EPA restores Great Lakes Advisory Board

SANDUSKY — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency re-established the Great Lakes Advisory Board, which the Trump administration previously had allowed to lapse.U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo, and other Great Lakes lawmakers in both parties urged the EPA to reinstate the board.Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced Thursday that the board was being re-established.The board was created in 2012 to provide advice on Great Lakes matters and it was renewed in 2014 and 2016, but former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt let it lapse this year.Last May, Kaptur and U.S. Rep. David Joyce, an Ohio Republican, wrote a letter to the EPA asking Pruitt to keep the panel. The letter was signed by 16 House members.Kaptur welcomed the news of the board's return in a Thursday tweet, writing, "Happy to hear that the Great Lakes Advisory Board is being reconstituted, though it should never have been allowed to lapse. This group of leaders has been critical to driving the good work that GLRI has accomplished for our #GreatLakes."The GLRI referred to in the tweet is the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a program Trump sought to abolish. Congress kept it going, with the support of lawmakers such as Kaptur and Joyce.The Great Lakes Advisory Board will have about 15 members, with nominations solicited soon in the Federal Register and other places, Wheeler's announcement said."EPA will consider candidates representing a broad range of interests, including business groups, environmental organizations, academia and state, local and tribal governments," the EPA news release states.Gentle waves roll to shore along Port Clinton on Nov. 20, 2018.