Background information on considerations for the development of the Annex agreements.

Process and background on the Annex process to protect the Great Lakes from diversions.

Comments on the Great Lakes Basin Water Resources Compact.

Comments on the Great Lakes Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement.

Great Lakes United urges the governments of Canada and the United States not to open the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement for re-negotiation; and that Great Lakes United urges the governments to redouble their focus on and commitment to implementing the specific commitments made in the 1978 Agreement and the 1987 amendments in order to fulfill the vision of the Agreement for a dean and healthy Great Lakes ecosystem. Great Lakes United especially urges governments to
focus their energies and attention on those commitments in the Agreement to reduce and eliminate persistent toxic pollution through zero discharge, in order to end the toxic pollution that threatens our health.

Be it resolved that Great Lakes United establish a Working Group or Task Force on nuclear issues to address these issues, liaise with other Task Forces, and increase Great Lakes United's profile in the nuclear debate.

WE THEREFORE RESOLVE that the IJC recognize the magnitude of work to finish the proposed health studies and extend the life of this Task Force indefinitely and seek the necessary funding for this critically important work on a high priority basis!

Be it resolved that Great Lakes United become an official member of the international Health Care Without Harm Coalition.

Be it resolved that Great Lakes United adopt the attached Statement of Principles.

Be it further resolved that Great Lakes United is committed to working with all those who agree with these principles to build a Just Transition process.

This report is to provide the United States delegates to the POPs treaty negotiations with an overview of relevant legal and policy issues that emerge from the Great Lakes experience and agreements, where work on POPs elimination has been underway for over two decades. Of particular concern in the current round of negotiations are a broad set of exemptions advanced by the US delegation which would be severe loopholes to the proposed treaty. This report evaluates relevant lessons learned in the Great Lakes and consistency issues between what has been done in the Great Lakes and the pending global POPs treaty. The report demonstrates that: 1) The "virtual elimination"; and "zero discharge" goals adopted in the Great Lakes region are necessary and practical policies to include in any POPs treaty. 2) The POPs treaty should include the precautionary principle. 3) The US-proposed exemptions are inconsistent with the policies adopted and lessons learned in the Great Lakes region.

I am writing on behalf of Great Lakes United to express our support for the proposal to prohibit the buying or selling of live invasive carps, snakeheads and gobies under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act. Great Lakes United is an international coalition of approximately 200 environmental and conservation organizations, unions, academia and businesses in the U.S., Canada, First Nations and tribes dedicated to the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin.

The Great Lakes United coalition applauds efforts to amend the Shipping Act to better protect waters of the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River, and the nation. We stress that such action has been strongly supported by the federal government in the “Government Response to the 4th Report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans- Aquatic Invasive Species: Uninvited Guests”. In this response,
the government expressed support for the committee recommendation “that as a matter of priority, standards for the treatment of ballast water be developed, implemented and fully enforced” (Recommendation 6). We encourage the government to demonstrate support by immediately amending, implementing and enforcing changes to the Shipping Act that significantly increase protection of national waters from the ecologically and economically devastating impacts of aquatic invasive species originating from the ballast tanks.