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Utah Department of
Environmental Quality
Department of Environmental Quality officials are hopeful the Department will receive much of the $48.7 million designated by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. – a request that does not rely significantly on general fund dollars and would not be impacted by the governor’s proposed $60 million tax cut.
“The Department of Environmental Quality relies on general fund tax dollars for approximately 23 percent of its budget,” said Dianne Nielson, executive director of DEQ. “Our budget reflects the fact that during the last 10 years, DEQ has provided existing and new environmental services with fewer employees during a period of significant economic growth by finding ways to do business more efficiently and effectively.”
With tax collections running ahead of expectations by more than $90 million during the first four months of the fiscal year that began July 1, DEQ officials are optimistic the Legislature will fully fund the department’s budget request.
“I think the legislature will be favorable to DEQ because we have worked hard to provide a fiscally responsible request,” said Steve Higley, director of support services for DEQ.
The Governor’s FY07 proposal for DEQ represents an 8 percent increase from what was authorized this year, including restoring $70,000 in legislative cuts two years ago. Those funds are needed to pay local health departments for services provided on behalf of DEQ. It also includes $400,000 to fund the state’s opposition to high-level nuclear waste planned for interim storage on Goshute tribal lands and $200,000 to help leverage federal funds to pay for a stakeholder-supported air quality study of animal feeding operations (AFOs).
Also proposed in the governor’s overall $9 billion budget is a 2.5 percent cost-of-living increase for state employees, plus 2 percent in discretionary funding that could be used for merit pay increases for the 421 employees at DEQ.
DEQ receives 23 percent of its budget from the state general fund. The remainder of DEQ’s overall budget is funded by a combination of federal funds (36 percent), restricted funds (23 percent) and collections (18 percent.) The governor has recommended the Department be funded as follows:
Cleanup Recovery Costs
As in previous years, DEQ has sought funding to pay an attorney to aggressively recover money the Division of Environmental Response and Remediation (DERR) has incurred for cleanup work as a result of leaky underground storage tanks. The proposed $43,600 in FY07 represents half of what DEQ received for the current year, a reduction because officials predict they will need the part-time serves of the attorney, rather than full time. The money has been well spent. Over the past 10 years, the attorney working on the project has successfully recovered $2.6 million by tracking down the responsible parties to pay for cleanup cost. The actual money spent on the attorney services has amounted to $535,000.
Also sought is a $400,000 appropriation for the Hazardous Substance Mitigation Fund, managed by DERR, to do emergency cleanups. That money comes from the Environmental Quality Restricted Account. The Department is seeking an appropriation to cover the state’s share of environmental cleanups at Superfund sites and emergency response cleanups.
More information about these issues can be found at: http://www.environmentalresponse.utah.gov/
Air Monitoring Money for AFOs
The Division of Air Quality proposes to initiate an air quality study of animal feeding operations to help producers know if they are in compliance with the Clean Air Act. The Governor’s budget proposal includes $200,000 in supplemental general funds to leverage federal funds provided through the federal agricultural bill to cover the operational cost of the study. DEQ is working with the Utah Department of Agriculture, federal agriculture and environmental interests, and ranchers to complete this work.
Because DEQ’s budget is partially funded by fees paid by permit holders and others, some fee changes are proposed. The most notable would be a 7.7 percent increase for air emissions, from $39.94 per ton to $43.03 per ton. This reflects a decrease in actual emissions, with only a minor increase in program costs.