PADEP Brownfield Program Receives Needed Funding
On December 19, Governor Rendell signed Senate Bill 1100 into law, ensuring that PADEP's brownfield program would be able to keep operating through December 31, 2010. In the weeks leading up to the signing, it was looking pretty bleak for the 149 PADEP staff people who faced layoffs or bumping without additional funding from the HSCA Fund, which was running out of money. Under SB 1100, $17 million will be transferred into the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund from legislative accounts for the balance of the current fiscal year which ends June 30, 2008, and thereafter $40 million will be allocated each year from the Capitol Stock and Franchise Tax until that tax expires on December 31, 2010. It's anyone's guess as to what the funding source will be for HSCA and the Act 2 program after that, but for now, it's back to business in PADEP's Act 2 program.
I have to admit that I was sensing some real tension in the Department as the deadline neared without any resolution to the funding crisis. The people in the Act 2 program are some of the best problem solvers and creative thinkers in the Department, but it's hard to dig in on a new project when you are worried about getting laid off and paying the bills. For all the talk about the environment driving the economic engine of the Commonwealth, you would have expected our legislators and the Governor to realize that you can't have sustained economic growth in Pennsylvania without a vibrant and thriving Act 2 program, and you can't have that without a fully funded HSCA Fund. Hopefully everyone has learned their lesson and we won't have to endure another funding crisis in December 2010. It's not fair to those hard working people at the Department and it damages the Commonwealth's reputation as a model for other state brownfield programs to follow.
My best wishes to everyone in the brownfield community for a happy, healthy 2008. Let us continue to help reclaim old abandoned sites and create new jobs and economic opportunities. Let us continue to work together to solve problems and protect and preserve the environment. Finally, let us learn new ways to reduce our impact on the environment and become better environmental stewards in 2008.
All the best.
Joel
