Joyce Bills to Conserve the Great Lakes Pass House

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Dave Joyce (OH-14) applauded the passage of his bills, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) Reauthorization Act and the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act. Congressman Joyce introduced both of these pieces of legislation at the beginning of the 119th Congress, and they were passed as part of a larger legislative package titled the American Water Stewardship Act. This package now heads to the Senate for consideration.

The GLRI Reauthorization Act would reauthorize critical funding for conserving the Great Lakes, set to expire at the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, for another five years through FY 2031. The BEACH Act provides funding to help state and local governments test, monitor, and identify contamination in recreational waters, such as the Great Lakes.

“Growing up on Lake Erie, I’ve always had a deep appreciation for what the Great Lakes provide for the communities that surround them. Since joining Congress, I’ve consistently advocated for policies that protect and promote these national treasures,” said Congressman Joyce, Co-Chair of the Great Lakes Task Force. “Both of these bills drive critical funding to programs that have been protecting and preserving the Great Lakes for decades, and I am incredibly proud to see them advance through the House. I want to thank Chairman Graves and Representative Stauber for their support in passing this legislation.”

“This bipartisan legislative package reauthorizes several important long-standing EPA programs and includes two key initiatives spearheaded by Congressman Joyce,” said Congressman Sam Graves (MO-06), Chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. “I want to commend Congressman Joyce for being a leader in Congress on these issues and on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2025 and the BEACH Act. These are critical to the Great Lakes Region, and I want to thank him for working with my Committee to get this bill done and passed through the House of Representatives.”

“The Great Lakes are not only national treasures, they are economic powerhouses that strengthen jobs, tourism, and communities across our region,” said Congressman Pete Stauber (MN-08). “Protecting the Great Lakes has always been a top priority of mine, so I am proud to champion this bipartisan bill that keeps these precious natural resources and other American waterways safe, beautiful, and clean for generations to come. I thank Congressman Joyce for his strong support of this legislation.”

“The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is a critical investment in the long-term health, resilience, and economic vitality of the Great Lakes region,” said Erika Jensen, executive director of the Great Lakes Commission, a government agency representing the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes basin. “The passage of this bipartisan legislation reaffirms our shared commitment to protecting the world’s largest freshwater system for generations to come. The Great Lakes Commission applauds Rep. Joyce and our other congressional partners for their continued recognition that safeguarding the Great Lakes is essential to the communities, ecosystems, and industries that depend on them.”

“Reauthorizing the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is a winner for millions of people in the Great Lakes region,” said Laura Rubin, director of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “We thank Congressman Joyce for his bipartisan leadership to extend the program for another five years. The GLRI is essential to the restoration of the Great Lakes, protecting our drinking water, public health, economy, and habitat. Federal Great Lakes funding works and scaling back investments will only make the problems worse and more expensive to solve.”

Background:

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is critical in cleaning up the Great Lakes and waterways and addressing problems that directly impact public health and safety. The Initiative has focused on stopping the spread of invasive carp and other invasive species, restoring the coastline, and preventing future contamination. Since 2010, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has provided more than $4.1 billion to fund 8,000 projects throughout the Great Lakes region.

Congressman Joyce also led the effort to reauthorize the GLRI during the 116th Congress. His legislation, which reauthorized the program from FY 2022 through FY 2026, was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump in January 2021.

The BEACH Act was established in 2000 to require the EPA to develop guidelines for testing, monitoring, and notifying the public of possible coastal recreation water problems, such as contamination, and provide grant funding to state, local, and tribal governments to protect beachgoers from contaminated water at coastal beaches, including the Great Lakes. Funding is used to develop and implement beach monitoring and notification programs.

This bill reauthorizes the BEACH Act program at $30 million for FY2026 – FY2031, retaining the previously authorized level, and expands eligible uses of BEACH Act grants to include the identification of sources of contamination. BEACH Act funds are currently eligible for monitoring and notification of contamination, but not for source identification. Adding identification of sources as an eligible use of funds will help address the root causes of a contamination issue that BEACH Act funds are already being used to monitor. It also expands the eligible testing locations to include shallow recreational waters adjacent to beaches where children and the elderly typically play and swim, and are therefore more at risk of contamination.

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