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Environmental Groups, Legislators Call For End Of DEP Budget Cuts

Following the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the proposed Department of Environmental Protection budget this week, a group of legislators and environmental organizations held a press conference calling for an end to DEP budget cuts, an overwhelming majority of which were made by the Rendell Administration over the last eight years.

           “Gov. Corbett is proposing to reduce overall state spending to the 2008/2009 levels.  However, DEP has lost over a third of their budget since that year [under Gov. Rendell].  To fail to restore DEP’s budget is to establish a deliberate policy of weakening protection for clean water and clean air in our state.  Under Gov. Ridge, DEP got twice the state funding it is getting now,” stated Myron Arnowitt, PA State Director for Clean Water Action.
            [Actually, Gov. Rendell budget cuts over the last two years of his administration cut DEP General Fund support to 1994 levels.]
            Gov. Corbett proposed an additional 5 percent budget cut for DEP this year, continuing five straight years of budget cuts for DEP.  [Actually, Gov. Rendell proposed cuts to DEP, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture environmental programs in all eight years of his Administration.]  
            Including these new proposed cuts, over $77 million, or 36 percent of DEP’s budget has been cut since the 2008/2009 budget.  Current DEP funding is 59 percent lower than it was under Gov. Ridge in 2000-2001.
            “Ensuring the proper health of our land and water resources in Pennsylvania is an essential part of our public safety mission as elected officials,” said Sen. Lawrence Farnese (D-Philadelphia). “Gov. Corbett’s proposed 5 percent cut to the Department of Environmental Protection flies in the face of this core function of government.  By continuing the unfortunate and dangerous trend of devastating cuts to the department charged with protecting our environment in Pennsylvania, we are forced to face further challenges in our attempt to regulate and mitigate damage caused by the expansion of the natural gas drilling industry.”
            [Actually, most of the dollar amounts cut from the proposed FY 20111-12 DEP budget were as a result of federal stimulus project funds no longer being available, however, there is a proposed reduction of 69 staff vacancies.]
            New Poll Results
            Conservation Votes and Clean Water Action released a new poll of 1,200 Pennsylvania voters conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research and Global Strategy Group.  The poll found that only 17 percent of voters in the state supported further cuts to DEP’s budget.  A large majority of registered Republicans supported protecting DEP’s funding, with only 26 percent supporting cuts.
            "A severance tax could generate nearly $200 million this year, more than enough to both increase funding for the DEP and to support other state priorities.  Seeing more and more communities forced to deal with the consequences of drilling, Pennsylvanians know that we cannot afford to lay off the men and women who protect our air and water.  Our new poll shows that 76 percent of our citizens want the state to maintain or increase the budget for the DEP while 70 percent support a severance tax.  The people are there.  It's time for their elected officials to listen," stated Josh McNeil with Conservation Voters.
            Jeff Schmidt, Director, Sierra Club Pennsylvania Chapter stated, "Gov. Corbett's proposed budget would eliminate 69 additional DEP staff [vacancies], including at least 30 from Environmental Protection Operations.  This includes the field enforcement staff that are the environmental cops on the beat.  We depend on these people as our 'thin green line' of protection from the polluters who would despoil our air and water in order to increase their profits.  DEP's budget has already been cut to the bone, so we oppose the additional cuts that would occur under the Governor's proposal."
            “Increased funding for Pennsylvania’s environmental agencies such as DEP is a critical investment in our future,” said PennEnvironment’s Erika Staaf. “Marcellus Shale gas extraction is expected to increase drastically in the next few decades, and now is the time when we need more environmental enforcers on the ground to protect our environment. As a former Attorney General, we would hope that Gov. Corbett would agree with us on that.”
            Addressing DEP’s efforts to raise additional revenue through increasing permit application fees for drilling in the Marcellus Shale, Myron Arnowitt with Clean Water Action stated, “It seems unlikely that a one time $3,500 payment is going to cover DEP’s costs of 15 years of inspection, water and air monitoring, and other oversight activities.”


3/28/2011

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