Administration
The LCBP is administered jointly by several agencies: US Environmental Protection Agency (New England and Region 2), New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, Québec Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, and NEIWPCC.
The roles of partner agencies and the process for coordination of the Lake Champlain Steering Committee are governed by the following memoranda of agreement:
- Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Cooperation on the Management of Lake Champlain Among the Gouvernement du Québec, the State of New York and the State of Vermont <English | Français>
- Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Partners for Cooperation and Coordination to Implement Opportunities for Action (1996 version)
Lake Champlain Special Designation Act
Lake Champlain was designated a resource of national significance by the 1990 Lake Champlain Special Designation Act (Public Law 101-596) which was signed into law on November 5, 1990. The Act was sponsored by Senators Leahy and Jeffords from Vermont and Senators Moynihan and D’Amato from New York. The Act’s goal was to bring together people with diverse interests in the Lake to create a comprehensive pollution prevention, control, and restoration plan for protecting the future of the Lake Champlain Basin. In 2002, the Act was reauthorized as the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Lake Champlain Basin Program Act of 2002. The Act was reauthorized a third time in 2022, formally renaming the LCBP to the Patrick Leahy Lake Champlain Basin Program and authorizing the Program through 2027.
Section 120. Clean Water Act
Funding
The Lake Champlain Basin Program historically has been appropriated funding by the U.S. government through the Environmental Protection Agency. More recently, the LCBP also has been supported with appropriations from the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the National Park Service.
The LCBP is also a recipient of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) for ecosystem and wetland restoration, stormwater treatment and control, nature-based infrastructure, community resilience, resilient shorelines, and environmental education. To learn more about the specific work being undertaken as a part of this funding source, please visit the BIL Funding page.
NEIWPCC manages the financial, contractual, and human resource business operations for the LCBP on behalf of the Lake Champlain Steering Committee. LCBP staff are employees of NEIWPCC operating from the LCBP office in Grand Isle, VT, the LCBP Resource Room at the ECHO Leahy Center in Burlington, VT, and in partnership with VT ANR in Montpelier, VT and with NYS DEC in Ray Brook and Warrensburg, NY.
LCBP Operating Structure
