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Earth Night

April 20, 2006

Dear Representative:

The Environmental League of Massachusetts would like to bring to your attention several proposed amendments to the House Ways and Means FY2007 budget that would protect or harm our natural resources and public health. Last year you provided the environmental budget with its first increase in 6 years, but the environmental budget is still funded 28 percent less than it was in FY2001. The consequences of continually underfunding environmental and public health protection are real and include

• less drinking water quality monitoring,
• no hazardous waste site discovery,
• fewer grants for municipalities to comply with complicated environmental regulations,
• fewer inspections of regulated facilities,
• fewer rangers in our parks to protect user safety,
• increased illegal dumping in our parks, and
• dangerous conditions on trails.

The Environmental League has identified 17 priority amendments that will most directly impact public health and environmental programs across the state. The modest amount of funding it would require to adopt these amendments would enable our environmental agencies to more effectively carry out their many and increasing responsibilities.

Please take a moment to review these amendments and the actions we request you take on them. Your support for the environment today will save Massachusetts money and resources in the long run.

Support Riverways, Amendment 913: This line item increases the amount provided for the Riverways program (line item 2300-0101) to $570,000. While the increased amount is small in relation to the entire budget, the funding goes far in leveraging volunteers to monitor water quality and quantity in the commonwealth's rivers as well as supporting the removal of dams that no longer function properly and would cost the commonwealth more to repair.

Support Department of Conservation and Recreation Stormwater Management, Amendment 875: This amendment increases funding for DCR's stormwater management, a new line item created last year (line item 2800-0401), to $3,000,000. DCR is currently in violation of Clean Water Act regulations because of how poorly it manages stormwater, and the $500,000 DCR received in FY2006 has only provided DCR with enough funding to do basic cleaning and maintenance of the parkways and its catch basins. Stormwater runoff is a major source of water pollution. This funding will allow the agency to take further steps to comply with the Act.

Support Dam Safety, Repair, and Removal, Amendment 806: This amendment increases the funding for Dam Safety, Repair, and Removal (line item 2800-0700) to $1,000,000. DCR is responsible for the management of 338 dams and the regulation of 2,966 public and privately owned dams. However, it currently only has three staff members dedicated to making sure that the commonwealth's dams are in compliance with safety regulations. This funding will allow DCR to hire the much needed additional 5 civil engineers to verify that every dam in the commonwealth is in compliance. This requires DCR staff to contact every dam owner about the need to have their dam inspected and, if needed, create a schedule for repair. DCR staff must then review the contract engineers' work before issuing permits for dam repair or removal.

Support State Parks, Amendment 910: This line item increases funding for the state parks (line item 2810-0100) to $25.6 million. The state parks have been cut 37 percent since FY2001 when adjusted for inflation. These cuts have resulted in unsafe conditions and crumbling facilities rather than a world class park system. Over 10 million people visit our state parks each year, but we cannot promote our state parks as a destination if we do not adequately maintain them.

Support Urban Parks, Amendments 986: This line item increases the funding for urban parks (line item 2820-0100) to $31 million. Spending on urban parks has been cut by 33 percent since FY2001 when adjusted for inflation. Much like the state parks, these cuts have led to concerns about visitor safety and facilities that are in desperate need of maintenance.

Support Brownfields Redevelopment, Amendments 538-543: This amendment package includes the language that the House included in its economic stimulus package to recapitalize the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund with $30 million, extend the Brownfields Tax Credit to 2010, and make the Tax Credit more usable by allowing nonprofits and private developers to assign the credit to third parties. The tax credit has already expired and needs to be renewed immediately. The brownfields program in Massachusetts has already demonstrated its ability to produce thousands of new homes and new jobs.

Support Geographic Information Systems, Amendment 175: This amendment provides a one-time expenditure of $400,000 to create a statewide land use map (line item 2000-9901). This new data layer, an update of existing information that has not been updated since 1999, will allow the state to monitor the protection of state forests, evaluate forest habitat, prioritize conservation in watersheds, and plan for future water management needs. It will also provide an accurate understanding of development trends, allowing the state to make smarter decisions about future growth that will both protect the natural resources that communities depend on and build our economy.

Support Payment in Lieu of Taxes, Amendment 906: This amendment increases the amount of money provided to cities and towns in lieu of tax revenue for state-owned, tax-exempt lands within their borders, including state or urban parks, watersheds, and forests, to $25.3 million. State reimbursement for these lands comes from the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program (line item 0611-5510), and can fluctuate, causing unreliable annual appropriations. Because of the increasing tax pressure for municipalities, many towns are promoting the development of natural areas to increase tax revenue. This pressure is exacerbated by a misconception that developed land will increase local revenue, despite increased costs in community services and the permanent loss of economic and environmental benefits associated with protected areas.

Support Hazardous Waste Site Cleanup, Amendments 306, 597, and 604: These amendments all increase funding for the Hazardous Waste Site Cleanup program (line item 2260-8870) to $15.9 million in the case of the first two amendments and $18.4 million in the case of the last. This program has seen the most severe programmatic cuts DEP has faced in the last four years. The program no longer seeks out hazardous waste sites that need remediation, it no longer oversees permits for the cleanup of the most hazardous waste sites, and it has scaled back its technical support grants. This additional funding would go toward monitoring unlined landfills to make sure they are not contaminating groundwater and the surrounding soil and allowing DEP to proactively look for hazardous waste sites that may be contaminating our neighborhoods.

Support the Toxics Use Reduction Institute, Amendment 1111: Last year you provided $250,000 for the Toxic Use Reduction Institute to study alternatives to 5 very toxic chemicals (line item 7100-0350). This study was an important first step toward protecting public health and minimizing unnecessary exposure to dangerous chemicals. This year, this amendment provides $250,000 to conduct a demonstration project to actually test the viability and feasibility of safer alternatives for the 5 chemicals studied. This small amount of money goes a long way in helping to keep Massachusetts industries globally competitive and safe neighbors for Massachusetts residents.

Support the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, Amendment 912: This amendment reinstates the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species line item (2310-xxxx) and provide $300,000. This small amount of funding will provide support to a program that for the last two years has not received any funding in the operating budget. The program has been left to survive on voluntary donations, hampering its ability to provide biological field surveys and environmental impact reviews.

Support the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program Fee Waiver, Amendment 1108: This amendment makes permanent the waiver for overhead fees the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program received recently from the Romney Administration. Without the waiver, the administration would have been charging the program 34 percent of all donations. Because the program is no longer included in the operating budget and receives only approximately $190,000 in voluntary donations, every dollar raised is needed. Those who donate to the program expect their support to be used for the program's core mission.

Support Wildlife Management, Amendment 551: This amendment provides $800,000 in state money necessary to leverage $800,000 in federal funds for wildlife management (2310-0300). In 2001, the federal government passed legislation that required every state to create and file a Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CWCS). Both federal and state funds were provided for the research and drafting of these documents. As required, the Massachusetts CWCS was filed last fall and is awaiting approval from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Once it is approved in 2006, federal funding for implementation of the strategy will be provided if, and only if, the state matches the federal amount dollar for dollar. This new line item is therefore necessary for the state to leverage federal funds to implement this important program.

Oppose Cost-Benefit Requirements, Amendment 521: This amendment requires state agencies to undergo unnecessary additional bureaucracy before promulgating new or updated regulations. It will increase costs for agencies, cause promulgating regulations to take considerably longer, and create a barrier, due to the limited resources of our agencies, to amending regulations or releasing new regulations. As a result, bills passed by the legislator may not be implemented or may take much longer to implement, and improvements to regulations that would make compliance easier for individuals, businesses, and municipalities while maintaining environmental protection may not be made.

Support Environmental Bond Funding, Amendment 1105: The Legislature last passed an environmental bond bill in 2002 that included a number of line items for state land protection and other environmental programs. Several of these line items are depleted or close to depleted. This amendment amends Chapter 236 of the Acts and Resolves of 2002 (the bond bill) by increasing the authorized funding for these programs, including the agricultural preservation program, self help and urban self help grants, Department of Fish and Game land acquisition, river restoration, dam repair, watershed protection, and flood control.

Support Department of Conservation and Recreation Summer Employment, Amendment 1468: This amendment increases the funding for summer employment programs at DCR to $3 million (line item 2810-0200). This money goes towards programs such as peer-led youth recreation and jobs specifically for individuals in economic development areas.

Support the Green Building Tax Credit, Amendment 675: This amendment creates a tax credit for building developers, owners, and tenants who, for commercial and multi-family residential buildings, invest in measures to a) increase energy efficiency, b) improve indoor air quality, and c) reduce environmental impacts. It will promote better environmental standards for building construction and design and increasing the demand for new, clean technologies and environmentally preferable building products and services. It will also reduce water and energy consumption and landfill demand, thus addressing a host of environmental problems including global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain, and toxics use. Finally, it will create industry and public awareness of resource management that will improve the quality of life for building occupants in a sustainable and profitable way. The modest incentives included in the amendment can transform the Massachusetts building industry to address looming energy and environmental challenges.

Please see the attached chart for a quick guide to which amendments we support and which we oppose. Feel free to contact me with any questions about these amendments.

Sincerely,

Megan Amundson
Legislative Director
617-742-2553