Gov. Murphy & Legislature Need to do More to Protect our Environment  

Governor Murphy will release his budget FY2021. The New Jersey Sierra Club is concerned that DEP’s budget will continue to be cut and raided to balance the budget. FY2020, the DEP budget was cut by 17.8% and operations cut by 10%. The Clean Energy Fund was raided by $87.1 million and funds from CEF will be used for NJ Transit. Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, released the following statement:

“We need to have a budget that is not only fair, but one that protects the environment and moves us forward in the fight against climate change. For too long New Jersey has raided critical funds for brownfields, clean energy, and more to balance the budget. We cannot continue to do these kinds of raids on the back of the environment. It is critical to fund and move New Jersey forward. We need to not only invest in the DEP but invest in moving our state forward when it comes to reducing GHG’s, cleaning up toxic sites, and fighting climate change.

“Two years ago, Commissioner McCabe promised to increase DEP staff by 100 people in their first year. Here we are, two years later and we are down 150 staffers from the Christie Administration. Enforcement is down, parks are in disrepair, and we don’t have enough people to deal with the lead crisis, clean up toxic sites, and make sure our air is clean to breathe in and our water is clean to drink from. The DEP needs more funding so that we have enough people to do the many jobs of the agency, including re-writing the rules Christie rolled back.

“We need to step it up when it comes to funding critical environmental programs for New Jersey.  We have major problems with lead including $8.2 billion worth of pipes that need to be fixed, $4.6 billion for getting lead out of our water and a $6 billion combined sewer overflow fix. Overall, we need at least $46 billion to fix New Jersey’s environmental problems. We also need to tie fixing our infrastructure to energy efficiency and renewable energy as well as green building including blue and green roofs to reduce flooding.

“Governor Murphy has raided the Clean Energy Fund by $247.1 million to plug holes in the general budget and to be used for NJ Transit. Even though he has taken less money from the CEF compared to Christie, who took over $1.5 billion, we cannot continue this trend. We cannot continue to fund NJ Transit using Clean Energy Fund monies. Instead, New Jersey must find a sustainable source of funding for our transportation system so that we can have money for CEF and move forward with things like energy efficiency programs and EV infrastructure for our state.

“We cannot continue to have budget cuts that targets our environment, as well as urban areas that suffer the most from pollution. Last year, they grabbed close to $200 million in fees, fines and other funds, $19 million is being raided from the Hazardous Discharge Fund, and $17.5 million from the Hazardous Discharge Spill Act, money that should go toward brownfields cleanup. That’s money that should be going to urban areas for pollution cleanup and is instead being shipped out to the wealthy suburbs. Lack of funding for critical programs like a lake management program will mean Lake Hopatcong and Barnegat Bay will continue to be impacted by harmful algae and pollution.”

“Over the last two years, DEP funding has been cut, however Senate President Sweeney looked good by adding a couple of million dollars to the budget, that makes no sense. If more cuts come without any real new hiring at DEP, we are concerned that they will expand privatizing and outsourcing of DEP programs. DEP is expanding site LSRP site remediation, privatizing water and air programs and hiring outside engineers and consultants. The state is also selling park assets to commercial projects and ventures and to fix pensions. New Jersey should have learned its lesson from the Corzine debacle. Don’t seek short-term gain when it will mean much greater long-term loss.

“For over a decade NJ’s budget has a lot of money being diverted from critical environmental programs. We need real money, not just pocket change for these programs. We still need to support a millionaire’s tax to close the loopholes and adequately fund DEP and NJ Transit. New Jersey should be putting money from this tax system in places where is supposed to go. More funding for DEP and critical environmental programs means having enough staff to get the lead out of children’s schools and moving New Jersey forward in energy efficiency while reducing our impact on climate change. Governor Murphy has made commitments on climate change and clean energy, we need a budget that can now fund those commitments.”