December 6, 2019 — Four of 6 states in the Chesapeake Bay region cut funding or staff to their main pollution control agency over the last 10 years, says a report released today by the Environmental Integrity Project.
Environmental agencies in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York each saw budget reductions, even after adjustments for inflation, between 2008 and 2018, according to the report, The Thin Green Line: Cuts in State Pollution Control Agencies Threaten Public Health. Those states, as well as Maryland, also reduced their environmental workforce during the same time period.
The report was especially critical of Pennsylvania legislators and governors for cutting funding by 16% and staffing by 15%, even as state spending overall grew by 18%.
Among the 48 states studied, 30 cut funding to the operating budgets of agencies that protect public health and the environment.
Both Delaware and New York were in the top 10 states with the largest cuts. Delaware cut funding to its Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control by 33% and staffing by 21% over the decade. New York cut the Department of Environmental Conservation by 31% and staffing by 29%.