Hundreds of farmers, business people, hunters, anglers, conservationists, environmentalists and students joined in a rally in the Capitol Rotunda this week urging support for Gov. Rendell's $800 million Growing Greener III Initiative.

Shouting, "Let us vote! Let us vote!," participants called on legislators to pass legislation authorizing the bond vote by the end of June so it can appear on the November ballot.

"The rally showed there is wide support for this initiative," said Jan Jarrett, Director of Outreach for PennFuture, organizers ofthe rally. " Polls show 71 percent of Pennsylvanians support this proposal and today's rally is evidence of that. It was one of the biggest environmental rallies I can remember and it was really gratifying to see real people take time out of their day to come to Harrisburg in person to support it. The message is simple: Let us vote!"

A competing poll released this month conducted by Public Opinion Strategies for the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association (PWIA) shows that 71 percent oppose the environmental bond issue, once they understand it would ultimately be paid for by homeowners and businesses.

In addition to the rally, DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty sent out a special email Update newsletter urging supporters to contact their legislators to vote for the Governor’s proposal.

“In numerous press accounts, Legislative leaders repeatedly assert that Growing Greener still has $700 million in authorized expenditures. Here’s the bottom line: DEP will have only $5 million to $8 million in grant money to support the fabulous work of watershed groups this coming fiscal year. That’s down from a program that has offered nearly $40 million in watershed group support annually.

“So the message is this: If the Legislature fails to support the Governor’s initiative, most watershed groups will be left high and dry this year. We simply will not have the funds to offer.

“We at DEP have been like a broken record with this message. But still our warnings seem not to be heeded. We have not been popular in sounding this alarm. But we will be even more unpopular when so many grant applications will have to be denied for insufficient funds because the Governor’s proposal was not passed by the Legislature.

“All of us over the years have stood up to celebrate the good work our watershed groups do. Now we need to stand up to ensure the funds are there for our volunteers. The stakes are high for Pennsylvania’s environment and economy.”

Reactions

Sen. Brightbill’s office this week released this reaction to DEP’s special email, “Secretary McGinty made a conscious decision earlier this year to reduce the number of grant announcements in fiscal years 04-05 and 05-06. By choosing to temporarily reduce the amount of grant announcements now, Secretary McGinty stated in her February 10, 2004 testimony to the House Environmental Resources & Energy Committee, DEP is “on course to become whole again by the end of the 2005-06 fiscal year”.

“In summary, while the number of new announcements may decrease, the amount actually being expended on Growing Greener projects is still on par based on our earlier projections.”

Growing Greener Dollars Still Flowing

For the current fiscal year 2003-04, DEP has $40 million to spend from the Environmental Stewardship (Growing Greener) Fund, DCNR has $25.8 million, Agriculture $15.8 million for farmland preservation and $25.3 million for sewer and water project funding, according to the Governor’s Budget Office.

DEP has budgeted to spend its $40 million this way-- $31.6 million for watershed protection and remediation projects, $2 million on oil and gas well plugging, $2.3 million on abandoned mine reclamation and $4 million on sewage and drinking water grants.

For fiscal year 2004-05, DEP will have a total of $31.5 million to spend from the Environmental Stewardship Fund, in years 2005-06 through 2012, DEP will have $38.5 million annually. DEP has not yet release information on how they would spend these monies in the coming years.

Here’s the full history and future of funding available to DEP through Growing Greener as it is now authorized--

1999-00 - $37.53 million 2006-07- $38.46 million

2000-01 - $50.49 million 2007-08- $38.46 million

2001-02 - $31.79 million 2008-09- $38.46 million

2002-03 - $40.24 million 2009-10- $38.46 million

2003-04 - $38.52 million 2010-11- $38.46 million

2004-05 - $31.25 million 2011-12- $38.46 million

2005-06 - $38.46 million

Gov. Rendell's environmental spending plan, which builds on the work of previous administrations, relies on a voter-approved $800 million bond issue that would be paid for with a mix of fees on businesses that create waste and pollution.

In addition, the proposal also calls for additional spending to replenish the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund, finance local government planning initiatives and fund a sales tax holiday on ceiling fans and appliances meeting Energy Star energy standards.

Senator White Responds

In response to statements made by speakers at the press conference, Sen. Mary Jo White, chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, shared her perspectives on the Governor’s proposal in a letter to one of the participants…

“As chair of the Senate Environmental Resources & Energy Committee, I was proud to sponsor Governor Ridge’s historic Growing Greener initiative in 1999. Legislators worked in a bipartisan fashion, particularly in the Senate, to create a program that represented the single largest investment in environmental protection and restoration in the Commonwealth’s history.

“…Pennsylvania faced financial difficulties beginning in 2000. As a result, funding for Growing Greener was reduced for two fiscal years. However, in exchange for these short-term reductions the General Assembly adopted Act 90 of 2002. Act 90 imposed a $4/ton tax on waste disposal, and directed these funds to Growing Greener. Contrary to the inflammatory and derogatory comments of Representative George, Growing Greener was not “diluted, doomed, stolen and raped” – but rather significantly expanded to a 13-year, $1.24 billion investment. Approximately $704 million remains to be spent between now and 2012.

“Act 90 was passed under the watch of a Republican Governor and a Republican-controlled General Assembly. Republicans did not grudgingly vote for it because a Democrat forced them to – we did so because it was the right thing to do, and because we recognized the needs that existed all across Pennsylvania. In my view, this tremendous investment does represent the “meaningful, permanent” investment you called on the General Assembly to enact today. To review some of the successes already achieved by Growing Greener, I invite you to visit www.growinggreener.org.

“There are aspects of the Governor’s proposal that we recognize need to be addressed. Funding for the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund (HSCF) has been repealed, and must be replaced. However, contrary to the Governor’s statement today, this fund has not been depleted at this very moment. The Governor’s Budget Office projections for funding of the HSCF show that even if the bond and accompanying fee increases are not approved, HSCF can still expend as much money ($62.7 million) as requested by the Administration for fiscal year 2004-2005 and conclude the fiscal year with an $18 million balance. I do not suggest doing nothing is an acceptable course of action – but it is imperative to counter the rhetoric that HSCF is out of money on July 1, 2004.

“… if we are truly in search of a reliable source of future funding for HSCF, it should not be tied to a new Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) fee – given the fact that TRI reports have gone down substantially in recent years. The Governor’s own projections show that even if both the bond and accompanying fee increases are approved, HSCF still returns to a negative balance by 2008. Clearly, this is not a long-term solution. The Senate-passed version of the budget included $10 million in new money for HSCF for the 2004-2005 fiscal year. This will give the General Assembly an opportunity to consider several long-term strategies for preserving HSCF beyond 2008 – something that should not be rushed in the next eight days.

“I am disappointed in … the endorsement of the concept that we should “make the polluters pay….” In some cases, TRI components are produced as a byproduct of cleaning up the environment or complying with environmental regulations (i.e. fly ash from coal-powered generation or benzene extraction from fuel). Some are not even regulated by the government as being harmful in the quantities reported by the TRI. Most Pennsylvania businesses meet and exceed some of the strictest environmental regulations in the nation. They are good environmental stewards. If certain environmental standards need to be beefed up, we should do so – but we should not call people who comply with the law “polluters”.

“I know from my experience in the Senate that my Republican colleagues care deeply about the environment. In addition to Growing Greener, we have a host of other environmental achievements over the past few years of which all Pennsylvanians can be proud. We will continue these efforts by pursuing policies that make environmental, fiscal and economic sense.”

One piece of the Governor’s Growing Greener proposal is moving. The Senate Finance Committee this week reported out Senate Bill 765 (C.Williams-D-Montgomery) that would exclude ceiling fans, fluorescent lights and certain energy saving appliances from sales tax through 2008-09 fiscal year.

NewsClip: Rendell Pushes Hard to Get Funding for Environment

Lawmakers Urge Voters to Sign Petition in Support of GG III

6/25/2004