WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP)-- President Barack Obama is proposing a spending cut for a program that deals with some of the Great Lakes' most urgent environmental threats.
The president's proposed 2015 budget released Tuesday requests $275 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which he established after taking office. The initiative received $475 million the first year it was funded and has gotten about $300 million most years since then.
The program has funded projects across the eight-state region to clean up polluted harbors and river mouths, battle Asian carp and other invasive species, control runoff that causes algae blooms and restore wildlife habitat.
Todd Ambs of a group called the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition says it opposes the spending cut, as well as a proposal to reduce funding for wastewater infrastructure improvements.