July 11, 2015 — A broad swath of bipartisan federal lawmakers are looking to extend the federal government’s support of the restoration of the Long Island Sound.
In late June, a consortium of Connecticut and New York lawmakers introduced legislation that would extend the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act from now until 2020. If passed, it would provide a large pool of federal money to clean up the Sound.
In 1985, the EPA, in agreement with the New York and Connecticut, created the Long Island Sound Study, an office under the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) that works to restore the Sound, addressing low oxygen levels and high nitrogen levels that have depleted fish and shellfish populations and hurt wetlands.
In 1990, the Long Island Sound Improvement Act passed. providing federal money for cleanup projects, including wastewater treatment improvements.
In 2006, Congress passed the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act, which provided federal money for projects to restore coastal habitats to help revitalize wildlife populations, coastal wetlands and plant life.
Since then, for every $1 appropriated, the Long Island Sound Study has leveraged $87 from other federal, state, local and private funding sources, totaling more than $3.8 billion, enabling the program to significantly reduce the amount of nitrogen entering the Long Island Sound from sewage treatment plants by 35,000,000 pounds per year. They’ve also used the money to restore at least 1,548 acres and protect 2,580 acres of habitat land.
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