42 U.S.C. § 1962d-20 : US Code - Section 1962D-20: Prohibition on Great Lakes diversions

Search 42 U.S.C. § 1962d-20 : US Code - Section 1962D-20: Prohibition on Great Lakes diversions

(a) Congressional findings and declarations
The Congress finds and declares that -
(1) the Great Lakes are a most important natural resource to
the eight Great Lakes States and two Canadian provinces,
providing water supply for domestic and industrial use, clean
energy through hydropower production, an efficient transportation
mode for moving products into and out of the Great Lakes region,
and recreational uses for millions of United States and Canadian
citizens;
(2) the Great Lakes need to be carefully managed and protected
to meet current and future needs within the Great Lakes basin and
Canadian provinces;
(3) any new diversions of Great Lakes water for use outside of
the Great Lakes basin will have significant economic and
environmental impacts, adversely affecting the use of this
resource by the Great Lakes States and Canadian provinces; and
(4) four of the Great Lakes are international waters and are
defined as boundary waters in the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909
between the United States and Canada, and as such any new
diversion of Great Lakes water in the United States would affect
the relations of the Government of the United States with the
Government of Canada.
(b) Congressional declaration of purpose and policy
It is therefore declared to be the purpose and policy of the
Congress in this section -
(1) to take immediate action to protect the limited quantity of
water available from the Great Lakes system for use by the Great
Lakes States and in accordance with the Boundary Waters Treaty of
1909;
(2) to encourage the Great Lakes States, in consultation with
the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec, to develop and implement a
mechanism that provides a common conservation standard embodying
the principles of water conservation and resource improvement for
making decisions concerning the withdrawal and use of water from
the Great Lakes Basin;
(3) to prohibit any diversion of Great Lakes water by any
State, Federal agency, or private entity for use outside the
Great Lakes basin unless such diversion is approved by the
Governor of each of the Great Lakes States; and
(4) to prohibit any Federal agency from undertaking any studies
that would involve the transfer of Great Lakes water for any
purpose for use outside the Great Lakes basin.
(c) "Great Lakes State" defined
As used in this section, the term "Great Lakes State" means each
of the States of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New York, and Wisconsin.
(d) Approval by Governors for diversion of water
No water shall be diverted or exported from any portion of the
Great Lakes within the United States, or from any tributary within
the United States of any of the Great Lakes, for use outside the
Great Lakes basin unless such diversion or export is approved by
the Governor of each of the Great Lake (!1) States.
(e) Approval of Governors for diversion studies
No Federal agency may undertake any study, or expend any Federal
funds to contract for any study, of the feasibility of diverting
water from any portion of the Great Lakes within the United States,
or from any tributary within the United States of any of the Great
Lakes, for use outside the Great Lakes basin, unless such study or
expenditure is approved by the Governor of each of the Great Lakes
States. The prohibition of the preceding sentence shall not apply
to any study or data collection effort performed by the Corps of
Engineers or other Federal agency under the direction of the
International Joint Commission in accordance with the Boundary
Waters Treaty of 1909.
(f) Previously authorized diversions
This section shall not apply to any diversion of water from any
of the Great Lakes which is authorized on November 17, 1986.