Quigley To PEC Conference: Biggest Challenge DEP Faces Is Meeting Basic Obligations

DEP Secretary John Quigley told the PA Environmental Council’s Policy Conference Monday the biggest challenge the Department of Environmental Protection faces is meeting its basic obligations in the face of the cuts DEP’s budget has taken over the years.
Click Here to watch Quigley’s remarks online.

He pointed out DEP’s budget has been cut at least 14 percent over the last 10 years while other agencies have had an average of a 6 percent cut.  DEP now has 675 fewer positions; 480 of those were field inspectors.

Quigley said the programs most affected by the cuts were in water quality.  These are the programs now facing increasing pressures to meet Chesapeake Bay and other water quality improvement obligations.

As he did last week to the York Daily Record, Quigley point out DEP’s information technology budget is one-third less than it was a decade ago at a time when there is more pressure to use new information tools to streamline DEP’s permit and other processes.

Quigley said Gov. Wolf campaigned on the need for a Growing Greener III proposal to better fund environmental programs for which bipartisan support is needed.

In addition to resources, he also addressed other key issues: development of a Pennsylvania Plan to meet EPA’s Clean Power Climate requirements, stormwater and sewage infrastructure issues, meeting Chesapeake Bay cleanup milestones and the current budget impasse and DEP’s need for more resources.

Some key points he made include--

-- Clean Power Plan: Quigley views the Clean Power Plan requirements as an opportunity for Pennsylvania to show leadership on an issue that is important to the state’s economic and environmental future.  DEP has taken a “listen first, write later” approach to developing the Plan in setting up the current 14 listening sessions around the state.  [Comments are due November 20.]

-- Stormwater Management: He pointed out as Mayor of Hazleton, he had to deal first-hand with stormwater and combined sewer overflow issues.  He said DEP is now working with Allegheny County and other areas to use “green infrastructure” to provide lower-cost solutions to CSO issues, but they need is great.

-- Climate Disruption: Quigley said the recently released Penn State report on the potential impact on Pennsylvania of climate change is “chilling.”  The changes coming, if we do not act, he said are outlined in the report now out for public comment.   [Comments are due November 4.]

-- Chesapeake Bay Milestones: Quigley told the York Daily Record last week what many were thinking-- Pennsylvania is not going to meet its 2017 cleanup milestones.  He told the PEC Conference he is working with other agency heads and stakeholders to develop a plan that reboots the program to address how Pennsylvania can put more best management practices on the ground in targeted watersheds; create a culture of compliance within the agriculture community, involve market mechanisms to make the installation of BMPs as cost-effective as possible and keeping better track of conservation practices already on the ground.  [Separately Monday, Pennsylvania farm groups announced an initiative to capture the BMPs on farms already that may not have been previously reported.]

Quigley concluded by saying each of us have a role to play getting government to do the right thing.  He pointed to a quote in John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage--

"For in a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, 'hold office'; everyone of us is in a position of responsibility; and, in the final analysis, the kind of government we get depends upon how we fulfill those responsibilities. We, the people, are the boss, and we will get the kind of political leadership, be it good or bad, that we demand and deserve."

“We need all of you to be partners,” said Quigley.  “We need every citizen of the Commonwealth to step up to protect the state’s water quality and look to the future to build a stronger future for our children and theirs.”
Click Here to watch Quigley’s remarks online.

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CBF-PA: It’s Time For PA To Reboot Its Commitments To Chesapeake Bay Agreement