{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=18F6915E-BD86-4207-AD53-C1B9547DA8F3", "Klobuchar, Bipartisan Group of Great Lakes Senators Raise Alarm over Delay in Finalizing Critical Invasive Carp Study", "2017-11-28", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "MN", "Amy Klobuchar", "K000367", "www.klobuchar.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Senators express serious concerns over the timeline for implementing permanent measures to combat invasive carp \r\nWASHINGTON, DC \u2013 U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a vice-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, and a bipartisan group of other Great Lakes senators have sent a letter to the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers raising alarm over the delay in finalizing the Brandon Road Study, a critical action-plan for keeping invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes.\r\n\u201cIt is imperative that the USACE meet the original timeline for completing the Chief\u2019s Report by January 2019,\u201d wrote the senators. \u201cThe USACE initiated the Brandon Road Study in April 2015 after the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basin Study identified the Brandon Road Lock & Dam as a location to control the movement of Asian Carp into the Great Lakes.\u201d\r\n\u201cUSACE has indicated that implementing the recommended measures in the TSP is unlikely before 2025,\u201d the senators continued. \u201cThis timeline is particularly concerning given recent findings that demonstrated new ways for Asian Carp to enter the Great Lakes\u2026This past June, an eight pound Silver Carp made its way up the Illinois River, beyond the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, and was found above the electric barrier \u2013 just nine miles from Lake Michigan.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\r\nIn addition to Klobuchar, the letter was signed by Task Force members Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Rob Portman (R-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Gary Peters (D-MI), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Chuck Schumer (D-NY).\r\nAs one of the vice-chairs of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, Klobuchar is a leader in helping to fight the spread of invasive carp. When the Administration delayed the February 2017 release of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 Brandon Road Project Tentatively Selected Plan to prevent invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes, Klobuchar and a group of Great Lakes Senators pressed the Administration to release the draft proposal without delay. The study, which Klobuchar pushed for, is critical to stopping the flow of invasive carp and other invasive species.\r\nKlobuchar authored a provision to help keep invasive carp out of Minnesota\u2019s waterways by closing the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock within one year of enactment. The provision passed as part of the Water Resources and Development Act in May 2014 and the lock was closed on June 9, 2015. Last September, several of Klobuchar\u2019s key priorities passed the Senate as part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2016. The bipartisan bill included her provision to provide critical resources and funding to conserve fish and wildlife population in the Great Lakes, and priorities that require the use of American iron and steel in all projects funded through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, and establish a voluntary school and child care lead testing program, among others. She has also worked to bolster pollution clean-up efforts in the Great Lakes, prevent diversions of Great Lakes water out of the region, and establish new water conservation and environmental protection standards in the Great Lakes area. In 2012, Klobuchar worked to pass the bipartisan Stop Invasive Species Act, which required the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to present Congress with a report on potential strategies to help prevent invasive carp from entering the Great Lakes. After the Army Corps released the report in 2014, Klobuchar called on the Army Corps to implement short-term measures to help keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes and move aggressively toward a long-term solution.\r\nThe full text of the senators\u2019 letter is below.\r\nDear Acting Secretary McCarthy,\r\nAs Senators representing Great Lakes states, we write to share our views on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 (USACE) draft Tentatively Selected Plan (TSP) for the Brandon Road Study.\u00a0\r\nFirst, it is imperative that the USACE meet the original timeline for completing the Chief\u2019s Report by January 2019.\u00a0 The USACE initiated the Brandon Road Study in April 2015 after the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basin Study (GLMRIS) identified the Brandon Road Lock & Dam as a location to control the movement of Asian Carp into the Great Lakes. The USACE provided a 46-month timeline to complete Brandon Road Study, with an interim step of releasing the Tentatively Selected Plan by January 2017. This was already longer than the 3x3x3 rule enacted in the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 (P. L. 113-121), in which feasibility studies must result in a final report in three years or less.\u00a0 Despite the six-month delay in the release of the TSP, we fully expect the USACE to complete its Chief\u2019s Report by January 2019. Secondly, we ask that you provide us an update on the timeline for completion of the Chief\u2019s Report\r\nThirdly, USACE has indicated that implementing the recommended measures in the TSP is unlikely before 2025.\u00a0 This timeline is particularly concerning given recent findings that demonstrated new ways for Asian carp to enter the Great Lakes.\u00a0\u00a0 Field studies conducted in recent years by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that small fish \u2013 including Asian Carp \u2013 can become entrained between barges and transported safely through the electric dispersal barriers near Romeoville, Illinois \u2013 located approximately 25 miles from Lake Michigan.\u00a0 Moreover, this past June, an eight pound Silver Carp made its way up the Illinois River, beyond the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, and was found above the electric barrier \u2013 just nine miles from Lake Michigan.\r\nWhile waterway shipping is important to the economies of the Great Lakes states, it is also essential that we prevent the devastating impacts that would occur if Asian Carp invade the Great Lakes. Studies have shown those impacts would include declines in native fish species and a one-third reduction of total fish weight in Lake Erie. This threatens the Great Lakes\u2019 world-class $7 billion/year fishing industry, $16 billion/year recreational boating industry, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs these industries support.\r\nWe appreciate the USACE\u2019s recognition that controlling the movement of aquatic invasive species such as Asian Carp is necessary, and we look forward to hearing from you on your commitment to complete the Chief\u2019s Report by January 2019.\r\nThank you for your consideration of our request. We ask that this letter be included in the formal record of comments for the draft report.\u00a0\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=18F6915E-BD86-4207-AD53-C1B9547DA8F3"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 4.170611966401339, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}