11/18/24 - 107 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/3zb7jppr
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DEP Secretary Hanger: Timely Permit Decisions Are More Difficult With Cuts
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Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger told the Senate Appropriations Committee this week his agency's ability to make timely permit decisions is getting more difficult because of the budget cuts made this fiscal year and expected for next year. Secretary Hanger said "these are not good times" for the agency, "we've been cut to the bone," but the "core functions" of the agency are being accomplished. He said the cuts mean certain things will not get done. He added even with the loss of 258 positions this fiscal year, enforcement and inspection functions were preserved in the agency.
Secretary Hanger said if permit activity returns to its previous levels when the economy recovers, he is very concerned that cuts to staffing levels will mean timely permit decisions could not be made.
He said the agency is moving ahead with permit application fee increases for NPDES water quality permits and in other areas to help ease funding concerns for his agency and for county conservation districts.
Gov. Rendell's proposed 2010-11 budget locks in the 26 percent cut in General Fund appropriations made in DEP's budget in FY 2009-10 cutting a total of $321 million in funding from previous years. Since 2003, DEP has seen a 19 percent reduction in its funded staff positions.
Here are some topics raised in the Senate budget hearing not covered last week in the House or were covered in different ways--
Chesapeake Bay Cleanup: In response to questions from Sen. Mike Brubaker (R-Lancaster), Majority Chair of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, Sen. Mary Jo White (R-Venango), Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, and Sen. Patricia Vance (R-Cumberland), Secretary Hanger said he thought Pennsylvania did have the resources in place for communities and farmers to meet the federal Clean Water Act mandate to reduce nutrient and sediment loads going to the Chesapeake Bay, "if nutrient credit trading works."
He said the Commonwealth has provided help to wastewater treatment plants through a portion of the $400 million bond issue passed in 2008 and the H2O Water Infrastructure program and through the Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) Farm Conservation Tax Credit Program to help farmers meet the mandates.
He acknowledged, though, cuts have been made last year and proposed again this year in the REAP program, reducing it from $10 million to $4.5 million for this coming year, but said additional resources were being provided to the state through the federal Farm Bill to help the agricultural sector.
DEP and the Joint Legislative Budget and Finance Committee estimated the cost for wastewater plants to meet the Chesapeake Bay cleanup mandate was $1.4 billion in 2008 and about $600 million for farmers in 2005.
He said progress in meeting the Chesapeake Bay cleanup mandate can only be made if the nutrient credit trading program works and he pointed to an auction this month planned by the PA Infrastructure Investment Authority.
The auction referred to by Secretary Hanger was later clarified to be a "mock" auction for nutrient credits among interest groups interested in helping to develop the process for buying and selling credits. A limited, real auction is expected to be held at the end of 2010 and a spot market auction by October 2011.
Secretary Hanger concluded his response by saying if trading does not work, meeting the requirements will be "daunting."
Growing Greener Program Re-Start: Sen. Ray Musto (D-Luzerne), Minority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, and Sen. Michael Stack (D-Philadelphia) both expressed concern about the Growing Greener Program II bond issue running out of project money this year.
Sen. Musto said the program should be permanently funded as a "perpetual program" for restoring the environment in Pennsylvania.
Secretary Hanger said the Growing Greener Program has done a "huge amount of good" for Pennsylvania's environment as well as creating jobs. He said a number of groups are looking to the proposed natural gas production severance tax as a possible source of funding.
Permitting Gas Wells In Floodplains: Sen. Lisa Baker (R-Lackawanna) asked if DEP can issue permits for Marcellus Shale natural gas wells in a floodplain and if DEP's permit overrides municipal floodplain zoning.
Secretary Hanger said the issue of permitting wells in floodplains was recently raised to his agency and he's looking into the issue. With respect to local zoning, he said his understanding of the law is DEP permits do not override local zoning as long as the local ordinances do not address the same issues as those covered in a DEP permit, for example, setting well casing standards.
Contamination From Fracking: In response to questions from Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Bradford) and Sen. Mary Jo White, Secretary Hanger said there has not been a case in Pennsylvania where groundwater was contaminated from natural gas fracking fluids. However, he said there have been cases of surface water contamination from fracking fluid spills and drinking water supplies have been contaminated by natural gas migration into groundwater.
Increasing Solar Energy Mandates: Sen. Robert Tomlinson (R-Bucks), Sen. Lloyd Smucker (R-Lancaster) and Sen. Mary Jo White asked about legislation (House Bill 80 and Senate Bill 92) to increase the state's solar energy mandates and its impact on electric costs and the possibility of reducing the need for peaking electric power plants. Secretary Hanger said producing more electricity supply from any source will tend to reduce the wholesale price of electric, especially when electric usage is peaking during hot, sunny days when solar energy can be most effective.
He said the cost of generating solar electricity has dropped 40 percent over the last 12-18 months and was likely to be reduced even further in the future.
Sen. White noted electric utilities are meeting the existing alternative energy standards primarily by buying power from solar and other projects in Illinois and other surrounding states.
Clean Coal Power Plants: Sen. Stuart Greenleaf (R-Montgomery) asked if there was still a place for burning Pennsylvania's most plentiful energy source-- coal-- in the future.
Secretary Hanger said there is no perfect energy source from an environmental standpoint. They all have drawbacks. He explained new technologies to clean up emissions and sequester pollutants like carbon dioxide in combined cycle coal gassification plants offer a promising future for coal use and is where the industry should go.
West Nile Virus Program: Sen. Mary Jo White had the sharpest exchange of the day with Secretary Hanger over cuts to the West Nile Virus Control Program. Sen. White urged DEP to consider using Clean Water Fund monies last year to keep the program going.
Secretary Hanger said a legal review of how Clean Water Fund monies can be used said they can only be used to deal with water pollution and mosquitoes are not water pollution.
Sen. White countered the Clean Water Fund has been used to buy outboard motors, provide a grant to PennFuture and for an educational program in Reading.
Other Questions
As in the House, questions were asked about extending the $2 per ton Recycling Fee, paying back the $100 million borrowed from the Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Fund, standards under development for Total Dissolved Solids from drilling wastewater and other sources, Black Fly spraying, permit backlogs in DEP's Northeast Regional Office, a reduction in out-of-state waste coming to Pennsylvania and its impact on funding for recycling and waste reduction programs, where federal stimulus funds are being spent, cuts to county conservation district funding and a proposed moratorium on leasing Marcellus Shale drilling rights in State Forests.
Click here for a summary of questions to DEP in the House last week. Click here for a summary of questions to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources last week in the House and Senate.
A copy of Secretary Hanger's written testimony for the Senate Appropriations Committee is available online. NewsClips: State Environmental Agencies Again Targeted For Budget Cuts DEP Faces Proposed Funding Cuts Big Budget Cash Shortfall Vexes PA In Election Year
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3/8/2010 |
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