DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES, WILDLIFE AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH

The Green Budget compiles proposed additions to current environmental spending that seek to rectify the state’s "Environmental Deficit" – the cumulative shortfall in the environmental operating budget from Fiscal Year 1991 to FY2001. This year’s Green Budget recommends an additional $13,610,000 for environmental programs, a 6% increase over FY2001 funding for the environmental agencies. This modest increase is in keeping with the "fiscal restraint" urged by the Governor and legislative leadership, but keeps the environment a priority, as it is for voters across Massachusetts.

The Governor, in describing his FY2002 budget proposal, states that spending will increase by 5% over FY2001. Much of that increase will be put toward education, health care, and e-government initiatives. Comparisons with FY2001 budget numbers shows that environmental programs are underwriting increases in other arenas: environmental spending will decrease by 1% compared to FY2001, if the Governor’s budget proposal for FY2002 is enacted.

A recent national study by the Institute for Southern Studies called Gold and Green 2000 ranked Massachusetts 45^th in environmental spending as a proportion of the overall budget, and 35^th of the 50 states in per-capita spending on environmental programs, behind Louisiana and Mississippi (see Figure 1). At the same time, Massachusetts has slipped from 8^th in environmental performance to 18^th between 1994 and 2000 based on 20 different indicators – including measures like air quality, cancer risks to citizens, and pesticide and fertilizer use. Massachusetts already has environmental laws in place that address many of these indicators, and which only wait to be implemented – with full funding – to help us regain our place as a national leader in environmental protection. For example, two environmental laws passed in 2001 and signed by the Governor to protect the public from environmental hazards have not been funded in the Governor’s budget proposal: the Children and Families Protection Act (governing use of pesticides in school yards) and the Beaches Act (requiring weekly testing – and posting of results – at public beaches around the Commonwealth).

The Environmental League of Massachusetts offers the following budget proposal to assist the legislature in preparing the operating budget for FY2002. Voters around the Commonwealth count on legislators to take seriously their charge to protect the Massachusetts environment. Taken as a whole, the Green Budget would add less than 1/10 of 1% to the total state budget, but would go a long way in protecting our Commonwealth’s air, land, and water.

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS

The Federal government has provided level funding for the National Estuary Program for Massachusetts – but now requires more matching funds from the Commonwealth.

The Governor’s proposed FY2002 budget includes $330,000 Federal dollars for the Massachusetts Bays Program, a National Estuary Program. To obtain this funding, however, Massachusetts must provide matching funds of $300,000. In the past, these funds have helped the Massachusetts Bays Program and Buzzards Bay Project to bring about improvements in Salem Sound, Boston Harbor, waters off the South Shore, Cape Cod Bay, and Buzzards Bay. The small investment of state funds leverages more than two times its dollar value, gaining not only the federal funds but other grant dollars. In its ten-year history, the Massachusetts Bays Program has worked with citizens and municipal officials in towns and cities like Boston, Milton, and New Bedford to clean up pollution from wastewater, reopen shellfish beds, construct and repair fish ladders on coastal rivers, and countless other projects.

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

For several years we have asked that DEM field positions, including seasonal positions, be fully staffed. The consequences of waiting are becoming evident: our park system is being held together by duct tape and temporary fixes; potential seasonal workers choose higher-paying jobs at McDonald’s, making summers even harder on full-time staff; and few systems are in place to properly manage the parks for both recreational use and habitat protection.

This funding proposal would implement new standards of public service with proper staffing and training. Meeting those standards will mean that visitors to the state forests and parks will experience safe and sanitary recreation opportunities – which, under current staffing, is not always the case. The four standards address: maintenance of restrooms and other park facilities; public safety at campgrounds, beaches, and forests; adequate and competitive compensation for lifeguards and maintenance staff; and fully-staffed seasonal fire control positions to enhance public safety.

Over the past 10 years, the Department has purchased and protected tens of thousands of acres of open space. Over 13,000 acres have been added to the states forests and parks system. As a result, the Department has taken on expanded responsibilities with roughly 13 new facilities and 5 properties that will soon be added to the list. Resources for staffing and maintenance has not kept up with this increase in responsibilities, however. Key facilities that currently do not have adequate staffing include:

• Jug End State Reservation and Wildlife Management Area, a 1,300-acre former resort property located in Egremont in the Berkshire Mountains.

• Nasketucket Bay State Reservation on Brandt Point, the largest undeveloped, unprotected parcel of land on the shores of Buzzards Bay in Mattapoisett and Fairhaven (209+ acres), and among the most extensive coastal properties to come on the market in the last decade.

• City Square State Park in Charlestown, the first parcel of open space to be developed as a result of the Central Artery project, built atop the new Central Artery North Area (Route 1 and I-93 access tunnels) as a green gateway into Charlestown.

• The Southeastern Massachusetts Bioreserve, a major public-private partnership that will result in the protection of approximately 14,000 acres of contiguous open space that will preserve the functions of a valuable ecosystem threatened by development.

The Department owns more than 285,000 acres of open space set aside for the active and passive recreation of Massachusetts citizens, over 800 buildings, 700 vehicles, 1,894 trail miles, 3,000 miles of roads, 20 miles of saltwater beachfront, and 37 freshwater swimming beaches at over 250 properties across the state. DEM is at risk of losing its initial investment in this infrastructure, with facilities plagued by leaking roofs, vandalism, antiquated electric wiring, broken walls, uneven walkways, unusable day use equipment, illegal dumping, and the general sense that many of its buildings will soon be ready for demolition, rather than use by visitors, if funding for general maintenance is deferred any longer.

Until a 1997 supplemental appropriation (now depleted), these state properties had not received scheduled maintenance in any concerted way since the Civilian Conservation Corps era. Much of the infrastructure used by park visitors requires minor or major rehabilitation and construction to comply with public health and safety codes, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Clean State Initiative. DEM has identified over $100 million of deferred maintenance projects; the proposed increase will enable the Department to address the most pressing needs.

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

We still don’t know how our rivers, lakes, and ponds are faring with protections currently in place – are we seeing improvements? Or are we missing the warning signs? DEP currently assesses water quality in our rivers, lakes, and streams only once every five years. This is wholly inadequate to assess whether all of the rules and regulations are meeting the goals of improving environmental quality. Only comprehensive, consistent monitoring will allow Massachusetts to fully implement the state’s Watershed Initiative; properly assess water quality problems resulting from non-point (stormwater runoff, agricultural runoff) as well as point sources; measure environmental improvements; and meet commitments under the federal Clean Water Act. Failure to comply with federal requirements could result in the Commonwealth losing millions of dollars in federal funding, losing regulatory authority, and being sued for failure to comply.

This program is a bargain-basement way for Massachusetts to ensure proper implementation of the Wetlands and Rivers Protection Act. The University of Massachusetts has estimated that volunteer Conservation Commissions across the Commonwealth donate 500,000 hours of their time, worth about $7 million every year, to carry out the law. These volunteers are asked to be experts not only in the application and implementation of state laws, but skilled interpreters of development plans, engineering infrastructure analysts, wetlands scientists, hydrologists, water pollution experts, and fish and wildlife experts. Their careful and informed review resulted in development that stimulates the economy while also protecting local water resources. Circuit Riders provide these valuable volunteers with technical assistance, and consultations, and help project reviews occur in a timely manner.

DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES, WILDLIFE AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

This efficient program serves a broad constituency in its work on urban rivers, wild and scenic rivers, and everything in between. The program provides grants to communities, helping them improve their local environment. Two of their most successful programs include: training for volunteer "Stream Teams" around the Commonwealth that pinpoint and address problems in their local waterways; and River Restore, a program to return impacted rivers and streams to their natural state. Additional funding will allow the Riverways Program to hire a watershed ecologist/hydrogeologist who can help local residents to begin to address issues of low flow in rivers and streams around the Commonwealth.