    [Senate Hearing 110-518]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                            S. Hrg. 110-518

    S.J. RES. 45, A RESOLUTION CONSENTING TO AND APPROVING THE GREAT LAKES-
                ST. LAWRENCE RIVER BASIN WATER RESOURCES COMPACT

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   before the

                           COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                           ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS

                                 SECOND SESSION

                                   __________

                                 JULY, 30, 2008

                                   __________

                              Serial No. J-110-114

                                   __________

             Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary

                                   ----------
                             U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

    44-332 PDF                       WASHINGTON : 2008

    For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing
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                           COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY

                      PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont, Chairman
    EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts     ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania
    JOSEPH R. BIDEN, Jr., Delaware       ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah
    HERB KOHL, Wisconsin                 CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa
    DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California         JON KYL, Arizona
    RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin       JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama
    CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York         LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina
    RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois          JOHN CORNYN, Texas
    BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland         SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas
    SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island     TOM COBURN, Oklahoma
                Bruce A. Cohen, Chief Counsel and Staff Director
               Stephanie A. Middleton, Republican Staff Director
                  Nicholas A. Rossi, Republican Chief Counsel

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------

                        STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS

                                                                       Page

    Durbin, Hon. Richard J., a U.S. Senator from the State of
      Illinois, prepared statement...................................    39
    Feingold, Hon. Russell D., a U.S. Senator from the State of
      Wisconsin......................................................     1
        prepared statement...........................................    42
    Kohl, Hon. Herb, a U.S. Senator from the State of Wisconsin......     3
    Schumer, Hon. Charles E., a U.S. Senator from the State of New
      York, prepared statement.......................................   100
    Specter, Hon. Arlen Specter, a U.S. Senator from the State of
      Pennsylvania...................................................     2

                                   WITNESSES

    Davis, Cameron, President, Alliance for the Great Lakes, Chicago,
      Illinois.......................................................    12
    Doyle, Hon. Jim, Governor, State of Wisconsin, and Chair, Council
      of Great Lakes Governors, Madison, Wisconsin...................     6
    Heartwell, George, Mayor, City of Grand Rapids, and Vice
      Chairman, Great Lakes-St. Lawrence, Cities Initiative Grand
      Rapids, Michigan...............................................     8
    Nelson, Kay L., Director of Environmental Affairs, Northwest
      Indiana Forum, Portage, Indiana................................    10
    Voinovich, Hon. George, a U.S. Senator from the State of Ohio....     4

                           SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD

    Birkholz, Hon. Patricia, Michigan State Senator, Lansing,
      Michigan, statement............................................    20
    Cox, Mike, Attorney General, State of Michigan, Lansing,
      Michigan, letter...............................................    23
    Davis, Cameron, President, Alliance for the Great Lakes, Chicago,
      Illinois, statement............................................    25
    Dempsey, Dave, Rosemount, Minnesota, statement...................    30
    Doyle, Hon. Jim, Governor, State of Wisconsin, and Chair, Council
      of Great Lakes Governors, Madison, Wisconsin, statement........    34
    Environment America, Christy Leavitt, Washington, D.C., joint
      letter.........................................................    40
    Hall, Noah D., Wayne State University Law School, Executive
      Director, Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, Ann Arbor,
      Michigan, statement............................................    45
    Heartwell, Hon. George, Mayor, City of Grand Rapids, and Vice
      Chairman, Great Lakes-St Lawrence and Cities Initiative, Grand
      Rapids, Michigan, statement....................................    72
    International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), Alexandria,
      Virginia, statement............................................    76
    Levin, Hon. Carl, a U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan,
      statement......................................................    80
    Nelson, Kay L., Director, Environmental Affairs, Northwest
      Indiana Forum, Portage, Indiana, statement.....................    84
    Olson, James M., and Michael H. Dettmer, Law Offices of Olson,
      Bzdok & Howard, P.C., Traverse City, Michigan, statement and
      attachment.....................................................    86
    Speck, Sam, Director, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ann
      Arbor, Michigan, memorandum and attachment.....................   101
    Stabenow, Hon. Debbie, a U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan,
      statement......................................................   108

    S.J. RES. 45, A RESOLUTION CONSENTING TO AND APPROVING THE GREAT LAKES-
                ST. LAWRENCE RIVER BASIN WATER RESOURCES COMPACT

                                  ----------

                            WEDNESDAY JULY, 30, 2008

                                           U.S. Senate,
                                    Committee on the Judiciary,
                                                       Washington, D.C.
        The Committee met, Pursuant to notice, at 1 p.m., in room
    SD-226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Russell D.
    Feingold, presiding.

     OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, A U.S. SENATOR
                      FROM THE STATE OF WISCONSIN

        Senator Feingold. Welcome to today's hearing on S.J. Res.
    45, a resolution approving the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River
    Basin Water Resources Compact.
        And I would like to thank Chairman Leahy for allowing me to
    preside over this full committee hearing. I am pleased to be
    joined by Ranking Member Specter, a fellow Great Lakes Senator,
    and, of course, Senator Kohl, Senior Senator from the State of
    Wisconsin.
        In Wisconsin, our constituents care a lot about water, both
    its quality and its quantity. Over the last year, Lake
    Superior's water levels reached record lows and Lake Michigan's
    levels have been on the verge of doing so, as well.
        This has reminded all of us that despite the vastness of
    the Great Lakes, they are not an unlimited, easily replenished
    resource. Low water levels have a significant impact on
    commercial shipping, recreational boaters, coastal wetlands,
    fisheries, property owners, municipalities, and many other
    interests that rely on the Great Lakes.
        By passing this compact, Congress can join the states and
    the Great Lakes' numerous stakeholders in defending against one
    of the biggest threats to low lake levels, and that is
    increased water withdrawals.
        Pressure on the Great Lakes will only intensify with
    population growth, climatic changes, and contaminated or
    exhausted water supplies. I strongly support putting in place
    management practices now to safeguard the Great Lakes against
    future stresses.
        I especially commend our Governor, Governor Jim Doyle, who
    will testify before us today, and his fellow Governors and
    their state legislatures for their hard work to get us at this
    point already.
        The Great Lakes Compact is the product of a long process of
    evolution. Over a century ago, the first treaty between Canada
    and the United States was put in place to jointly manage the
    shared resource.
        Then after various proposals over the decades to siphon off
    Great Lakes waters to other parts of the country and the world,
    the Great Lakes States developed a regional plan and Congress
    approved it in 1968.
        Nearly 20 years later, the Great Lakes States and the
    provinces of Ontario and Quebec completed the Great Lakes
    Charter, which did not allow the States or Provinces to make
    large diversions without the approval of all the other
    signatories.
        However, this charter is not legally binding. In the Water
    Resources Development Act of 1986, Congress lent support to the
    charter by prohibiting diversions outside the Great Lakes
    Basin, unless approved by all Governors of the Great Lakes
    States.
        But Canada was not legally bound nor was the possibility of
    trading Great Lakes water internationally addressed. In 1998,
    Ontario's issuance of a permit to ship water from Lake Superior
    to Asia served as a wake-up call that more was needed to
    protect the Great Lakes.
        Several proposals emerged in Congress and, ultimately, in
    2000, Congress directed the Great Lakes States to jointly
    develop, with the Canadian provinces, a common conservation
    standard for making decisions about the withdrawal and use of
    water from the Great Lakes Basin.
        Great Lakes States have delivered on that request by
    ratifying the Great Lakes Compact, and now it is Congress's
    turn. Senators Levin and Voinovich have introduced a joint
    resolution to approve the Great Lakes Compact.
        It enjoys bipartisan support, I am happy to say, from all
    16 Great Lakes Senators, those representing Minnesota,
    Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and
    New York.
        A similar measure was also introduced in the House and the
    President of the United States has also, yesterday, announced
    his support of the compact.
        So I look forward to hearing today's testimony on the
    compact and to working with my colleagues to pass it, I hope,
    in the very, very near future.
        [The prepared statement of Senator Feingold appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Now, I turn to the ranking member, Senator Specter.

    STATEMENT OF HON. ARLEN SPECTER, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE
                            OF PENNSYLVANIA

        Senator Specter. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am delighted to
    join you today on this hearing for this important compact. The
    issue of diversion from the Great Lakes is one of enormous
    importance.
        Pennsylvania, of course, has Lake Erie. Looking over the
    rest of the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, I believe I
    am the only Senator with a State which borders on one of the
    Great Lakes. So I thought it especially important that someone
    locally be present here to speak on this issue.
        Lake Erie, of course, is a great tourist attraction. One of
    the first things I did when elected to the U.S. Senate some
    time ago was to work on replenishment of the sand, which is
    virtually an annual rite. It is a great, great tourist resort.
        But this compact to ban new or increased diversion of water
    is really important, to create the commission, to have binding
    standards, review process. All of those are very important.
        But, of course, as a matter of Federal law, constitutional
    law, there has to be a congressional action. And I have sat on
    quite a few matters over the course of years on this committee.
    I can't think of any that is as clear a slam-dunk as this one
    is.
        So while I am not able to stay because of conflicting
    engagements, I am sure that it will be very well received, and
    I have staff here who will be studying the record.
        So thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Feingold. Thank you, Senator Specter. The hearing
    and your appearance here should help us move this legislation
    along very much.
        Now, I turn to my senior colleague, Senator Kohl.

     STATEMENT OF HON. HERB KOHL, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF
                               WISCONSIN

        Senator Kohl. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Great Lakes-St.
    Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact before us today
    enjoys broad bipartisan support, including all eight Great Lake
    States, Canadian Provinces, Ontario and Quebec, as well as 150
    business and environmental groups.
        That is a tribute to the hard work of many people,
    especially Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin, who is also the
    chair of the Council for Great Lakes Governors. Governor
    Doyle's leadership is one of the main reasons that we are here
    today.
        I would like to thank, also, Cameron Davis Miller, George
    Heartwell, as well as Senators Levin and Voinovich, who head
    the Great Lakes Task Force, for their hard work.
        I would also like to thank my colleague, Senator Feingold,
    for chairing this important hearing today.
        The Great Lakes are one of America's national treasures and
    one of the National Wonders of the World. Holding 20 percent of
    the world's fresh water, the Great Lakes play a vital role in
    the daily lives of the people of Wisconsin, providing drinking
    water, jobs, energy, shipping, as well as recreation.
        Something that important to our prosperity needs to be
    conserved so that future generations can benefit, and the
    compact before us, indeed, does that. It is a binding agreement
    among the Great Lakes States to implement a conservation
    standard for regulating water withdrawals from the Great Lakes
    Basin.
        Specifically, the compact protects the Great Lakes by
    banning new or increased diversions outside of the Great Lakes
    Basin. The compact also requires each State to implement water
    conservation measures, which will promote efficient water use,
    as well as minimize waste.
        Not too long ago, we faced a specter of foreign companies
    exporting water out of the lakes, thereby threatening our
    environment. This compact is a response to those threats,
    making it clear that the lakes are not to be exploited.
        As a cosponsor of this resolution, I look forward to
    working with my colleagues in the Senate to pass this important
    compact.
        We are so happy to be here today, and I thank you, Mr.
    Chairman.
        Senator Feingold. Thank you, Senator Kohl.
        And now I would like to turn to the first panel. Senator
    Voinovich, you want to come forward, please? Senator Levin, I
    suspect, will be here at some point. Senator Levin and Senator
    Voinovich are the lead authors of this critical legislation. I
    thank them for their leadership on it.
        Let me turn to you, Senator Voinovich. Senator Voinovich is
    co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force. You have
    extensive knowledge of this issue. I appreciate your joining
    Senator Levin in introducing the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River
    Basin Water Resources Compact.
        And you may proceed with your testimony. Welcome.

      STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE VOINOVICH, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE
                             STATE OF OHIO

        Senator Voinovich. Well, first of all, Mr. Chairman,
    Senator Kohl, I am really grateful to you for having this
    hearing, because it is something that has been long awaited.
    But I was worried that we might not be able to have a hearing
    before we adjourned, and I am grateful for your holding this
    hearing.
        As Senator Kohl said, the Great Lakes are a tremendous
    natural resource. They need to be protected for our future
    generations. One-fifth of the world's surface fresh water--it
    is hard to believe--one-fifth of the world's fresh water are in
    the Great Lakes.
        They cover more than 94,000 square miles; 637 State parks
    in the region accommodate more than 250 million visitors. The
    Great Lakes are significant to the States and Canadian
    Provinces that border them, as well as for millions of other
    people around the country who fish the lakes, visit the parks
    and the surrounding lakes, or use products that are affordably
    shipped to them via the Great Lakes.
        I understand how important the Great Lakes are, because I
    have been fighting the second battle of Lake Erie since my days
    in the State legislature 40 years ago. And some of you may be
    old enough to remember that Lake Erie was the poster child of a
    dying lake and PBC was all over, we had a river in my city that
    burned. And we've come a long way since that time.
        When I came to Congress, one of the first things I got
    involved with, as former Governor of Ohio and the past Chairman
    of the Council of Great Lakes Governors, was to work on
    including language in the 2000 Water Sources Development Act
    directing the States to reach an agreement on how to manage the
    Great Lakes water, and I am very, very proud of how everyone
    has come together and have agreed upon the compact.
        It is going to provide an effective means to safeguard
    water for future generations, while stimulating economic
    development through sustainable use and responsible management
    of the precious resource.
        For example, the compact will ban new diversions from the
    basin, with certain exceptions, and those exceptions would be
    regulated. The States and Provinces will use a consistent
    standard to review proposed uses of the Great Lakes water. This
    is an improvement over existing law, which does not have any
    standard for considering those proposals.
        And, additionally, regional goals for water conservation
    and efficiency will be developed to improve use of this
    resource. Two years later, all proposals for new and increased
    withdrawals of Great Lakes water must incorporate these water
    conservation and efficiency measures. This will promote
    efficient water use and minimize waste.
        Drafting this agreement has been difficult and time-
    consuming. The Governors and the premiers have been working
    together on this issue for actually 10 years.
        I applaud the efforts of your Governor, Governor Jim Doyle,
    my Governor, Governor Strickland of Ohio, and the other Great
    Lakes Governors and our two Canadian Premiers for coming
    together and working conscientiously to get this done.
        I want to stress to the members of this committee, though,
    that without this compact, the Great Lakes are left vulnerable
    to the interests that want to deplete the lakes, and Congress
    should approve the compact to protect our Nation's Great Lakes.
        The Great Lakes face so many threats and it will be a great
    step forward if we can ensure that unlimited diversions are not
    a threat. People can breathe easier, less stress.
        Protecting the Great Lakes is not a partisan issue. All of
    us here today came together across party lines to protect our
    Great Lakes.
        The Great Lakes are a centerpiece of the American and
    Canadian landscape. They provide drinking water to tens of
    millions. They are an integral part of our regional economy.
    They are a unique natural resource for my State and the entire
    region, a resource that must be protected not just for us, but
    for our children and for our grandchildren.
        We cannot afford to neglect them and I know we will
    continue fighting to restore, preserve and protect our Great
    Lakes.
        Mr. Chairman, I encourage the committee to pass this as
    expeditiously as possible. Hopefully, we can get a UC on it
    before we get out of here in this Congress.
        And, again, I want to sincerely thank you, thank you, thank
    you for having this hearing.
        Senator Feingold. Thank you, Senator Voinovich. I am very
    pleased to be a part of this effort, and thank you for your
    working with Senator Levin to take a lead on this. And when he
    arrives, we will hear from him. I had a good conversation with
    him already last week about some of the strategy on this. But
    thanks so much, Senator Voinovich.
        If there are no questions for the witness, we will excuse
    you and ask the second panel to come forward.
        Senator Voinovich. Thank you.
        Senator Feingold. Thank you, Senator.
        Would the witnesses please stand to be sworn?
        [Witnesses sworn.]
        Senator Feingold. You may be seated. I would like to begin
    the second panel, of course, by welcoming Governor Jim Doyle of
    Wisconsin. Governor Doyle is a graduate of the University of
    Wisconsin-Madison and earned his law degree from Harvard Law
    School.
        Beginning in 1990, Governor Doyle served three terms as
    Wisconsin's attorney general, where he distinguished himself as
    a national leader in aggressively prosecuting polluters.
        Governor Doyle was sworn in as Wisconsin's 44th Governor on
    January 6, 2003. He was reelected in 2006.
        We have been friends for a long time, Governor, as were our
    fathers, I might add, and I want to thank you very much for
    traveling from Wisconsin to join us today and for sharing your
    great expertise as the chair of the Council of Great Lakes
    Governors.
        You may proceed.

    STATEMENT OF HON. JIM DOYLE, GOVERNOR, STATE OF WISCONSIN, AND
                CHAIR, COUNCIL OF GREAT LAKES GOVERNORS

        Governor Doyle. Well, Senator Feingold and Senator Kohl, my
    two dear friends, thank you so much for all of the leadership
    you have shown on Great Lakes issues and, in particular, we
    thank you for the hearing today and the efforts that you have
    made to expedite this process.
        So we hope that, from a State perspective, that the
    Congress will give its consent quickly and that we can get to
    work actually then implementing the provisions of the compact.
        So your efforts in this regard have been just incredibly
    helpful.
        I want to brag a little about Wisconsin first, but I am
    here as the chair of the council of all of the Great Lakes
    States. But, obviously, our State is defined geographically by
    the Great Lakes. Its northern border, its eastern border--if
    you look at the pictures from space, you can always pick
    Wisconsin out and it's because it is defined by the Great
    Lakes.
        After the State of Michigan, we have the greatest amount of
    Great Lakes shoreline and, in fact, if the Upper Peninsula
    hadn't been taken away from us back in territorial days, we
    would have the largest shoreline.
        The Great Lakes define who we are geographically, but also
    define much of our culture, recreational activities, and have
    been crucial to our commerce from the earliest days as a
    territory and as a State.
        I want to thank the ranking member, Senator Specter, for
    his leadership and support of this, and, of course, Senators
    Levin and Voinovich, who are the primary authors and who have
    been instrumental in getting us to this point.
        So we are here today with a great opportunity for us in the
    Great Lakes Region and, I believe, for the whole entire United
    States, and because it is one of the great world's ecosystems,
    for the world, as well.
        And I testify today as chair of the Council of Great Lakes
    Governors. The Council of Great Lakes Governors is a
    partnership of the Governors of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,
    Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and the
    Premiers of Ontario and Quebec have also been associate members
    and deeply involved in this process.
        The Council of Great Lakes Governors has been coordinating
    our shared efforts to restore and protect the Great Lakes.
        There have been so many who have been instrumental. You
    will hear from representatives of various groups after me. But
    I want to thank the mayors, the environmental groups, business
    organizations, our trial leaders, and so many across the Great
    Lakes Region who have put in years of time and work and
    analysis and hearings to come to the point that we are at
    today.
        We have heard a lot about the volume of the Great Lakes.
    The way I like to picture it, perhaps most dramatically, is if
    you took the Great Lakes water and spread it over the 48
    contiguous States, the water would be nine-and-a-half feet
    deep.
        That is how much fresh water is in these lakes, and our
    national economy depends on the Great Lakes for industrial
    uses, hydropower, maritime commerce, agricultural irrigation,
    and many other uses.
        Keeping the lakes at healthy levels is also important for
    hydropower, maritime commerce, and many other uses.
        The compact will ensure that the lakes are used sustainably
    in order to continue to provide benefits to all of us.
        In 2005, the Great Lakes Governors, in collaboration with
    regional partners, completed the negotiations of the eight-
    State compact and on July 9, 2008, the Great Lakes States
    completed State ratification.
        To become law, Congress must now provide its consent. And
    by implementing this compact, we are taking the necessary steps
    to protect the Great Lakes and sustainably manage this shared
    resource.
        There is a long tradition in this country of States using
    compacts to work together to manage shared water resources. The
    Great Lakes Governors are following this long tradition.
        Historically, States and the Federal Government have
    supported interstate compacts to address water supply, water
    quality and flood control issues within the hydrological
    context of watersheds and basins. There are currently at least
    41 interstate water compacts that have been entered into, and
    all but five States are in such compacts.
        In 2000, the U.S. Congress encouraged the Great Lakes
    States, in consultation with Ontario and Quebec, to provide and
    implement this mechanism.
        And we are coming back to Congress now, 8 years later, with
    having satisfied, I believe, that direction that was given, and
    we have done it truly, I think, in the best spirit of
    federalism, Congress recognizing a large national action,
    calling the States to action.
        The States have worked together. Local governments have
    been involved. And now we come back to our national Government
    for its consent of this very important agreement.
        As a result of this congressional action, as well as past
    commitments made by Great Lakes Governors and Premiers, the
    Great Lakes States, Ontario and Quebec have worked aggressively
    to update and improve the region's water management regime.
        A lot has been said about the need to protect the volume of
    Great Lakes water, but this compact truly gives us the first
    interstate method to manage this water together.
        And we are pledged as a State in Wisconsin, and its
    implementing legislation actually enacted the most significant
    water management--Great Lakes Water management provisions ever
    enacted in the State of Wisconsin.
        So, again, we thank you very much for what you have done on
    this very important issue, I know how much the Great Lakes have
    meant to both of you, and your commitment to their preservation
    over the years.
        And I really look forward to the compact being approved by
    Congress and the States then really moving together, jointly
    together to make sure that we protect both the quantity and the
    quality of Great Lakes water.
        Thank you very much, Senator.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Doyle appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Senator Feingold. Thank you, Governor Doyle, very much. And
    after we complete this legislation, we will get together on
    legislation to get the UP back.
        Governor Doyle. Good.
        Senator Feingold. I feel safe saying that while Senator
    Levin isn't here. But I better be nice now, because we are
    turning to a Michigander now.
        I will turn to Mayor George Heartwell of Grand Rapids,
    Michigan. Mayor Heartwell was elected Mayor of Grand Rapids in
    2004.
        Prior to being elected mayor, he was the director of the
    Community Leadership Institute at Aquinas College and currently
    is the president of Pilgrim Manor, a retirement community.
        He earned a bachelor's degree from Albion College and a
    master's of divinity from Western Theological Seminary. Mayor
    Heartwell is currently the vice chairman of the Great Lakes and
    St. Lawrence Cities Initiative.
        So we look forward to hearing your thoughts on this
    important legislation.
        You may proceed, sir.

       STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE HEARTWELL, MAYOR, CITY OF GRAND
      RAPIDS, AND VICE CHAIRMAN, GREAT LAKES-ST. LAWRENCE CITIES
                   INITIATIVE, GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

        Mayor Heartwell. Thank you and good afternoon, Chairman
    Feingold and Senator Kohl. It is truly an honor for me to be
    here this afternoon on this important issue.
        I am George Heartwell, Mayor of Grand Rapids, a city of
    200,000 people and a metropolitan area of about 900,000, 32
    miles inland from Lake Michigan. I also serve as the vice chair
    of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, as the
    chairman mentioned.
        We are a coalition of 56 cities, U.S. and Canadian cities,
    working together to protect and restore the resource of the
    Great Lakes. We like to refer to ourselves as mayors without
    borders, and it is truly a wonderful binational cooperation.
        Water is the life blood of our cities. We have the good
    fortune of living in the basin of a true global fresh water
    treasure. There are good reasons why the original Native
    American people settled in this area, why the explorers came,
    why people settled here and built their cities, and why the
    area continues to provide a very high quality of life and
    economic well being for millions of people.
        It is all about the water.
        Over the past century, our industrial, agricultural and
    residential activities have placed significant stress on the
    water resource of the Great Lakes, whether it is invasive
    species or industrial discharge runoffs, toxic contamination,
    combined sewer overflows, the list is almost endless.
        Most recently, concerns over the quantity of water have
    grown throughout the region. Significant reductions in lake
    levels across the basin are creating problems for recreational
    boating, for commercial shipping for municipal water intake,
    for coastal wetland viability.
        The cities of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River are
    doing our part to deal with these water quality and quantity
    issues.
        A study that we have recently completed through the Great
    Lakes Inland Cities Initiative, working with the Great Lakes
    Commission, documented a $15 billion annual investment of local
    governments in the United States and Canada to protect the
    resource.
        My own city of Grand Rapids has invested over $200 million
    and, by the time we are finished, we will have invested $300
    million in combined sewer separation to protect the resource of
    the waters of Lake Michigan.
        In addition, the cities of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence
    Cities Initiative have launched a water conservation framework.
    Thirty-three cities have now joined to work toward a goal of 15
    percent reduction in water consumption between 2000 and 2015.
        The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources
    Compact is essential for protecting the long-term integrity of
    the water resource.
        The leadership of the Great Lakes Governors, working with
    the Canadian Premiers, has been exemplary in bringing us to
    this point.
        Our organization has supported the compact and agreement
    with resolutions at our last three annual meetings, copies of
    which are included with my testimony.
        More importantly, the compact represents a commitment to
    stewardship of the fresh water of the Great Lakes and St.
    Lawrence River by eight States, based on extensive in put from
    cities, from Native American tribes, as well as many other
    stakeholders.
        As a resource management tool, it calls for the States to
    establish water conservation and efficiency programs to ensure
    the best use of this precious resource.
        There will also be new measures in place to track and
    account for water use much more effectively than we have ever
    done before. In fact, through the work of State Senator Patty
    Birkholz, the Michigan legislature developed a water withdrawal
    assessment tool, which I believe can serve as a useful model
    for other States within the compact.
        Establishing and managing the administration of these
    programs will place, we know, additional financial burdens on
    the States, but we are confident that the high priority of this
    effort will lead to the commitment of the necessary resources
    to make this happen.
        Our cities stand ready to work with our States to provide
    support in whatever way we can.
        The fundamental principle underlying the compact is that
    regions of the country should have the right and the
    responsibility to manage the resources in their area. There is
    no resource more fundamental to the quality of life and well
    being of people than water.
        The United States Constitution explicitly contemplates
    compacts of this nature and Congress, as Governor Doyle has
    pointed out, has provided its consent to 41 interstate compacts
    over the years.
        Much like the States surrounding the Chesapeake Bay, those
    on the Colorado River and Florida with the Everglades, the
    Great Lakes States, working with their cities and other
    partners, are in the best position to ensure the long-term
    integrity of the resource. Working with our Canadian neighbors,
    we are confident that the leadership of the States and
    Provinces, with strong support from cities, will manage this
    resource wisely long into the future so that succeeding
    generations will have the full benefit of this global fresh
    water treasure.
        On behalf of the people of Grand Rapids, the people of the
    cities of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Basin, and all the
    people of the region, I strongly urge you to pass S.J. Res. 45
    for the good of the region and the country.
        Thank you very much.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Heartwell appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Senator Feingold. Thank you so much, Mayor Heartwell.
        Next, I would like to welcome Ms. Kay Nelson. Ms. Nelson is
    the Director of Environmental Affairs at the Northwest Indiana
    Forum, which is a nonprofit economic development organization
    whose members have strong business interests in the Great
    Lakes.
        Prior to her work at the Northwest Indiana Forum, Ms.
    Nelson served as the regional office director for the Indiana
    Department of Environmental Management. She is a graduate of
    Purdue University's School of Agricultural and Natural
    Resources and Environmental Science.
        And we thank you for joining us today, and you may proceed.

    STATEMENT OF KAY L. NELSON, DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS,
               NORTHWEST INDIANA FORUM, PORTAGE, INDIANA

        Ms. Nelson. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Feingold,
    Senator Kohl, Ranking Member Specter, and members of the
    committee.
        My name is Kay Nelson, as you mentioned, and I serve as
    Director of Environmental Services, Northwest Indiana Forum, a
    regional economic development organization. And our member
    organizations represent $40 billion of commerce for the State
    of Indiana, including industrial and commercial businesses,
    hospitals, financial institutions, universities, hospitals and
    municipalities, all within Lake, Porter and LaPorte in Indiana.
        In 2003, the Forum Environmental Committee created a
    working subcommittee to focus on the Compact. This committee
    included Jim Flannery from ArcelorMittal Steel Indiana Harbor,
    Doug Bley, ArcelorMittal Steel Burns Harbor, Dave Behrens, U.S.
    Steel Gary Works, Linda Wilson and Rees Madsen from BP Whiting
    Refinery, Dean McDevitt, formerly of NIPSCO, and myself, to
    focus on the development of Indiana legislation concerning the
    adoption and implementation of the Compact.
        But a significant directive in the Forum's Environmental
    Committee's mission statement calls for us to work with our
    environmental community on all issues, and, as such, the
    subcommittee decided to expand the working group with members
    to include the ``Lady of the Lakes,'' Lee Botts, who founded
    the Lake Michigan Federation, which is now known as the
    Alliance for the Great Lakes, Tom Anderson and Charlotte Read
    of Save the Dunes, and John Goss from the Indiana National
    Wildlife Federation.
        As a Compact Team, we recognized and established the need
    for a positive discussion to allow for the recognition of the
    diverse viewpoints concerning the Compact as it was moving
    forward, where we found common ground and resolved those issues
    which were of uncertainty.
        The Compact Team was instrumental in the formation of a
    Northwest Indiana Forum position paper, which supported the
    adoption and implementation of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence
    River Compact during this 2008 Indiana legislative session.
        We also worked to prepare a joint statement for the
    industrial and environmental community stakeholders, as a
    resolution supportive of the Compact process, which was read
    into the record at the initial meeting of the Great Lakes-St.
    Lawrence River Basin regional body meeting in June 2006.
        Additionally, our members provided written and oral
    testimony at numerous public meetings and Indiana legislative
    committee hearings during the 2008 session.
        During the course of the Compact's consideration in Indiana
    and other States, several questions arose regarding the meaning
    and interpretation of some of the key provisions, and our team
    recognized the importance of resolving those questions so that
    everyone clearly understood the intent of the Compact.
        One of those questions was how the impacts of withdrawal
    proposals were to be reviewed under section 4.11 and guided by
    a memorandum provided by the chair of the Governor's working
    group, our team worked closely with the Indiana State
    legislature, specifically, State Senators Beverly Gard, Karen
    Tallian and Ed Charbonneau, to include a provision in section
    10 in Indiana's legislation declaring the legislature's intent
    as to the proper interpretation and application of section
    4.11.2.
        Other States, including Ohio and Pennsylvania, subsequently
    did likewise. That clarification of intent was essential to
    winning the support of industry, environmental, agricultural
    and other stakeholder groups.
        We believe that that clarification provided by the State
    legislators and the working group is critical and, as such,
    have included it in my testimony today.
        Mr. Chairman, I am providing to the committee a copy of the
    December 2005 memorandum from Sam Speck, chair of the working
    group referred to in my testimony, explaining the scope of the
    impact issue and the pertinent provisions from the three
    States' legislation that reflects the Speck memo and the
    Council of Great Lakes Governors' understanding.
        I would respectfully request that these items be included
    in the committee record.
        Senator Feingold. Without objection.
        Ms. Nelson. Thank you.
        The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Compact is a means
    to provide an enhanced water management system that is simple,
    durable, efficient, and retains, while respecting, water
    conservation initiatives in place and the authority within the
    basin when administering proposals for new and increased
    withdrawals of water.
        The culmination of the innovative collaborative approach
    utilized and administrated by the Northwest Indiana Forum
    Compact Team and the many years of diligent work that we have
    put into it occurred this past February, February 20, 2008,
    when Governor Mitch Daniels, accompanied by State Senator
    Beverly Gard and State Representative Scott Pelath, signed
    Senate Enrolled Act 45, the Great Lakes Compact bill, into law
    as the first bill out of the session for Indiana this year.
        Thank you for this opportunity to join you today and we
    support your passage of the resolution.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Nelson appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Senator Feingold. Thanks so much, Ms. Nelson.
        Finally, I would like to recognize Mr. Cameron Davis. Mr.
    Davis is the president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
    Prior to working for the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Mr.
    Davis was an adjunct clinical assistant professor of law at the
    University of Michigan Law School.
        He is a graduate of Boston University and of the Chicago-
    Kent College of Law. Under Mr. Davis's leadership, the Alliance
    for Great Lakes will be receiving the American Bar
    Association's distinguished achievement award in environmental
    law and policy for 2008.
        This will be the first time a citizens' environmental
    organization will have won this national honor. So we
    congratulate you and thank you for joining us, and you may
    proceed.

     STATEMENT OF CAMERON DAVIS, PRESIDENT, ALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT
                        LAKES, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

        Mr. Davis. Thank you and good afternoon, Chairman Feingold
    and Senator Kohl, Ranking Member Specter, and members of the
    committee.
        My name is Cameron Davis, president of the Alliance for the
    Great Lakes. We were formed in 1970 as the oldest nonpartisan
    citizens not-for-profit Great Lakes protection organization.
        Our mission is to conserve and restore the Nation's and the
    world's largest fresh water resource using policy, education,
    local efforts, to ensure a healthy Great Lakes and clean water
    for generations of people and wildlife.
        In that capacity, I was privileged to be appointed by the
    Council of Great Lakes Governors to provide advice in the
    development in the early stages of the standards that are
    embodied in the legislation that is now in front of you.
        I am also fortunate to serve as the co-chair of the Healing
    our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, which is comprised of more
    than 100 organizations from the region working valiantly to
    restore the Great Lakes every day.
        And I want to say a special thanks to the staff of the
    Council of Great Lakes Governors, including Dave Naftzger, Pete
    Johnson, and I know former Governor Taft of Ohio, with Sam
    Speck and Kate Bartter, did yeoman's efforts to get us to this
    point today.
        As a boy, I used to stand on the shores of Lake Michigan
    during our Sunday family picnics and marvel at how Lake
    Michigan seemed like heaven. The blue waters mirrored the sky
    and the pure white sailboats floated weightlessly, reminding me
    of angels. Just like heaven, Lake Michigan seemed to go on
    forever.
        To me, it was infinite. In fact, about 90 to 95 percent of
    the Nation's fresh surface water is in the Great Lakes.
        But I was also wrong as a boy. Less than 1 percent of Great
    Lakes water is renewed every year through rain, through snow
    melt and groundwater recharge. In other words, when I stood on
    the beach and looked out over those waves, I couldn't have been
    more wrong.
        The Great Lakes are essentially a nonrenewable resource.
        We are entering an era of critical water conservation, and
    we are not alone. According to the United Nations, by 2025,
    some two-thirds of the world's population will be lacking ready
    access to fresh water. They will be water stressed.
        And the only solution, that we can tell, is to live within
    our means. The Great Lakes are one of America's most revered
    national jewels and one of the natural wonders of the world. As
    such, just as we are privileged to enjoy them, we also have a
    responsibility to protect them.
        Understanding this, more than a dozen Governors from three
    political parties called for, and 16 State legislative chambers
    passed, a contract among the States, the Compact that is before
    you now, to establish uniform, binding water use standards for
    the region.
        In a time of skepticism, this is a remarkable sign of
    bipartisan or even tripartisan long-term thinking. Without this
    Compact, the Great Lakes States are vulnerable to depletion.
        We urge you to ratify the Compact now to protect these
    magnificent natural treasures.
        The Compact can serve as an international model for
    bringing parties together to reach an accord on resource
    protection. The longer we wait to ratify the Compact, the more
    we put these waterways at risk, and here is why.
        In the past, when it looked like a community was running
    low on water, it simply turned to a new supply. Watersheds are
    like bank accounts. For every dollar you take out of your bank
    account, you have to replace it with another dollar or, over
    time, you will deplete your account.
        Watersheds act the same way. For every gallon we take out,
    we have to replace it with a gallon. Otherwise, you start to
    deplete your watershed account.
        For the first time ever, we will now have standards,
    including one for return flow, under the compact, that will
    allow the use of some of the watershed's account interest, but
    won't allow us to deplete the account's principal.
        We need the Compact so that we can be good stewards of the
    resource and because there are no new magical supplies of fresh
    surface water waiting for us if we run low.
        In 1998, a small Ontario firm called the Nova Group secured
    a permit to ship millions of gallons of Lake Superior water
    overseas. An astonished public cried foul, asking how this
    could possibly be.
        Several of us who studied the laws and the policies on the
    books found that our laws and our policies were weak and, at
    best, not executed; at worst, nonexistent; and, most times,
    inconsistent from State to State.
        While the Nova permit was ultimately rescinded, it shined a
    light on the problem I mentioned at the beginning of my
    testimony: it happened because many of us had perceived the
    Great Lakes to go on forever. We really haven't had an
    incentive to think that we need to conserve them.
        Congress asked for water conservation standards. In partial
    response to the Nova incident, in 2000, Congress said to us in
    the region and urged the States, in consultation with the two
    Canadian Provinces, to establish common water withdrawal
    decisionmaking standards to achieve water conservation and
    resource improvement.
        While the call for such standards was important, even more
    important was the fact that leaders from all around the Nation
    saw fit to call for the protection of the Great Lakes
    ecosystem. As such, the compact isn't before you for
    consideration simply because we inside the basin want it. It is
    before you because you and your colleagues from around the
    Nation passed a law, as you heard Governor Doyle say before,
    calling for it out of the belief that the Great Lakes are a
    national treasure deserving of national protections.
        Congress asked for new standards and the States,
    municipalities, businesses and public interest groups
    delivered. The compact does exactly what Congress suggested.
    Now, we are asking Congress to finish the job and approve the
    Compact.
        While, 10 years ago, the Nova Group sought a permit to send
    water overseas, the real need for the compact comes from
    within. Maybe because those of us who live, work and play in
    the region perceive it as limitless, we have never had much of
    a motivation to create uniform, binding water use standards.
    There never have been rules of the game to ensure that water
    use decisionmaking is transparent, predictable and fair.
        As such, we have been profligate water wasters. The Compact
    puts the onus on the citizens and the governments of the Great
    Lakes States to prove that if we want more water from the Great
    Lakes, we must first show that it is needed and that
    conservation measures have been exhausted. That is where the
    onus should be.
        If we are going to keep water from being shipped thousands
    of miles away to other parts of the globe, we should be as
    demanding of water conservation from ourselves as we are of
    others.
        The Compact represents the first time in history that all
    jurisdictions, the States and the two Canadian Provinces,
    through a mirror agreement, will have rules of the game for
    managing the Great Lakes.
        The Alliance for the Great Lakes and the Healing our
    Waters-Great Lakes Coalition believe that these waters don't
    simply provide nice neighborhood beaches, prized fishing holes
    or resources for local businesses. Like the Amazon rain
    forests, the plains of the Serengeti, or the holy Himalayan
    mountains, the Great Lakes are among the world's wonders.
        And today, when I take my wife and 2-year-old son to the
    beach, I try to teach him that though the Great Lakes aren't as
    infinite as heaven, as I thought they were when I was boy, they
    still provide the solace and the inspiration of heaven. As
    such, preserving them isn't just a national ecologic and
    economic imperative. Even more important, it is a sacred
    imperative.
        Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Davis appears as a
    submission for the record.]
        Senator Feingold. Thank you, Mr. Davis, for your beautiful
    remarks about the Great Lakes. I have had the good fortune this
    month alone to spend a fair amount of time on both Lake
    Superior and Lake Michigan, of course, on the Wisconsin side. I
    was doing some work, but some of it wasn't.
        But your comments remind us of exactly what this means to
    all of us in all the States that are affected. I will also say
    I have never heard more concern when I have been in these
    places, having been going to them for family vacations for many
    years, never heard as much concern as I have heard in the last
    couple of years about water levels, invasive species, and the
    variety of issues, casual comments, as well as formal comments.
        This is a critical time, which makes the timing of your
    great work on this especially valuable.
        Let me just do a few questions.
        Governor Doyle, in your testimony, you emphasized that
    there is already a significant reliance and demands on the
    Great Lakes. Of course, as a Governor, you are also looking to
    the future and expected increasing demands and stresses on the
    lakes.
        Is it fair to say that taking management steps now to
    prevent conflicts in the future is a big reason for the States'
    interest in the compact? Can you say a bit about the common
    motivation among the Great Lakes States to get this compact in
    place now?
        Governor Doyle. We are truly looking forward in Wisconsin,
    I know this is true across the region, of joining together
    through what the Compact will create, the Great Lakes-St.
    Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council, by which we will
    set up the first real data-driven research on what the effects
    are of various actions taken in the Great Lakes Basin so that
    we can operate with facts; that we will operate under a joint
    standard, but leaving it to each State.
        The beauty of this compact is it truly recognizes
    federalism. We will operate under a commonly accepted standard
    of no harm to the water of the basin. But we allow the States,
    for the uses within the Great Lakes Basin, to make their own
    decisions about how we are going to manage and do that.
        But we also recognize that on issues like--that I know you
    have been deeply involved in, Senator--invasive species,
    Wisconsin can't solve invasive species without all of the other
    States and Provinces working together, and Congress.
        On the issue of really a long-term cleaning up of some of
    the old water treatment plants that surround the Great Lakes,
    we need to have that kind of unified effort.
        On the issue of invasives and balanced water, we can't have
    one State have the advantage over another because their ports
    don't have various standards--don't have uniform standards,
    where their port gets greater use, while another State that has
    done the right thing in imposing standards on balanced water
    loses business.
        So these are the reasons that we have to act jointly and I
    think that what has happened here is that the States have come
    to understand that we are in this together and isn't Wisconsin
    against Michigan or Indiana. It is all of us making sure that
    this incredible resource is there for us.
        I would add one final point that is very important. With
    the cost of gasoline, I believe that shipping in the Great
    Lakes is going to see a great resurgence and we want to have
    good, clean, modern ports and we want to have good commercial
    activity in these lakes.
        I think, once again, most of us see the--once again, we are
    going to see a resurgence of shipping, resurgence of economic
    activity.
        And, finally, I would like to say this, which is, to me,
    one of the most interesting points of this in the long run and
    the importance to our region.
        We believe, as we protect the Great Lakes water, that as
    you go down in the coming years and water becomes a scarce
    resource in other parts of the country and world, people are
    going to realize that they ought to live and work and have
    their businesses near areas of plentiful water and we, in the
    future, I believe, are going to be the center of great economic
    growth and renewal around the Great Lakes, as well.
        So all of those reasons that we really see is coming
    together as States to manage these waters together and to do it
    effectively.
        Senator Feingold. Thank you, Governor.
        Mayor Heartwell and Ms. Nelson, you both touched on this in
    your testimony and I would like you to elaborate, if you would,
    on the public involvement in the compact's development.
        Do you feel local government, Mayor Heartwell, and your
    member businesses, Ms. Nelson, were given ample opportunities
    for input and was it a fair and sound public involvement
    process?
        Mayor Heartwell?
        Mayor Heartwell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Governors
    went out of their way to include local initiatives in the
    cities.
        From the beginning, cities were included in the discussion.
    It was a very open and inclusive process. I want to take this
    opportunity to thank and congratulate Governor Doyle and his
    colleagues, including my own great Governor, Jennifer Granholm,
    for opening the door so that we could be at the table with you.
        And our executive director of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence
    Cities Initiative, David Ullrich, who is with me here today,
    was at all of those meetings through the formation and
    development of the compact and some of the language included in
    the compact, specifically that relating to local
    municipalities, is there at the urging of Mr. Ullrich.
        So we feel, from our perspective, it was a very open and
    inclusive process and we are grateful for that.
        Senator Feingold. Ms. Nelson?
        Ms. Nelson. Mr. Chairman, thank you. We are very excited
    and proud of the public process that we had in northwest
    Indiana. As I mentioned in my testimony, we provided the joint
    industrial-environmental resolution.
        We are the only State to have done that when the regional
    body met in 2006. We took a great deal of time and effort to
    identify our points of agreement and once the environmental
    stakeholder groups and the business stakeholder groups
    identified those, we then initiated a very aggressive campaign,
    so to speak, to utilize the various venues in northwest
    Indiana, the public meeting format, meeting with our cities
    locally, as well as businesses that were outside of our
    membership and folks in Indianapolis from the Department of
    Natural Resources, the Governor's office, and the legislators
    there.
        We hosted probably about 15 or 20 local meetings to allow
    the public to participate and we are very proud of what we have
    accomplished in that fashion.
        Senator Feingold. Thank you. It was my impression that the
    public involvement process was pretty extensive and I
    appreciate your confirming that.
        And just as a side note, Mayor Heartwell, I appreciated
    seeing reference in your testimony to the burning of the
    Cuyahoga River--I do, of course, remember that--which, of
    course, helped lead to the enactment of the Clean Water
    Restoration Act in 1972, I think, through the role of my
    predecessor, the great Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, on
    this and other critical legislation.
        As you may know, I am leading the Senate effort to prevent
    recent Supreme Court decisions from removing protections for
    critical wetlands and headwater streams that were granted by
    the Clean Water Act.
        So despite progress over the last 35 years, we are facing
    another setback for Great Lakes water quality until Congress
    acts on that, as well.
        Do you want to comment on that?
        Mayor Heartwell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for
    your leadership on the Clean Water Act. That is another
    critical piece of legislation for us.
        But I really want to add to what Ms. Nelson said, that the
    Governors also went out of the way to include the first
    nations, the tribes who were also at the table. Their
    fingerprints, as it were, are all over this document.
        So we appreciated that, as well.
        Senator Feingold. Mr. Davis, certainly, a threat of
    continued out-of-basin withdrawals served as an impetus for the
    Compact, but responsible in-basin management is equally
    important.
        Can you discuss just a bit about the Compact's provisions
    that have to do with the in-basin water conservation and
    management requirements?
        Mr. Davis. Sure, Mr. Chairman. It's a great question.
        I think one of the things that is very exciting about this
    Compact is it doesn't necessarily do what other compacts do, as
    you may see them, where it treats a water body as a pie, slices
    up the pie and then gives different pieces of the pie to
    different people.
        What this really does is puts the onus on us inside the
    basin to help monitor, to help plan and to conserve water
    inside the basin.
        Water can be lost in all manner of ways. It doesn't have to
    just be sent through big straws or pipelines outside of the
    basin.
        And so many of the things, especially that fall under
    section 4.2 of the Compact, call for an overall plan with goals
    and objectives for the entire basin. Then the parties, meaning
    the States and the Provinces, have to do their own plans and
    then, after that, those plans have to be effectuated to help us
    get to water conservation, because in the end, it will help us
    save on energy, it will help reduce stress on our aging
    infrastructure, and have all manner of benefits that would be
    very helpful to us inside the basin.
        Senator Feingold. I do think this in-basin point is
    something that more people understand or realize the tremendous
    significance of it.
        Thank you to all the witnesses for testifying before us
    today. Because of your efforts and our joint efforts, there is
    tremendous momentum now behind the Great Lakes Compact, and it
    is largely thanks to you and many other committed individuals.
        Governor Doyle, you and your fellow Governors have provided
    great leadership on the issue. I also want to commend the State
    legislatures, which all ratified the compact.
        And, of course, my thanks and appreciation to Mayor
    Heartwell, Ms. Nelson, and Mr. Davis, and all the individuals
    and interests you represent for being supportive of the compact
    and helping to get it to where it is today.
        I thank you for your continued support, look forward to
    working with you in the final step of obtaining congressional
    consent and approval for the Great Lakes Compact.
        This hearing was an important step and I want to again
    thank Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Specter for helping
    make this happen.
        And without objection, I will place in the record
    statements submitted by Dave Dempsey, Noah Hall with Wayne
    State University, and Environment America, and, also, the
    Michigan attorney general.
        One final point is that the hearing record will remain open
    for 1 week for additional materials and written questions for
    the witnesses to be submitted. As usual, we will ask the
    witness to respond promptly to any written questions so that
    the record of the hearing can be completed.
        Thank you all very much. And the hearing is adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 1:55 p.m. the hearing was adjourned.]
        [Submissions for the record follow.]

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