Lakes love 

A bipartisan group of House representatives called the Great Lakes Caucus has introduced legislation that would provide significant funding to improve water quality in the lakes. | The bill would reauthorize and fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the Great Lakes Legacy Act, and the Great Lakes National Program Office. It would also create the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force — a group of White House cabinet secretaries and federal agency heads who would coordinate Great Lakes restoration efforts. | The legislation sets aside up to $475 million a year for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which provides grants to address a broad range of water quality and ecosystem issues, including invasive species control. | The bill also provides $100 million a year for five years for the Great Lakes Legacy Act, which addresses historic pollution in the lakes — much of which is due to the industries that developed along their shores. | Other focuses of the bill: reauthorize and fund the Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes National Program Office for five years, and create the Great Lakes Advisory Board to advise the EPA administrator on Great Lakes restoration issues.