On April 7, 1997, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Environment Canada (EC) signed The Canada-United States Strategy for the Virtual Elimination of Persistent Toxic Substances in the Great Lakes Basin (Binational Strategy) (1). This agreement provided a framework for reducing or eliminating persistent toxic substances, especially those that bioaccumulate, from the Great Lakes Basin. The Binational Strategy established quantifiable pollution reduction challenges for the time frame 1997 to 2006 involving twelve Level I substances: aldrin/dieldrin, chlordane, DDT, mirex, toxaphene, alkyl-lead, benzo(a)pyrene, dioxins and furans, hexachlorobenzene, mercury, PCBs, and octachlorostyrene. The Binational Strategy acknowledged and built on existing Canadian and U.S. regulatory programs that address the targeted substances, and the two governments will continue to cooperate on any new toxics reduction regulations. However, a cornerstone of the Binational Strategy is its reliance on voluntary measures to dramatically reduce pollutant discharges to the Great Lakes Basin. The Binational Strategy affirmed each countrys commitment to virtually eliminating discharge of the targeted substances to the Great Lakes Basin and outlined a framework by which the countries can work together to achieve this objective.