Recent moves at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have environmental advocates on alert, as proposed agency layoffs and promises of deregulation raise questions about the impact on the Great Lakes region.

On March 12, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced almost three dozen changes that roll back rules protecting air and water. An EPA press release called these proposed changes “momentous,” claiming the change in regulations will lower cost of living and promote domestic energy production.

Tony Wilkin Gibart is the executive director of Midwest Environmental Advocates, a nonprofit law center based in Madison. He told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that states play a major role in implementing environmental protections.

“In Wisconsin, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act… all of these bedrock environmental laws are embedded in our state law and it’s the [Department of Natural Resources] and state agencies that are enforcing these laws on a day to day basis,” Wilkin Gibart said. “So these are our laws and protections that operate on a state level that the EPA and Donald Trump don’t control.”

Joel Brammeier, president and CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, said proposed regulatory rollbacks are concerning.

“It’s one thing to be able to spend money to support the Great Lakes. They also need regulatory protections to keep them clean,” Brammeier said.

The EPA’s Region 5 office in Chicago has also seen major cutbacks. Dozens of probationary employees were fired in February and a local union leader worries that 20 percent of its workforce could be slashed from the chapter that is involved in state and local responses to environmental threats. The office in Chicago is involved in environmental projects throughout the Upper Midwest, including in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Brammeier said cuts to the EPA were done haphazardly.

“Unfortunately, this initial round of cuts was done in a way that really wasn’t an objective review of the agency’s responsibilities,” Brammeier said. “There’s always room for improvement to how any government agency operates, but this initial round of cuts was done in a sweeping way that doesn’t really address what that agency needs to be doing.”

Despite proposed cuts and rollbacks at the federal level, Brammeier said he is optimistic that a major program to keep the Great Lakes clean — the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative — will remain intact. The program is up for renewal this year. A bipartisan group of 24 lawmakers, including Wisconsin U.S. Reps. Bryan Steil and Gwen Moore, have co-sponsored a bill to renew the program for another five years. 

“Support for water funding programs remains really strong on Capitol Hill. And so the big question now is: Will Congress, on both sides of the aisle, actually step up and stand up for the Great Lakes and really make it clear to the White House that these programs are important?” Brammeier said. “Will they reauthorize programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative? We shall see about that.”