and (3) prioritizes and implements appropriate actions on children's health issues. This 1997 program funds pollution prevention activities and is largely a voluntary program building state capacity in human health.
Clean Water Act (CWA) Water Quality Monitoring and Section 106 Grants Operating since 1972, this program develops and implements comprehensive monitoring programs at the state and tribal levels to address all water quality management needs under the CWA. Section 106 Grants awards grants to states and to eligible Indian tribes as base program support to maintain their surface water and groundwater programs.
Clean Water State Revolving Fund The purpose of this program is to provide grants to states for long-term financing for construction of wastewater treatment facilities and implementation of state management plans. This program began in 1972.
Coastal Environmental Management The purpose of this program, which started in 1991, is to provide grants that would assist in the preparation and implementation of lakewide management plans and remedial action plans for the areas of concern in the Great Lakes. This program addresses cleanup, restoration, and pollution prevention. Yes
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund This program provides grants to states to establish drinking water state revolving funds, whose purpose is to support drinking water system infrastructure improvements. These grants provide loans and other types of financial assistance to eligible public water supply authorities. The program started in 1996.
Environmental Justice Small Grants This program, which began in 1994, provides financial assistance to grassroots community-based groups to support projects to design, demonstrate, or disseminate practices, methods, or techniques related to environmental justice.
Environmental Justice Through Pollution Prevention Grants This pollution prevention program provides low income, minority communities with pollution prevention resources to address community environmental issues. This program started as a pilot program in 1995 through discretionary funds, but the last year of funding was 2001.
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program The goal of this program is to advance scientifically sound approaches for monitoring trends in ecological conditions of the nation's aquatic resources, including the Great Lakes. The program identifies impaired watersheds and diagnoses causes of degradation and forecasts risk-based assessments and options to support restoration and remediation decisions. This research program began in 1989.
Food Quality Protection Act/Strategic Agricultural Initiative The purpose of this program is to ensure continuing safety of the nation's food supply by promoting the transition from potentially hazardous conventional pesticides to pesticides with reduced risk to human health and the environment. This program started in 1998.
Funding Guidance - Competitive Grants This is a grant program in which GLNPO, in concert with Regions 2,3, and 5, funds a consortium of programs, agencies, and public and private institutions for reducing the level of toxic substances in the Great Lakes; protecting and restoring vital habitats; protecting human health; and restoring and maintaining stable, diverse, and self-sustaining populations. This program started in 1993, and it funds research, cleanup, restoration, and pollution prevention activities. Yes
Global Climate Change Research Program The goal of this program is to advance scientifically sound approaches for monitoring trends in ecological conditions of the nation's aquatic resources, including the Great Lakes. Program activities identify impaired watersheds and diagnose causes of degradation. This research program began in 1975.
Great Lakes Air Deposition Grant Program The goals of the Great Lakes Air Deposition Grant Program are to (1) better understand the impacts of deposition of pollutants to all water bodies in the Great Lakes region, (2) ensure continued progress in reducing sources and loadings of atmospheric deposition to the Great Lakes region, and (3) reduce the environmental and public health impacts associated with air emissions and subsequent atmospheric deposition. This research program began in 1993. Yes
Great Lakes Legacy Act The Act authorizes funding to help with the remediation of contaminated sediment in "Areas of Concern located wholly or partially in the United States"  including specific funding designated for public outreach and research components. Yes
Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy The purpose of this program, which started in 1997, is to reduce and eliminate persistent toxic substances, especially those that bioaccumulate, in the Great Lakes. The strategy uses pollution prevention as a preferred approach. Research and cleanup are also components of this program. Yes
Indian Environmental General Assistance Program This 1992 program assists federally recognized Indian tribes and nations to build their overall capacity to manage environmental programs and conduct activities.
Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network This program, initiated in 1990, assesses the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem through a series of air-monitoring stations in cooperation with Canada. It provides information to measure the amounts of chemicals and toxic substances deposited into the Great Lakes through air deposition to establish trend analysis and cause/effect relationships. Yes
Lakewide Management Plans The purpose of the program is to protect the Great Lakes from beneficial use impairments for the "open waters" of each lake and to develop strategies to improve the environmental health of the lake. This program, initiated in 1987, is a cleanup, restoration, and pollution prevention program. Yes
Monitoring Program The purpose of this research program, which began in 1975, is to assess the ecosystem health of the Great Lakes. Information is gathered to measure whole lake response to control measures using trend analysis and cause/effect relationships. Yes
National Pollution Discharge Elimination System The goal of this program is to assure that U.S. waters remain fishable, swimmable, and drinkable, through regulating point source discharges to surface water. The program ensures that discharges do not cause or contribute to a violation of water quality standards. This program started in 1972 and is largely delegated to states.
Niagara River and New York State Areas of Concern The purpose of this program, started in 1987, is to restore and protect the beneficial uses in these areas of concern through a remedial action plan. Cleanup, restoration, and pollution prevention are goals of this program. Yes
Niagara River Toxics Management Plan The purpose of this program is to reduce toxic chemical inputs to the Niagara River; achieve ambient water quality that will protect human health, aquatic life, and wildlife; and while doing so, improve and protect water quality in Lake Ontario. This program started in 1987 with the goal of cleanup, restoration, and pollution prevention. Yes
Non-Point Source Program The purpose of this program is to attain the goals of the CWA. This restoration and pollution prevention program started in 1987.
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) Program This program was created in 1980 to conduct several activities related to PCBs. These activities include reviewing and tracking projects involving the remediation, storage, and disposal of PCBs; conducting inspections to determine compliance with federal PCB regulations; and conducting projects for reducing the use of PCBs. This program includes cleanup and pollution prevention.
Pollution Prevention (P2) Demonstration Grants This program provides grants for capacity building and for innovative pollution prevention projects, especially those projects having potential for regional impacts. Funded projects include supporting the Great Lakes regional P2 roundtable, providing technical assistance, and coordinating P2 partnerships. This pollution prevention program began in 1993.
Pollution Prevention for States Grant Program The goal of this grant program is to promote strategies and solutions that assist businesses and industries in reducing waste at the source. The majority of grants fund state-based projects in areas of technical assistance and training, education and outreach, regulatory integration, data collection and research, demonstration projects, and recognition
programs. This pollution prevention program began in 1991.
Public Water Supply Program The purpose of this program is to ensure that clean and safe drinking water is provided to the public. This program was created in 1974.
RCRA Subtitle C Corrective Action Program The goals of this program are evaluating the potential environmental risk impacts from RCRA-regulated hazardous waste facilities, ensuring adequate facility investigation, ensuring cleanup of contaminants, and managing facilities’ long-term controls for the protection of human health and the environment. This cleanup and restoration program started in 1980.
RCRA Subtitle C Enforcement and Compliance Program This program provides for the on-site evaluation and inspection of hazardous waste sites to enforce compliance with regulations designed for protecting human health and the environment and conserving valuable material and energy resources. This program, started in 1976, involves cleanup, restoration, and pollution prevention.
RCRA Subtitle C Hazardous Waste Management Program Support This program assists state governments in the development and implementation of an authorized state hazardous waste management program for the purpose of controlling the generation, transportation, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. Funding first began in 1978.
RCRA Subtitle C Permitting The purpose of this program is to issue permits that allow for monitoring the handling of hazardous waste to ensure better waste management and restoration of contaminated waste sites through a regulated permitting program. This program started in 1980, and it addresses restoration and pollution prevention in accordance with RCRA regulations.
RCRA Subtitle C State Program Support - Great Lakes Initiative The purpose of this program, started in 1992, is to assist states in developing and implementing an authorized state hazardous waste management program for the purpose of controlling the generation, transportation, storage, and disposal of hazardous wastes. Cleanup and pollution prevention are the goals of this program. Yes
RCRA Subtitle D Solid Waste Management Assistance Program/Jobs Through Recycling Initiative The purpose of this program is to promote use of integrated solid waste management systems to solve municipal solid waste generation and management problems at the local, regional, and national levels. The program provides assistance to state, local, and tribal governments and organizations to increase waste diversion from landfills and incinerators. This pollution prevention program started in 1976.
RCRA Subtitle D Tribal Solid Waste Assistance Grants The goal of the program is to encourage re-use of properties that have been stigmatized by the presence of, or perception of, environmental contamination. This restoration program began in 1998.
RCRA Subtitle I Underground Storage Tanks and Leaking Underground Storage Tanks This program regulates the use of underground storage tanks and requires cleanup of releases and spills. This cleanup program started in 1989.
Regional Geographic Initiative (RGI)/Environmental Priorities Program (EPP) The purpose of RGI is to (1) fund projects that are identified as high priority, (2) support geographic place-based projects, (3) address multimedia problems, and (4) highlight agency priorities and strategies. The purpose of EPP is to fund projects or purchases that aid in environmental protection. These activities were started in 1994, and they include research, cleanup, restoration, and pollution prevention.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Brownfields The goal of the program is to encourage re-use of properties that have been stigmatized by the presence of, or perception of, environmental contamination. This restoration program began in 1998.
State and Tribal Environmental Justice (EJ) Program This program was created to provide capacity building financial assistance to states and tribes that are working to address EJ issues. This program started in 1998.
State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference The purpose of this program, started in 1994, is to assess the ecosystem health of the Great Lakes and to provide information to measure whole lake response to control measures using trend analysis and cause/effect relationships. Yes
Superfund The goal of this program is to protect human health and the environment from risks associated with abandoned hazardous waste sites and to respond to hazardous substance spill emergencies. The primary focus of the program is the assessment and remediation of long-term cleanups. This cleanup program was created in 1980.
Total Maximum Daily Load Program The purpose of this 1973 program is to identify waters not meeting state water quality standards, and for those waters, calculate the maximum amount of a pollutant the water can receive and still meet water quality standards. This is a restoration program according to EPA officials
Tribal Solid Waste Assistance Grants This 1993 program was created to assist tribes in solid waste management and promote compliance with the provisions of RCRA Subtitle D. This is a cleanup, restoration, and pollution prevention program.
Underground Injection Control The program was created to protect underground sources of drinking water by controlling underground injection. This is a pollution prevention program.
Waste Pesticide Collection Program (Agricultural Clean Sweep or Waste Pesticide Disposal) This pollution prevention program achieves reductions in persistent bioaccumulative toxins and prevents contamination of air, soil, and water resources by safely disposing of pesticides. This program started in 1988.
Water Quality Management Planning The purpose of this program, which began in 1972, is to promote the enhancement of water quality through water quality management planning. This program involves both restoration and pollution prevention.
Water Quality Standards Program The purpose of this program is to support efforts to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters by defining the uses to be protected and the water quality conditions needed to protect these uses.
Wetlands The goal of this 1972 program is to regulate the discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, including wetlands. Wetland Program Development Grants are designed to assist state, tribal, and local government agencies in building their wetland management programs.  


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Department Program Purpose Specific to the Great Lakes?
(blank = "no")
Army Corps of Engineers Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration This restoration program funds the planning, design, and construction of projects to restore and enhance aquatic ecosystems. Program activities began in 1998.  
Beneficial Use of Dredged Material This program, which was established in 1992, funds the planning, design, and construction of projects to protect, restore, and enhance aquatic habitats using sediments dredged from federal navigation projects. It is classified as a restoration program.
Cleaning and Snagging Originally created in 1954, the purpose of this program is to plan, design, and construct projects for emergency removal of debris that threatens to aggravate damage caused by flooding.  
Confined Disposal Facilities This cleanup program was established in 1970. Its purpose is to design, construct, and operate confined disposal facilities for the disposal of contaminated dredged materials from federal navigation projects.
Emergency Stream Bank and Shorline Protection This program was created in 1946 and its purpose is to plan, design, and construct projects to protect public facilities and services from stream bank and shoreline erosion.  
Environmental Dredging This environmental cleanup program was created in 1990. The program's purpose is to assist in the planning, design, and construction of projects to remove contaminated sediments from areas outside federal navigation channels.
Environmental Improvements The purpose of this restoration program, which was started in 1986, is to plan, design, and construct projects to restore and enhance aquatic ecosystems at sites impacted by Corps projects.  
Flood Plain Management Services Created in 1960, this program provides flood plain information and technical assistance to states and local communities.
Great Lakes Fishery and Ecosystem Restoration The purpose of this fiscal year 2000 program, which began in 2002, is to plan, design, and construct projects to restore Great Lakes fisheries and their beneficial uses. Yes
Great Lakes Remedial Action Plans and Sediment Remediation This program was started in 1990 to plan, design, and construct research demonstration projects of promising technologies for contaminated sediment remediation. Yes
Great Lakes Remedial Action Plans and Sediment Remediation Support This program, which was authorized in 1990, is designed to provide technical support focused on the development and implementation of remedial action plans to clean up the Great Lakes' areas of concern. Yes
Great Lakes Tributary Models This program was created in 1996. Its purpose is to develop computer models of sediment loading and transport to Great Lakes tributaries to support state and local conservation and pollution prevention activities. Yes
Planning Assistance to States This program was created in 1974, and its purpose is to provide staff and financial assistance to states in planning for the use, development, and conservation of water resources.
Shore Protection The purpose of this restoration program, created in 1962, is to plan, design, and construct projects to restore and protect shores against waves and currents.  
Small Flood Control Projects This program, which was created in 1948, funds activities related to the planning, design, and construction of projects to reduce flood damages.
Small Navigation Projects Created in 1960, the purpose of this program is to plan, design, and construct projects to improve navigation.  
Tribal Partnership Program This program was started in 2000, and it seeks to provide tribal groups with assistance in planning for the use, development, and conservation of water resources.  


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Department Program Purpose Specific to the Great Lakes?
(blank = "no")
Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Agricultural Research Service Research Units This research and pollution prevention program started in 1990 to develop agricultural best management practices, including water management strategies for corn and soybean production systems, and to assess the impact of these practices on field, farm, and watershed scales.


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Department Program Purpose Specific to the Great Lakes?
(blank = "no")
Department of Agriculture-Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) Hatch Act Research Program This research program was started in the late 1800s to promote efficient production, marketing, distribution, and utilization of crops and livestock essential to the food supply and health and welfare of the American people, while conserving resources and improving rural living conditions.
Integrated Activities Program This program supports integrated research, education, and extension on critical agricultural issues. Program activities began in 2000.
McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Program Forestry Research Program The purpose of the program, which began in 1962, is to support research essential to the efficient and effective use of the nation's forest resources.
National Research Initiative Program This program provides support for research with the greatest potential of expanding the knowledge base needed to solve current problems and unforeseen issues involving the future agricultural and forestry enterprise. The program was created in 1965 and activities began in 1991.
Small Business Innovation Research Program Research Program The purpose of this program, which began in 1986, is to strengthen the role
of small, innovative firms in federally funded research and development activities.
Special Research Grants Program This program was created in 1965 to fund research on problems of national, regional, and local interest that fall beyond the normal emphasis of the formula programs.


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Department Program Purpose Specific to the Great Lakes?
(blank = "no")
Department of Agriculture-Farm Services Agency (FSA) Conservation Reserve Program This voluntary restoration and conservation program for agricultural landowners was created in 1985. Through this program, landowners receive annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to establish long-term, resource conserving vegetative covers on eligible farmland.
Emergency Conservation Program This program provides emergency funding for farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by wind erosion, floods, hurricanes, or other natural disasters and for carrying out emergency water conservation measures during periods of severe drought. This restoration program began in 1978.


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Department Program Purpose Specific to the Great Lakes?
(blank = "no")
Department of Agriculture-Forest Service (FS) Atmospheric Ecosystem Interactions at Multiple Scales This research program, which began in 1996, focuses on air quality in the western Great Lakes. The program examines factors that impact summertime surface ozone pollution patterns and activities, including
observing smoke trajectories from prescribed and wildland fires.
Cooperative Forestry Originally created in the 1930s, the current program started in 1978 to address watershed health and water quality activities on nonfederal forest lands. It provides restoration and management assistance activities, including cooperative federal, state, and local forest stewardship; prevention and control of insects and diseases; and improvement of fish
and wildlife habitat.
Forest Health Management This program was created in1947, with current program activities having begun in 1978 as a coordinated effort among federal, state, and local entities for the management of forest health on nonfederal forested lands. The program funds activities to sustain healthy forest conditions.
Recreation, Heritage, and Wilderness Management The purpose of this program, which dates back to the 1930s, is to connect people to the land by providing recreational settings and services.
Soil, Water, and Air Management This program funds activitie related to the management of water, soil, and air resources for public use, including the inventory, assessment, and monitoring of these resources. It is classified as a cleanup, restoration, and pollution prevention program.
Watershed, Lake, Riparian and Stream Analysis, and Restoration Stream Analysis, and Restoration This research and restoration program, which started in 2000, studies watershed and stream processes from relatively undisturbed systems to highly degraded systems. It develops technologies to restore these systems and tests them in rural forested and urban landscapes.
Wildland Fire Management Originally created in the 1920s, the purpose of the current program is to protect state and private lands from wildland fires by providing protection and management assistance.
Wildlife, Fish, and Rare Plants Resource Management This program, which began in the 1930s, funds activities related to cleanup, restoration, pollution prevention, and habitat improvement. The program's goal is to maintain diverse and productive wildlife, fish, and sensitive plant habitats as an integral part of managing national forest ecosystems.


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Department Program Purpose Specific to the Great Lakes?
(blank = "no")
Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program The purpose of this program, created in 1985, is to provide technical, educational, and financial assistance to eligible farmers and ranchers to address soil, water, and related natural resource concerns on their lands in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner. It funds pollution prevention, soil and water conservation, and water quality improvement activities.
Farmland Protection Program This program, which began in 1996, provides matching funds to help purchase development rights to keep productive farm and ranch land in agricultural uses. The Department of Agriculture provides up to 50 percent of the fair market easement value.
Great Lakes Basin Program for Soil Erosion Sediment Control Originally authorized in 1936, the program, as amended, funds pollution prevention projects that improve Great Lakes water quality by promoting soil erosion and sediment control through information and education programs, grants, technical assistance, and coalition building. Yes
National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) This program is a partnership of federal land management agencies, state agricultural experiment stations, and state and local units of government that provides soil survey information necessary for understanding, managing, conserving, and sustaining the nation's limited soil resources. It dates back to 1935.
Plant Materials for Conservation/Plant Materials The purpose of this program, which began in 1937, is to use native plants to solve natural resource problems. Scientists search for plants that meet an identified conservation need, such as wetland restoration, and test their performance. Once proven, new species are released to the private sector for commercial production.
Resource Conservation and Development This program, which started in 1962, encourages and improves the capability of state and local units of government and local nonprofit organizations in rural areas to plan, develop, and carry out programs for resource conservation and development. Program activities include cleanup, restoration, pollution prevention, coordination, and conservation
technical services.
River Basin Studies, Watershed Surveys and Planning, and Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention This mid-1940s program was created to provide planning assistance to federal, state, and local agencies for developing and coordinating water and related land resources programs in watershed and river basins. Program activities include restoration, pollution prevention, and financial and technical assistance for watershed protection and flood
prevention.
Soil and Water Conservation/Conservation Technical Assistance This program provides voluntary conservation technical assistance to land users, communities, units of state and local governments, and other federal agencies in planning and implementing conservation systems. It began in 1935, and it addresses natural resource issues, such as erosion, fish and wildlife habitat, and air quality. Its activities relate to cleanup, pollution prevention, restoration, and technical assistance.
Wetland Reserve Program This voluntary program provides landowners with financial and technical assistance to restore and protect wetlands. It began in 1985, and it funds cleanup, restoration, and pollution prevention activities.
Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program This is a voluntary restoration program for the development and improvement of wildlife habitat, primarily on private lands. It provides technical assistance and up to 75 percent cost-share assistance to establish and improve fish and wildlife habitat. The program began in 1998.


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Department Program Purpose Specific to the Great Lakes?
(blank = "no")
Department of Commerce-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Mapping/Mapping and Charting Program This program is part of the National Geodetic Survey. The primary mission of this program is to define the shoreline for nautical charts.
Coastal Remote Sensing, Coastal Change and Analysis Program The goal of this program, which started in 2001, is to develop and distribute data in the coastal zone through remote sensing technology. The Great Lakes are the current focus of this program.
Coastal Zone Management Program This program began in 1972. It is a federal-state partnership that provides a basis for protecting, restoring, and responsibly developing the nation's important and diverse coastal communities and resources. The program includes encouraging and assisting states in the wise use of land and water, and encouraging the participation and cooperation of all government sectors with programs affecting the coast.
Episodic Events, Great Lakes Experiment This research program began in 1997 to create a modeling program for seasonal sediment resuspension. It assesses the (1) impact on transporting and the transformation of chemically important materials and (2) effect on Lake Michigan ecology. Yes
Geodesy Program This program, managed by the National Geodetic Survey, monitors crustal motion in the Great Lakes by measuring latitudes, longitudes, and elevations at 16 water level stations. This information provides better knowledge about flooding and drainage scenarios in the region.
Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory This program was established in 1970 and established the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory to conduct physical, chemical, and environmental modeling research and to provide scientific expertise and services to manage and protect ecosystems. Yes
Great Lakes Restoration Project Originated from a 2001 federal appropriation to acquire and restore critical habitat, implement storm water controls, and clean contaminated sites along the five Great Lakes.  The eight participating states were required to provide matching monies. Yes
Landscape Characterization and Restoration Program This restoration program, which began in 1997, helps coastal resource managers examine the effects of management on coastal habitat through habitat restoration planning activities and ecosystem studies.
National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) NERRS is a network of protected areas established to promote informed management of the nation's coastal and estuarine habitats. This statefederal partnership accomplishes this through linked programs of scientific understanding, education, and stewardship. This research program began in 1972.
National Sea Grant College Program The purpose of this research program, which began in 1968, is to support education and research in the various fields relating to the development of marine resources. All Great Lakes states, except Pennsylvania, have a Sea Grant College.
National Status and Trends Mussel Water Project This program is a contaminant-monitoring program for U.S. coastal waters. It collects samples from some 300 sites in the conterminous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Great Lakes. Samples are analyzed for a broad suite of contaminants, including toxic elements, pesticides, industrial chemicals, and hydrocarbons. This pollution prevention program began nationwide in 1986, with monitoring in the Great Lakes beginning in 1992.
National Weather Service (NWS) This program, which dates back to the 1890s, provides water, hydrologic, and climate warnings for the United States and its adjacent waters. Ten NWS Great Lakes forecast offices provide users with continuous real-time data and forecasts. NWS also operates the Environmental Modeling Center, which produces numerical weather prediction models that are transmitted to these forecast offices, and the National Data Buoy Center, which manages an observational network.
Office of Response and Restoration - Coastal Protection and Restoration Division This division has undertaken, in coordination with cleanup and trustee agencies, environmental assessment, pollution prevention, cleanup, mitigation, and restoration activities to protect and restore coastal habitats and resources at hazardous waste sites nationwide since 1985 (in the Great Lakes since 1993).
Office of Response and Restoration - Damage Assessment Center The Damage Assessment Center, which started in 1990, conducts natural resources damage assessments to restore coastal resources injured by oil and hazardous material releases. The center conducts cleanup, restoration, and pollution prevention activities.
Office of Response and Restoration - Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) This program, which started in 1987, conducts activities to reduce risks to coastal habitats and resources from oil and chemical spills by providing advice and developing tools to aid in spill response. HAZMAT undertakes cleanup, restoration, and pollution prevention activities.


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Department Program Purpose Specific to the Great Lakes?
(blank = "no")
Department of Health and Human Services-Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Great Lakes Human Health Effects Research Program This is a community-based research program that began in 1992, with emphasis on public health education and intervention strategies. Its goal is to prohibit exposure to toxic chemicals and prevent adverse health outcomes in citizens of the Great Lakes. Yes


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Department Program Purpose Specific to the Great Lakes?
(blank = "no")
Department of Homeland Security-Coast Guard National Invasive Species Act/Ballast Water Program Under this program, the Secretary of Transportation issues national guidelines to prevent the introduction of aquatic nuisance species into U.S. waters by ships.
  Oil Spill Removal Organization Program This is a voluntary pollution prevention program created by the Coast Guard to assist facility and vessel responders in writing their oil spill response plans.


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Department Program Purpose Specific to the Great Lakes?
(blank = "no")
Department of Interior-Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) 1836 Fisheries Treaty - Implementation of the August 7, 2000 Consent Decree This program was mandated in 2000 by a Federal District Court decree. It requires FWS to increase lake trout stocking for restoration programs and to evaluate factors impeding lake trout restoration. It also provides technical assistance to five Native American tribes in the Chippewa-Ottawa Resource Authority, the State of Michigan, and selected federal agencies involved with managing sport and commercial fisheries in certain areas of Lakes. Yes
Aquatic Nuisance Species Regional Coordination and Technical Assistance This program provides regional aquatic nuisance species coordination and technical assistance to the Fisheries Program of FWS's Northeast Region. Activities support regional prevention and control of aquatic nuisance species introductions and range expansions.
Aquatic Nuisance Species Surveillance and Control This program was started in 1991 to prevent and control infestations in the coastal and inland waters of the United States by the zebra mussel and other nonindigenous aquatic nuisance species. Its activities include research, prevention of species introductions, control of introduced species, and mitigation of impacts to native fish and wildlife resources.
Blue Pike Activities in the Great Lakes This is a research program that was started in 1993 to establish the scientific relationships among the original Lake Erie blue pike, the recently caught "blue walleyes," and other closely related species using genetic analysis of their DNA. Yes
Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge Established by Public Law in 2001, the Detroit River International Refuge is the first international refuge in North America. The Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge will conserve, protect and restore habitat of waterfowl, fish and migratory birds. The authorized Refuge boundary includes islands, coastal wetlands, marshes, shoals and riverfront lands. It is one of only a few refuges situated in a major metropolitan area. Yes
Ecosystem Management in the Lower Great Lakes This program was created in 1990 to develop and adopt aquatic community and habitat goals and objectives. It also develops and conducts comprehensive and standardized ecological monitoring to support ecosystem management. Yes
Endangered Species Program This conservation and restoration program was created in 1973 to provide a means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved and to provide for the conservation of such endangered and threatened species.
Evaluation and Restoration of Great Lakes Estuaries and Tributaries The purpose of this program, which began in 1992, is to identify, inventory, protect, and rehabilitate significant aquatic habitats, including those used by fish and wildlife for spawning, breeding, nesting, rearing, and feeding. Yes
Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance - Great Lakes Operations This program, dating back to 1972, aids in conservation of native fish and wildlife species and their habitats. It provides support for the management of interjurisdictional fisheries, aids in restoration of depleted fish populations to preclude listing as endangered species, and provides technical assistance to state and tribal fish and wildlife management agencies to fulfill federal trust responsibilities. The program funds research, restoration, and technical assistance activities.
Great Lakes Coastal Program This program, which began in 2000, funds projects that seek to protect and restore Great Lakes coastal ecosystems for the benefit of fish, wildlife, and people. Its goals are to identify and prioritize coastal habitats and conduct research to evaluate ecosystem health, identify threats, and lend biological focus to the planning processes of other agencies. Yes
Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act Since 1991, this program has developed and implemented proposals for restoration of fish and wildlife resources in the Great Lakes Basin. It has provided assistance to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, states, Indian tribes, and others to encourage cooperative conservation, restoration, and management of the fish and wildlife resources and their habitats. Yes
Great Lakes Lake Sturgeon Rehabilitation Program This program started in 1993, and it funds projects that seek to conserve, rehabilitate, and reestablish self-sustaining populations of lake sturgeon to levels that permit delisting from state and federal endangered species lists. Objectives include identification and restoration of critical habitat and public education. Yes
La Crosse Fish Health Center This center, which began operating in 1962, provides fish health inspection services to six national and four tribal fish hatcheries to minimize the risk of introducing disease agents into the wild. This program assists state research facilities and private fish hatcheries in diagnosing and controlling infectious disease agents and provides technical assistance regarding fish health and propagation.
Lake Ontario Atlantic Salmon Reintroduction Program This research program was started in 1993 to determine the feasibility of re-introducing/restoring Atlantic salmon to the Lake Ontario watershed. Yes
Lake Ontario/St. Lawrence River American Eel Restoration Program This research program, which started in 1997, provides research funds to protect and enhance the abundance of American eel populations in the Lake Ontario/St. Lawrence River watershed. Yes
Lower Great Lakes Lake Trout Restoration Program The purpose of this program is to rehabilitate the lake trout population of Lakes Erie and Ontario so the new population can become self-sustaining through natural reproduction and produce a harvestable annual surplus. Program activities began in the late 1970s. Yes
Lower Great Lakes Ruffe Surveillance Program This 1993 program provides funding for surveillance of invasive species to ensure prompt detection of new populations of ruffe and monitor or track expansions of already existing populations. Yes
National Fish Hatchery System - Great Lakes Operations This 1993 program provides funding for surveillance of invasive species to ensure prompt detection of new populations of ruffe and monitor or track expansions of already existing populations. Yes
National Fish Passage Program This program restores native fish and other aquatic species to selfsustaining levels. Generally, this restoration is done by removing barriers to fish movement or providing ways for aquatic species to bypass them. The program works on a voluntary basis with federal, state, local, and tribal agencies, as well as private partners and stakeholders. This restoration program's activities began in 1999.
Natural Resource Damage Assessment Program This program's goal is to restore, replace, rehabilitate, or acquire the equivalent of natural resources injured or lost as a result of contamination by oil or hazardous substances. This cleanup and restoration program began in 1981.
New York Aquatic Resource Management The focus of this program is natural resource assessment and management planning on military installations. Specifically, the goal of this program is to determine the presence or absence of threatened or endangered species of state or national concern and to prepare a comprehensive natural resource management plan for the Seneca Army Depot and Fort Drum, both of which lie within the Great Lakes Basin.
New York Natural Resource Management Program The primary focus of this program is natural resource assessment and planning on military installations. Activities under this program include conducting a natural resource community survey for the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, conducting additional surveys as needed, and preparing and implementing management plans to protect the natural resources. Program activities began in 1998.
New York State Canal System Aquatic Nuisance Species Program This is a multifaceted program started in 1998. It includes various components to address aquatic invasive species issues within the Canal system. It seeks to work with partner agencies to detect, monitor, and manage populations of aquatic invasive species inhabiting or transiting the Canal and implement prevention strategies as appropriate. Yes
Partners for Fish and Wildlife (Private Lands Program) This is a voluntary habitat restoration program that provides restoration expertise and financial assistance to private landowners, tribes, and other conservation partners who voluntarily restore fish and wildlife habitat on their properties. The program targets restoring habitat for migratory birds, interjurisdictional fish, and threatened or endangered species on private land. Program activities began in 1987.  


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Department Program Purpose Specific to the Great Lakes?
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Department of Interior-National Park Service (NPS) Midwest Region - Great Lakes Strategic Plan Activities The purpose of this 1993-initiated program is to foster research cooperation among state and federal agencies involved with natural resource issues of mutual interest. These issues include aquatic exotic species, such as the sea lamprey, shoreline stabilization and monitoring, bald eagle monitoring, near shore fisheries, beach nourishment and fecal coliform issues, air quality, and cultural resource issues. Yes


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Department Program Purpose Specific to the Great Lakes?
(blank = "no")
Department of Interior-U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Biological Information Management Delivery This research program has two primary areas relevant to the Great Lakes Basin: the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) and the Gap Analysis Program (GAP). NBII was created in 1993 and provides increased access to data and information on biological resources. The GAP provides broad geographic information on biological diversity that planners, managers, and policy makers need to make informed decisions. In addition, the program provides support for Great Lakes research, primarily at the USGS Great Lakes Science Center.
Biological Research and Monitoring This research program, dating back to 1927, funds biological studies to develop new methods and techniques to identify, observe, and manage fish and wildlife. Studies are designed to identify, understand, and control invasive species and their habitats; inventory populations of animals, plants, and their habitats; and monitor changes in abundance, distribution, and health of biological resources through time and determine the causes of the changes.
Coastal and Marine Geology The program provides scientific information needed to evaluate the origin and impact of natural coastal processes, especially understanding the effect of human-induced changes. This program has been providing information and products to guide the preservation and sustainable development of the nation's marine and coastal environments since 1994.
Cooperative Research Units Program This program, created in 1935, establishes and maintains cooperative partnerships with states and universities to address local, state, regional, national and international issues related to fish, wildlife, and natural resources of concern. The activities of the program are research, technical assistance, and student education.
Cooperative Topographic Mapping (CTM) Program This research program provides data that locates and describes the features of the earth's surface. The program provides support for the National Map by continuing to maintain basic data for the United States and its territories.
Cooperative Water Program This is an ongoing partnership between USGS and nonfederal agencies. The program jointly funds water resources projects in every state, Puerto Rico, and several U.S. Trust territories. Research, data collection, assessment, and aerial appraisal activities are conducted through this program.
Geographic Analysis and Monitoring Program This program studies and addresses natural and human-induced changes on the landscape. It encompasses global change research, integrates natural hazard data layers, delivers landscape information, and provides computer support.
Land Remote Sensing Program This program, initiated in the 1930s, promotes the use of remote sensing for understanding the earth's land environment through photography and other imagery from aircraft, as well as satellites.
Mineral Resources Program This program, created in 1879, provides scientific information for resource assessments and research results of mineral potential, production, consumption, and environmental behavior. This information is used to characterize the life cycles of mineral commodities from deposit formation, exploration, and discovery through production, use, reuse, and disposal.
National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program This program was established in 1992 to implement and coordinate an expanded geologic mapping effort by USGS, the state geological surveys, and universities. The primary goal of the program is to collect, process, analyze, translate, and disseminate earth-science information through geologic maps.
National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program The long-term mission and goals of the NAWQA program, which began in 1991, are to provide long-term, nationwide information on the quality of streams, groundwater, and aquatic ecosystems. NAWQA's goals are to assess the status and trends of national water quality and to understand the factors that affect it.
National Water Use Information Program This program was created in 1979 to collect, store, analyze, and disseminate water-use information, both nationally and locally, to a wide variety of government agencies and private organizations. It is a cooperative program that includes state and local government entities.
USGS Ground-Water Resources Program This program encompasses regional studies of groundwater systems; provides multidisciplinary studies of critical groundwater issues; provides access to groundwater data, and research and methods development. It also provides scientific information and many of the tools that are used by federal, state, and local management and regulatory agencies to make important decisions about the nation's groundwater resources. It was created in 1995.
USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program This program was created in 1982 to provide scientific information and tools that explain the occurrence, behavior, and effects of toxic substances in the nation's hydrologic environments. Program results support decision making by resource managers, regulators, industry, and the public. Work is performed by USGS scientists who collaborate with a wide range of federal and nonfederal organizations and individuals.
Water Resource Research Act Programs This program, dating back to 1964, provides an institutional mechanism for promoting state, regional, and national coordination of water resources, research, and training. It comprises a network of institutes to facilitate research and information technology transfer. With its matching requirements, it is also a mechanism for promoting state investments in research and training.
Earth Surface Dynamics Program - Central Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Coalition This 1998 initiated research program provides scientific information to evaluate natural coastal processes and understand human-induced changes. It develops predictive models of natural systems and the effects of human activities on them, and the capability to predict future changes. Program data is used to guide the preservation and sustainable development of the nation's marine and coastal environments.  


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