Section 11: Lake Superior Binational Program

Observation

The Parties have documented significant reductions in the in-basin emissions of dioxin and the in-basin discharge, emission, and disposal of mercury between 1990 and 1999. However, recent reductions in funding for the Lake Superior Binational Program, their program to restore and protect Lake Superior, may hinder their ability to address impaired beneficial uses due to other stressors. For example, during the past five years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's contributions to the Binational Program have been reduced from $2 million per year to $480,000. This reduction has occurred during the transition from information gathering and goal setting to the more challenging stage of implementing required actions, which will require more, not less, funding than the planning stage. Environment Canada funding for the Stakeholder Forum¹ has remained at approximately $50,000 for the past three years. Trends for the Program itself were not available.

Discussion

In 1990, the International Joint Commission recommended that Lake Superior be designated a demonstration area where "no point source discharge of any persistent toxic substance will be permitted." As part of their response, the Parties announced in 1991 a Broader Program in addition to the Zero Discharge Demonstration Program. The stated goal of the Zero Discharge Demonstration Program is to achieve zero discharge and zero emissions of certain persistent, bioaccumulative toxic substances, while the Broader Program focuses on the entire ecosystem of Lake Superior.²

Significant funding reductions for Lake Superior activities have occurred during the past five years, with the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funding substantially less than five years ago. Current funding may not be able to support both aspects of the binational program. The Commission previously expressed concern regarding a lack of information necessary to assess the progress and effectiveness of the Zero Discharge Demonstration Program.³ Because available funds for the Lake Superior Binational Program have been substantially reduced, the zero discharge program may be in jeopardy, and the potential capacity of the Lake Superior Binational Program may not be fully realized.

Previous achievements of the Stakeholder Forum have demonstrated that it is a necessary component of the governments' initiative to develop and implement a Lakewide Management Plan for Lake Superior. Tracking progress toward the goal of virtual elimination of all critical pollutants from all sources, as envisioned by the Commission in 1990, is still needed and beneficial. The Zero Discharge Demonstration Program was specifically designed to address this need. The Governments' Lakewide Management Plan 2000 report outlines significant progress toward the control of in-basin sources for mercury and dioxin. Although there is the goal of 33 percent destruction of accessible and in-use PCBs by 2000, no complete inventory exists for PCBs in the U.S. portion of the Lake Superior basin.⁴ More recently, the Lake Superior Binational Forum has identified a need to more effectively deal with potentially increased loadings of new sources of contaminants previously targeted for virtual elimination.