Amending the Great Lakes Water Quality
Agreement
Background
The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), first signed in 1972,
revised in 1978 and amended by protocol in 1987, expresses the commitment of
Canada and the United States to restore and maintain the chemical, physical
and biological integrity of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem, and includes a
number of objectives and guidelines to achieve these goals. The Agreement
reaffirms the rights and obligation of Canada and the United States under
the Boundary
Waters Treaty.
In 2007, the governments of Canada and the United States completed a
comprehensive public review of the operation and effectiveness of the
current Agreement (the results of which are documented in
Great Lakes Water Quality
Agreement Review 2007: Final Agreement Review Report). The key outcome
of the public review was that, while there have been many successes; the
GLWQA is outdated and unable to address current threats to Great Lakes water
quality.
Recognizing that the GLWQA is out of date,
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon and U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton announced on June 13, 2009, at the Boundary Waters
Treaty Centennial Celebration in Niagara Falls, that the two countries would
begin negotiations to amend the Agreement.
Negotiations of amendments to the Great Lakes Water Quality
Agreement formally commenced on January 27, 2010
On April 8, 2010, senior officials from Environment
Canada, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, the
U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency met for the second formal negotiating
session for amending the GLWQA.
On January 27, 2010, senior officials from Environment Canada, Foreign
Affairs and International Trade Canada, the U.S. Department of State and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency successfully concluded the first formal
negotiating session for amending the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water
Quality Agreement. A summary of the meeting is provided in the following
documents.
Binational Public Engagement Process
The Governments of Canada and the United States (the Parties) will be
hosting a series of binational public Webinars on substantive issues during
the week of June 7, 2010. In support of the binational public
Webinars, the Parties have developed questions and potential scenarios for
each of these issues. In addition to soliciting input during these Webinars,
written comments can be submitted through this website up to
July 9, 2010.
For further information and to provide your comments on the issues:
Additional Information
GLWQA Review Reports:
Review of the Canada–U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Report
to the Great Lakes Binational Executive Committee: Volume 1
http://binational.net/glwqa/v1_glwqareview_en.pdf
Review of the Canada–U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Report
to the Great Lakes Binational Executive Committee: Volume 2 Final Review
Working Group Reports to Arc December 2006
http://binational.net/glwqa/v2_glwqareview_en.pdf
Review of the Canada–U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Report
to the Great Lakes Binational Executive Committee: Volume 3 Compendium
of Comments
http://binational.net/glwqa/v3_glwqareview_en.pdf
IJC Reports:
Synthesis of Public Comment on the Forthcoming Review by the Federal
Governments of Canada and the United States of the Great Lakes Water
Quality Agreement: A Report to the Governments of the United States and
Canada January 2006
http://www.ijc.org/php/publications/pdf/ID1588.pdf
Advice to Governments on their Review of the Great Lakes Water Quality
Agreement: A Special Report to the Governments of Canada and the United
States August 2006
http://www.ijc.org/php/publications/pdf/ID1603.pdf
13th Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality December 2006
http://www.ijc.org/en/publications/pdf/13br_e.pdf
For further information, please contact:
James Schardt
USEPA-Great Lakes National Program Office
P: 312 353-5085 schardt.james@epa.gov
OR
Great Lakes Environment Office Environment
Canada - Ontario P: 416-739-4826
glwqa-aqegl@ec.gc.ca
For technical difficulties with this website, please contact:
Pranas Pranckevicius USEPA-Great Lakes National Program Office P:
312 353-3437
pranckevicius.pranas@epa.gov
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