WASHINGTON (Michigan News Source) – The people who support the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) are feeling uneasy about what its future could hold.

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters introduced Senate Bill 528 in February 2025 that would authorize funding the GLRI through 2031. It was referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. Peters’ bill would increase the funding from $475 million to $500 million.

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Since 2010, the GLRI has authorized more than 8,100 projects at a cost of $4.1 billion covering a nine-state region.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states the GLRI is the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades.

Great Lakes Now, a website powered by Detroit’s PBS station, questioned if the GLRI was in jeopardy with the new Donald Trump administration. In 2017, Trump proposed cutting $300 million from the GLRI and set aside $30 million for it. Eventually, Trump relented and the GLRI was fully funded.

In February of 2025, Trump said that he would cut 65% of the Environmental Protection Agency’s spending. The EPA help funds the GLRI. Currently, the final budget process is being negotiated. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act has been passed by the House and the Senate.