GLIN==> Grant finalists selected for innovative projects totaling over $160M

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Great Lakes National
Program Office invited 270 finalists to submit applications for a total
of $161.450,000 in competitive grant funding under the Great Lakes
Restoration Initiative (GLRI).

In response to its November 2009 request for grant proposals (RFP), EPA
received more than 1,000 proposed projects from state, tribal, and
municipal agencies, non-governmental organizations and other eligible
entities aimed at restoring and protecting this national treasure.

GLRI grants will fund projects that address the most important Great
Lakes priorities, including reducing toxic contaminants, restoring the
Great Lakes Areas of Concern, protecting beaches and beachgoers, keeping
out invasive species and reducing polluted land-based runoff.

Finalists may submit final applications immediately so that grants may
be issued and work can begin this summer. Successful projects will focus
on achieving results in the five priority areas identified by a federal
interagency task force as vital for restoring the Great Lakes. Each
preliminary proposal was subjected to a rigorous review and ranking by
multiple reviewers from EPA or other federal agencies.

President Obama has made restoring the Great Lakes a national priority.
In February 2009, he proposed $475 million for the GLRI, an
unprecedented investment in the nation’s largest fresh surface water
ecosystem. Congress appropriated full funding in October. Grants,
expected to be awarded later this summer, will advance the goals of the
GLRI Action Plan released by partner agencies in February.
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More information on the finalists and the RFP is available at:
http://greatlakesrestoration.us/?p=743
http://epa.gov/greatlakes/fund/2010rfp01
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