State Environmental Funds Are Slashed

Proposed reductions to the funding, personnel and oversight of environmental agencies in New York and New Jersey are eliciting forceful objections from the waterfront community.

In New Jersey, suggestions from a special government task force to streamline the Department of Environmental Protection have backfired, leading to charges from leading waterfront advocates Capt. Bill Sheehan, executive director of the Hackensack Riverkeeper, and Debbie Mans, executive director of the NY/NJ Baykeeper, that Governor Christie is moving to abolish the DEP. The two advocates are also concerned that the Governor favors development over access to the waterfront and that there will be greater potential for negative environmental impact from developers taking advantage of the proposed simplified permitting procedures.

In New York, waterfront organizations from all over the state are calling on their constituents to contact state legislators to protest whopping budget cuts to the state Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), as well as reductions proposed for the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of State. The EPF finances capital projects -- many of them at the waterfront -- that protect the environment and enhance communities across the state.

New York State legislators will negotiate a final 2010-2011 State Budget over the next several months. "Our state lawmakers need to hear from you today!" Environmental Advocates of New York trumpeted to its constituents, offering an easy way to press lawmakers to restore critical funds to the EPF. Similarly, the New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) created a Call to Action. "The governor's proposal would slash the EPF by a third, far more than any other major program," the NYLCV explains as it calls upon readers to advocate for the protection of the Environmental Protection Fund.

Just how deep do these budget cuts go? Environmental Advocates explains it well. The organization has put together a clear analysis of the State budget, explaining the process and timeline, the recent fiscal history showing how the State got into this dire situation, and the environmental purview of several state agencies. To view the analysis, click here. You'll see that the Department of Environmental Conservation is in for a 35% cut if the Governor's proposed budget is adopted. The Department of State would be unable to rehire 130 staff lost due to attrition and the hiring freeze. The annual budget of the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) would be slashed from $222 million to $143 million, a 30 percent cut for the second year in a row. The analysis also shows the history of raids on the EPF. Alison Jenkins, Environmental Advocates' fiscal policy director, explains: "For the past eight years, the Governor and legislature have transferred more than $500 million from the EPF to the General Fund to be used for non-environmental purposes." EPF projects often need a couple years to reach their conclusions, she says, so money transferred out by lawmakers has always been earmarked. "This time the Fund is broke because of the transfers and the reductions in cash. They haven't proposed to transfer funds out because there aren't any left. They can't even pay the bills for the projects in the pipeline. New York needs to honor those commitments."