I know times are hard, but this proposed austerity budget has me really cranky about the deep, substantive cuts to the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). This is one of the most significant sources of funding for land conservation, historic preservation, and responsible waste management in the state and Governor Paterson has it on the chopping block.
EPF grants are critical to so many great projects in the state, including many which - in the interest of full disclosure - I work on. Without this source of funding countless acres would not be preserved as parkland, community gardens would not exist, farmland would not be protected from development, and historic buildings would have fallen deeper into disrepair.
You may wonder what on earth the EPF does and where it comes from. In short, the EPF was created in 1993 (during a recession, by the way) to provide a dedicated funding stream for projects with an environmental impact. Its major funding source is a percentage of New York's Real Estate Transfer Tax. That is, every time a piece of real estate changes hands, a small tax is levied by the state which goes into its general fund. A dedicated percentage goes specifically to the EPF. Additionally, 80% of unclaimed bottle deposits from beverage companies are returned to the state to fund the EPF. This would seem to me to be responsible fiscal policy on the part of the state: a pay-as-you-go fund for capital projects that improve the quality of New York's environment.
We're talking about pollution controls, restoration projects, farmland protection, parkland acquisition and more. This is critical work for the state's water quality, food security, common heritage and community well being.
The state is not so fiscally responsible throughout its budget, so to plug gaps the legislature has permitted "sweeps" of budget surpluses from entities other than the general fund. Sweeps are supposed to be paid back but there's no formal agreement as to how that is supposed to work.
Last year the EPF had a budget of approximately $210 million. This year, the proposed budget has it pegged at $143 million, a sum which leaves $0 for land acquisition and reduces the funding for farmland protection and water quality programs. When land is cheap, conservation is cheap; so the state is surely missing out on valuable real estate deals in these tough times by zeroing out acquisition funds and decimating easement funding. To add insult to injury, EPF is also supposed to absorb payment of salaries and some expenses for the state's park and environmental agencies.
This is New York. Home of Love Canal, but also Adirondack Park. Which legacy do you want to place your money on? But then again, what's the alternative? Don't recycle?
If you want to do something good for the environment today, write the governor and state legislators (see below) to tell them you value the EPF and don't want to see it cut so deeply. Tell New York to trim its budget by eliminating programs that don't work and the shocking amount of pork that still manages to find its way into the budget.
Assemblyman Herman (Denny) Farrell Senator Antoine Thompson | Senator Carl Kruger Assemblyman Robert Sweeney |
