This bill reauthorizes and expands the Lake Champlain Basin Program by establishing the Patrick Leahy Lake Champlain Basin Program Foundation as a nonprofit organization to protect and restore the lake and surrounding watershed that spans New York, Vermont, and Quebec. The Foundation will be governed by a Board of Directors appointed by a Steering Committee composed of representatives from state environmental and agriculture agencies, local governments, the EPA, and citizen advisory committees, with authority to accept grants, manage funds, and implement a comprehensive pollution prevention and climate resilience plan for the lake. The bill requires the Steering Committee to adopt and update a management plan every five years that addresses water quality, ecosystem health, climate change impacts, and pollution control, and authorizes $45 million annually from fiscal years 2025 through 2034 for the Foundation plus an additional $10 million annually for grant assistance to states and other entities supporting plan implementation. The legislation maintains existing authority of federal and state agencies and clarifies that the Foundation is a private nonprofit entity not liable to the U.S. government, while allowing the Foundation to receive and manage private donations, conservation easements, and environmental restitution funds.
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