TRAVERSE CITY (AP) - Environmental policymakers are planning a stepped-up effort to clean some of Michigan's dirtiest waterways, but coming up with the money will remain a challenge, says Ken DeBeaussaert, director of the state's Office of the Great Lakes.

"The funding question is always the one that tends to determine how much progress we can make," he said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "It will be a struggle every year. But we're committed to seeing that through."

DeBeaussaert, whose office is part of the Department of Environmental Quality, was keynote speaker last week at a conference in Kalamazoo on restoring the health of 14 contaminated hot spots in Michigan rivers, lakes and harbors.

They're among 43 "areas of concern" in the eight states and two Canadian provinces covered under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. They were designated for special attention in the late 1980s and early 1990s because they were considered the region's most badly polluted.

Many were industrial dumping grounds in the days before toxic releases into the lakes and their tributaries were regulated. The contamination buildup went on for years - decades in some cases - and the cleanup isn't happening overnight. Only two sites, both in Canada, have been declared fully restored and taken off the list.

But the DEQ hopes that's about to change, DeBeaussaert said. One reason: State and federal funding has picked up after a lengthy dry spell.

"There was a period when progress stalled - back in the '90s when some of those resources were pulled back," he said. More recently, "Michigan has gotten renewed support" from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, he said.

Federal funding for the Michigan cleanups peaked at $1.4 million in 1994, then dropped steadily, bottoming out at only $15,000 in 2002. At the same time, the number of DEQ staffers assigned to the program fell from 16 to two.

But in 2002, Congress approved the Great Lakes Legacy Act, authorizing at least $50 million annually over five years for removing contaminated sediments from the region's waterways. Actual appropriations have been lower - this year's was only $30 million - but they have helped.

President Bush's proposed budget for fiscal 2006-07, released yesterday, would fully fund the program next year.

Additionally, the state has set aside $25 million for the cleanups from the Clean Michigan Initiative, the 1998 bond issue that created a pot of money for environmental projects.