The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades.

Federal agencies use GLRI resources to strategically target the biggest threats to the Great Lakes ecosystem and to accelerate progress toward long term goals. Combining GLRI resources with agency base budgets, we work with nonfederal partners to implement protection and restoration projects.

GLRI Action Plan III outlines priorities and goals for the GLRI for the years 2020-2024.

• GLRI Action Plan Exit
• GLRI interagency website. Exit
• Learn about GLRI projects that EPA has funded  Exit

Focus areas

• Toxic Substances and Areas of Concern
• Invasive Species
• Nonpoint Source Pollution Impacts on Nearshore Health
• Habitats and Species
• Foundations for Future Restoration Actions

News Releases

2020

• EPA, Members of Congress, Partners and Stakeholders celebrate a decade of GLRI success - Dec. 9, 2020
• Administrator Wheeler Announces $10 Million for Lead Service Line Replacements in Michigan, Highlights Great Lakes Restoration  - Oct. 23, 2020
• Federal Partners Highlight Collaboration and Successes on Key Water Issues in Cleveland  - Oct. 7, 2020
• EPA Administrator Wheeler announces significant progress at three Great Lakes Areas of Concern - Oct. 7, 2020
• EPA Administrator Wheeler Visits Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania - Oct. 7, 2020
• EPA Administrator Wheeler Kicks Off Northeast Ohio Swing  - Oct. 6, 2020
• Administrator Wheeler Wraps Up Midwest Swing in Michigan - Sept. 30, 2020
• EPA Administrator Wheeler Announces $5 Million in GLRI Funding for Great Lakes Trash-free Water Projects - Sept. 30, 2020
• EPA Announces Start of Two GLRI-Funded Great Lakes Cleanups Totaling $22.5 Million in the Saint Louis River Area of Concern - Sept. 18, 2020
• Senior EPA Officials Announce Great Lakes Grants During Visit to Superior and Duluth - Sept. 8, 2020
• EPA Announces Removal of Lower Menominee River from List of Great Lakes Areas of Concern - Sept. 3, 2020
• EPA Requests Applications for $10 Million GLRI Grant to Monitor Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands - Aug. 27, 2020
• EPA Highlights Recovery of Great Lakes Piping Plover - Aug. 13, 2020
• EPA Administrator Wheeler Wraps Up Visit to Wisconsin Highlighting Trump Administration’s Superfund Cleanup Progress, Water Infrastructure Investment  - Aug. 12, 2020
• EPA Administrator Wheeler Kicks Off Wisconsin Visit with Great Lakes Cleanup Announcement, Views Brownfields Redevelopment Success - Aug. 11, 2020
• EPA announces $4.2 million for habitat restoration work at Rouge River Area of Concern - July 28, 2020
• EPA Requests Applications for $6 Million Grant to Monitor Contaminants in Great Lakes Fish - July 27, 2020
• EPA Administrator Wheeler Announces Trash-Free Waters Grants, Touts Trump Administration Commitment to Northeast Ohio - July 21, 2020
• EPA Administrator Wheeler Promotes Trump Administration Commitment to Clean Up Great Lakes, Support Ag Community in Northwest Ohio - July 20, 2020
• EPA Announces Over $12 Million in Grants to Improve Great Lakes Fisheries and Michigan Water Quality - June 27, 2020
• Administrator Wheeler Highlights Trump Administration Commitment to Great Lakes, Superfund Cleanup in Milwaukee - June 15, 2020
• EPA Administrator Wheeler awards first-ever Trash Free Waters grant for the Great Lakes in Milwaukee - June 15, 2020
• Upton, EPA Administrator Tour Lake MI to View Erosion, Clean Up Progress - June 4, 2020
• Administrator Wheeler Wraps Up Southwest Michigan Swing with Congressmen Huizenga, Upton Highlighting Trump Administration Commitment to Great Lakes - June 3, 2020
• What They Are Saying: Administrator Wheeler announces selection of 14 individuals to serve on re-established Great Lakes Advisory Board - June 3, 2020
• United States and Canada Release 2019 State of the Great Lakes Report - June 3, 2020
• Administrator Wheeler announces selection of 14 individuals to serve on re-established Great Lakes Advisory Board in Grand Rapids - June 3, 2020
• Administrator Wheeler Kicks Off Southwest Michigan Swing with Congressman Upton Discussing Great Lakes, Superfund, Clean Air - June 2, 2020
• EPA announces over $1.8 million for habitat restoration work at Rouge River Area of Concern - May 19, 2020
• EPA awards $854,977 to Michigan for study of Upper Peninsula’s Torch Lake - May 18, 2020
• EPA awards over $9 million in GLRI funding for projects to reduce excess nutrients in the Great Lakes - April 14, 2020
• EPA announces $2.9 million Great Lakes project to clean up contaminated sediment in Detroit River, enabling expansion of city’s Riverwalk - April 14, 2020
• EPA awards $6.4 million to Great Lakes Fishery Commission for projects to restore and manage fish species  - April 13, 2020
• Great Lakes Restoration Initiative receives $20 million in additional funding - April 9, 2020
• EPA announces $4.5 million sediment cleanup in the St. Louis River Area of Concern in Duluth, Minnesota - March 30, 2020
• EPA Awards Over $1.8 Million for Innovative, Market-Based Nutrient Reduction Projects in Great Lakes Basin- Feb 24, 2020
• EPA highlights projects funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in 2019 - Feb. 14, 2020
• 2019 Year in Review Highlighting EPA Accomplishments and Environmental Progress - Feb. 6, 2020
• EPA, States Making Progress Toward “Delisting” Lower Menominee River Area of Concern  - Jan. 29, 2020
• EPA announces $2.5 million plan to advance cleanup of Detroit River Area of Concern - Jan. 22, 2020

2019

• EPA announces finalists for GLRI grants to address nutrients in the Great Lakes - Dec. 19, 2019
• EPA announces grant to enhance mussel populations in New York’s lower Grasse River - Dec. 18, 2019
• EPA requests applications for $2 million in funding for Great Lakes trash-free water projects - Dec. 16, 2019
• EPA announces grant to restore habitat in Indiana’s Grand Calumet River Area of Concern - Dec. 10, 2019
• EPA announces $1,750,000 grant to restore habitat in Minnesota’s Saint Louis River Estuary Area of Concern  - Dec. 5, 2019
• EPA announces grants to advance clean-ups in Ohio’s Lake Erie Watershed and Areas of Concern - Nov. 19, 2019
• EPA announces $5.5 million in grants for Great Lakes cleanup and restoration in Wisconsin - Nov. 4, 2019
• EPA Awards Nearly $6 Million to Indiana University to Monitor Airborne Pollution in the Great Lakes - Sept. 26, 2019
• EPA provides $3.7 million to remove stamp sands from Michigan’s Grand Traverse Harbor - Aug. 15, 2019
• EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler Visits Cleveland, Announces Trash-Free Great Lakes Grant Program - July 19, 2019
• EPA provides $1.3 million to Ohio for Great Lakes programs - May 30, 2019
• EPA Announces $14 Million to Reduce Excess Nutrients and Stormwater Pollution in the Great Lakes - May 28, 2019
• EPA announces $26 million cleanup of Grand Calumet River in Northwest Indiana - May 20, 2019
• EPA announces $13.8 million St. Louis River Area of Concern cleanup in Superior, Wisconsin - May 7, 2019
• EPA and federal partners seek public input on draft GLRI Action Plan III - April 24, 2019
• EPA provides $1.65 million to Wisconsin for Great Lakes programs - April 18, 2019
• EPA Seeks Nominations for Members of Great Lakes Advisory Board - Feb. 21, 2019

2018

• EPA Re-Establishes Great Lakes Advisory Board - Dec. 13, 2018
• EPA announces completion of sediment cleanup at former refinery in Muskegon, Mich. - Oct. 16, 2018
• EPA Announces $10.1 million St. Louis Area of Concern cleanup - Sept. 6, 2018
• EPA Announces $75 million Great Lakes cleanup with U.S. Steel in Duluth, Minn. - Aug. 29, 2018
• EPA to Host Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Plan III Public Engagement Session in Chicago - July 31, 2018
• EPA to Host Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Plan III Public Engagement Session in Saginaw - July 17, 2018
• EPA to Host Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Plan III Public Engagement Session in Milwaukee - July 10, 2018
• EPA to Host Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Plan III Public Engagement Session in Duluth - July 5, 2018
• EPA provides $300,000 to Metroparks Toledo to restore wet prairie in Maumee River AOC - June 26, 2018
• EPA to Host Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Plan III Public Engagement Session in Rochester - June 12, 2018
• EPA to Host First Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Plan III Public Engagement Session in Toledo - June 7, 2018
• EPA to host public engagement sessions across Great Lakes basin - June 1, 2018
• EPA awards over $1.6 million to protect, restore Wisconsin’s coastal wetlands - May 21, 2018
• EPA provides $350,000 to Indiana for bird management, bacteria reduction at Northwest Indiana beaches - April 23, 2018
• EPA provides $980,000 to Michigan to restore fish and wildlife habitat in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron - April 12, 2018

2017

• EPA announces $1.5M in grants to improve water quality in Grand Traverse Bay, Michigan - Nov. 1, 2017
• EPA Announces $2.7M in Grants to Tackle Invasive Species in Wisconsin - Oct. 17, 2017
• EPA awards $220,000 to City of Duluth to protect coastal wetland habitat - Oct. 13, 2017
• EPA provides $550,000 to Lorain County, Ohio, for water quality projects - Oct. 10, 2017
• EPA Awards $120,000 to Illinois for Project in Waukegan Harbor - July 26, 2017
• EPA Provides Environmental Education Grants to Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper and the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks (The Wild Center) - March 3, 2017
• Up To $26 Million Available From EPA for GLRI Projects - Nov. 9, 2016
• EPA, Michigan and Local Officials Mark the Restoration of the River Raisin Area of Concern - Sept. 7, 2016
• EPA Awards 13 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Shoreline Cities Grants Totaling Over $2 Million  - Aug. 10, 2016
• U.S. EPA Highlights Seven Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Grants Totaling Over $3.3 Million for Northern Ohio - May 4, 2016
• U.S. EPA Announces 28 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Grants Totaling Over $12.5 Million to Restore Great Lakes - May 4, 2016