By Brian J. Hill
President, Pennsylvania Environmental Council

The fact that the general public doesn’t know much about the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Program speaks to its success. The fact that the program’s funding is about to run out should be alarming. When the Governor and General Assembly return to work on legislation in mid-September, they’ll only have a few days to find a solution to the problem of how to fund the critical Hazardous Sites Cleanup Program before its money runs out in October. A last-minute proposal to take money away from the Keystone Recreation, Parks and Conservation Fund was wisely shot down by a bipartisan group of legislators before the final budget was adopted in July, but the question of how to provide dedicated, long-term funding for the valuable Hazardous Sites Program was left hanging. Established in 1988, the Program provides the resources needed to respond to and eliminate immediate threats to public health and safety from toxic substances found on industrial sites or spilled in accidents. The Department of Environmental Protection has a list of nearly 150 sites, including 45 in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Philadelphia, and Montgomery Counties, that have been cleaned up under the program or still need to be cleaned up. These sites threaten the water we drink, the air we breathe, and undermine economic revitalization. But, the program does more:

• It helps finance cleanup projects at abandoned industrial facilities and contaminated sites
• It supports Pennsylvania’s nationally-recognized land recycling and brownfield redevelopment efforts
• And it provides non-hazardous environmental response funding, such as cleanup activities after floods.

Everyone in Harrisburg agrees the program is important. What they cannot agree on is how to put together the approximately $40 million needed annually to fund the program. A proposed $2.25 fee on municipal waste disposed in the state was proposed by Governor Rendell as part of the budget in February. Other legislators have suggested earmarking part of the Corporate Net Income or Capital Stock and Franchise businesses taxes to support the program.

 

The $650 million budget surplus for this year or a portion of the state’s Rainy Day Fund could also be used. One creative solution might be to use some of the $360 million legislators set aside for their own projects called WAMs (Walking Around Money) in this year’s budget. What better way to make an impact on your community than to cleanup a toxic-waste site? And taking a small amount from each caucus in the Senate and House would make it a refreshingly bipartisan initiative. Pennsylvanians need to know there are creative options for funding the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Program that do not involve taking money from existing programs. But time is running out, and legislators and the Governor need to act.