City Suffers As Albany And DC Defund Landmark Environmental Laws

"NY State has met just 17 of the 30 mandates set forth by the groundbreaking 1970 Clean Air Act"

Polluter pays” policies considered to make up budget shortfalls at environmental agencies

By Andrew Cotlov

State lawmakers have effectively defunded a landmark environmental protection law passed by Congress more than three decades ago after years of bloodletting and budget cutbacks, experts and advocates say, according to an article in City Hall.

 

Like most state agencies, the Department of Environmental Conservation has seen its budget slashed as a result of revenue shortfalls and shifting federal priorities. But unlike those agencies, the DEC is charged with enforcing federal regulations on everything from water quality to smog.

Now, New York has fallen decades behind in its effort to comply with those mandates, resulting in a vast array of health and environmental problems. Pockets of New York City, for example, have some of the highest asthma rates in the country.

“Any elected official worth his or her grain of salt, if they were not concerned about the budget impact and the negative effect it’s going to have as far as the air pollution in our community—then they should not be in office,” said Council Member Robert Jackson, who supports supplementing the lack of state funding with more money at the city level.

Over the last five years the DEC has suffered from a 25-percent reduction in its federal funding, a gap the state legislature has failed to fill. The agency has had to lay off dozens of inspectors and other officials charged with enforcing anti-pollution mandates, resulting in an increased workload across the board.

Environmental Advocates found that the state has met just 17 of the 30 mandates set forth by the groundbreaking 1970 Clean Air Act, and 30 counties across the state have failed to achieve minimal federal standards for smog reduction. Ten more counties have also failed to achieve the basic standards for reducing so-called “small particle pollution,” or soot.

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City Suffers As Albany And DC Defund Landmark Environmental Laws

“Polluter pays” policies considered to make up budget shortfalls at environmental agencies

City Hall - December 14, 2009 - By Andrew Cotlov