Rendell Issues 2009-2010 State Performance Report

The latest Report on State Performance offers an in-depth look at the steps state government agencies are taking to better serve Pennsylvanians in the face of increasingly limited resources, Gov. Rendell said today.
“It is more important than ever for state government to serve taxpayers as efficiently as possible,” the Governor said. “We ask state agencies and offices to measure and review their performance every year so they can prioritize their resources and manage even more effectively.”
The 2009-10 report – the fourth from Governor Rendell’s administration – promotes government transparency by describing the activities, priorities and challenges of 30 state agencies under the Governor’s jurisdiction.
The report presents goals in the areas of education, economic development, health and human services, the environment, public safety, consumer protection and government efficiency. By outlining agencies’ key objectives and providing measurable results in dozens of different categories, the report helps readers evaluate state government’s ongoing efforts to deliver quality services to taxpayers.
The section on the Environment, highlights these areas:
-- Continue to acquire lands that protect and enhance existing State Parks and Forests, large forested watersheds and riparian corridors, conserve biologically important areas;
-- Decrease nutrient runoff and conserve Pennsylvania's natural resources through the use of Best Management Practices;
-- Help communities manage growth and reduce the loss of open space;
-- Improve knowledge, protection and management of the Commonwealth aquatic resources and habitats;
-- Increase agriculture resource conservation through farmland preservation;
-- Increase energy independence and the development of alternative energy sources in the Commonwealth;
-- Increase the number of drinking water and wastewater facilities that comply with safe drinking water requirements, improve system treatment capacity and take other steps to improve water quality;
-- Maintain quality of drinking water in the Commonwealth;
-- Make reinvestment in our established communities a priority by targeting DCNR programs and levering other state and federal agency program activities;
-- Manage our lands based on the conservation of healthy ecosystems;
-- Provide educational, technical and financial assistance to protect and sustain privately owned working forests;
-- Provide information and educational programs to help protect important ecological lands, wildlife habitat, geologic features and recreational lands;
-- Reduce releases of waste and restore the land;
-- Reduce the amount of waste generated or disposed of in the Commonwealth;
-- Reduce the public, occupational and environmental exposure to radiation from man-made and controllable natural resource to as-low-as-reasonably-achievable levels;
-- Reduce unsafe levels of air pollutants; and
-- Support economic development through the sound management of natural resources.
The full report is available online.