Budget Cuts Hit Environment Hard

Today, A3 (Pintor Marin/Burzichelli) was reported out of the Assembly Budget Committee. The bill amends and supplements FY20 appropriations act to effectuate extension of fiscal year through September 30, 2020. They are looking to cut around $82 million for environmental programs. Earlier this month, Governor Murphy released the NJ Interim Budget Report, which froze $310 million in environmental programs. Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, released the following statement:

“We understand that New Jersey is facing massive budget problems and they need to make up the shortfall. Approximately $250 was already taken from environmental programs, and this is another $82 million on top of that. We are in the middle of a health and economic crisis, but we believe that cutting this money from DEP and other environmental programs could be dangerous at this point in time. These are the biggest cuts to environmental programs since 1993. Our concern is that DEP won’t be able to do their job. DEP has been cut to the bone in the past, and now they are cutting through the bone. DEP needs to have enough staff to clean up toxic sites and make sure our air is clean to breathe and our water is pure to drink.

“This is a time when air pollution has been linked to coronavirus risk. Cutting money for enforcement and air pollution control will have significant impacts on the environment and public health. They are also cutting funds for dealing with water pollution problems. This will mean more algae blooms in our lakes and more beach closings. Cutting funding for climate change and natural resource engineering means that we’re hurting ourselves in the long-term. Without these funds we won’t be able to plan for climate impacts or expand our shore protection or flood control projects. They are taking everything that isn’t nailed down and pulling millions of dollars from environmental programs in the process. This is short-sighted and will directly impact public health and the environment now and for future generations.”