GREAT LAKES Bush creates task force

CHICAGO (AP) -- President Bush named a 10-member Cabinet-level task force Tuesday, led by Environmental Protection Agency chief Mike Leavitt, to coordinate Great Lakes cleanup efforts among states, federal agencies and Canada.
The General Accounting Office found last year that 33 federal and 17 state programs have spent more than $1.7 billion on environmental restoration of the Great Lakes.
However, the efforts were uncoordinated and the results difficult to measure, the GAO said. The federal government alone has more than 140 programs dedicated to improvement of the Great Lakes, Leavitt said.
"We have a lot of musicians. What we need is more harmony," Leavitt said at a Chicago news conference overlooking Lake Michigan.
Bush directed the task force to form a working group including representatives from each federal agency that handles Great Lakes issues. The task force must submit a report to the president by May 31, 2005.
Other members of the group are the chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the secretaries of State, Commerce, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Homeland Security, the Interior and the Army. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, chairman of the Great Lakes Cities Initiative, thanked Bush at the news conference for creating the task force.
He said it was a "major milestone" because it creates a framework for advocacy groups and government agencies working to improve the Great Lakes.
"The Great Lakes cannot be managed out of Washington. They cannot be managed individually by any city or state. They must be managed comprehensively and together," Daley said.
Call for funding
But U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat like Daley, said a Great Lakes cleanup needs a commitment of money, not another report.
"Following a 62 percent increase in beach closings from 2002 to 2003, the Great Lakes need the resources to tackle the problems of invasive species and pollution from urban runoff and mercury hot spots," Emanuel said.
U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, called Bush's order "an encouraging step forward" but said a successful cleanup effort also requires substantial additional funding.
Both Emanuel and DeWine have introduced bills to authorize spending billions of dollars for a comprehensive Great Lakes cleanup.
Several Great Lakes states, including Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, are considered battleground states in this year's presidential election.
Goal: coordination
"This isn't about studies," Leavitt said. "It's about coordinating 140 programs that have been devoted to do good things on the lake. We want to create the best possible environment for the existing investments and an even better environment for future investments."
Leavitt said Bush had proposed spending an additional $48 million this year for the Great Lakes, and he said he was optimistic the Great Lakes will "be an appealing place for federal investment in the future" as a result of the new coordination.
Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, chairman of the Council of Great Lakes Governors, said he looked forward to working with the task force.
"As a region and as a nation, we have an obligation to preserve this magnificent resource for our children and our grandchildren. Today, with the president's leadership, I am confident that we are on our way," Taft said.