CRWA in the News

Environmental League Says Leaders Failing to Match Promises With $$$

State House News Service
By Amy Lambiaso

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, JAN. 18, 2005……The portion of the state’s budget spent on environmental programs and protections is the lowest in 15 years, dropping by $86 million after being adjusted for inflation, according to a new report.

According to the Environmental League of Massachusetts’ annual Green Budget, which outlines environmental spending priorities and analyzes spending trends, the state spends roughly two-thirds of one cent of every dollar in the state budget on the environment, and ranked 44th in the nation in 2000 for per capita spending on the environment. According to the report, the state spent nearly a penny and a half on the environment in 1989.

But with rising Medicaid obligations and declining revenues during the last several years, environmental programs have found themselves on the chopping block, with some agencies losing as much as 24 percent of their staff.

Environmental advocates say budget cuts have led to fewer rangers on park trails, more illegal dumping, fewer lifeguards at public lakes and pools, and less monitoring of the state’s drinking water.

“The government has made some pretty clear choices, and clearly one of those choices is that the environment really doesn’t matter that much,” said Robert Zimmerman Jr., executive director of the Charles River Watershed Association, at a press conference here today. “The environment is easy to ignore because it doesn’t hit you over the head when you stop spending money on it.”

The so-called Green Budget recommends a 15 percent increase in overall state spending on the environment for Fiscal Year 2006, with the majority of the hike in areas such as state and urban park management, the protection of endangered species, Clean Air Act initiatives, and hazardous waste cleanup.

The advocates’ budget also calls for a one-time $30 million investment in the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund, which helps finance the remediation of contaminated sites that were once used for commercial purposes. The fund began in 1998 with $30 million and has since diminished to $4 million. Last year’s budget did not appropriate any money into the fund.

The call for increased funding comes one week before Gov. Mitt Romney releases his FY 2006 budget proposal. During his State of the State speech last week, Romney said he was “concerned about the preservation of our natural resources,” referring specifically to the management of ocean resources.

Democratic lawmakers have in the past criticized the Romney administration’s lack of commitment to the environment, and today reiterated their disapproval. The criticism stems from Romney’s campaign pledge to create a “world class parks system,” a vow they say has not been supported with sufficient funding.

Last year, Romney led the merger of the Department of Environmental Management with the Metropolitan District Commission to create the Department of Conservation and Recreation as a way to streamline government efficiencies and help improve the state’s parks.

“To go out and advocate for a world class parks system and then to underfund them so radically – it just doesn’t make any sense,” said Sen.Pamela Resor (D-Acton), chairwoman of the Natural Resources Committee last session. Resor told reporters at today’s press conference that increasing funding for environmental programs is a “high priority” of hers this year.

Rep. James Marzilli (D-Arlington) said at the media event that while Romney has not provided sufficient funding to live up to his campaign promises, there has been a “bipartisan collapse” with the Legislature failing to increase support for environmental programs in its budget proposals.

“The Legislature – Democrats and Republicans – have allowed (this) to happen,” Marzilli said.

Joseph O’Keefe, spokesman for the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, said the administration “respectfully disagrees” with the lawmakers’ claims, and reiterated Romney’s pledge to improve management of the ocean’s resources during his State of the State speech, and his past commitment to improving the parks’ system.

O’Keefe said that during the last year, the Department of Environmental Protection has increased its enforcement actions by 54 percent, assessed 40 percent more penalties on violators, and managed all its programs more efficiently by using “cutting-edge” technology and “innovative programs.”

The report recommends the following spending on environmental programs next year:

$25.67 million on state parks, up from $17.74 million this year; $31.85 million on urban parks, up from $21.9 million; $31.8 million for administration positions at DEP, up from $28.3 million; $1.3 million for the Clean Air Act, an increase over $899,814 this year; $2.4 million for Clean Air Act Permits, up from $1.877 million; $16.4 million for hazardous waste site cleanup, an increase over $14.2 million; $434,719 for riverways, up from $401,147; $460,000 for the Natural Heritage program and protection of endangered species, which was not funded in this year’s budget; $300,000 for pest management, up from $100,000 this year; $1.314 million for the Office of Technical Assistance, up from $1.299 million; $1.23 million for the Toxics Use Reduction Institute, an increase over $1.22 this year.