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PENNSYLVANIA
Budget Shortfall Looms
Pennsylvania’s Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund, which helps to finance brownfield
remediation, responses to toxic emergencies and the cleanup of contaminated
sites, is heading toward a $12 million deficit. These estimates are for a program
that operates on $50 million to $60 million a year.
Because of this shortfall, emergency response contracts may have to be cancelled, remediation projects may have to stop and/or the state’s brownfield program may have to be scaled back significantly sometime this fiscal year unless funding is provided to shore up the program.
In addition, the state may have to notify the federal government that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is no longer in a position to meet its obligations under RCRA and CERCLA.
Earlier this year, Governor Edward G. Rendell unveiled an $800 million bond initiative that builds on the success of the state’s Growing Greener program, but it has not yet been passed by the legislature.
The Governor also proposed several pollution-related fees that would pay all debt service on the bond and finance other critical investments.
Rendell’s plan allocates $300 million for abandoned mine and river cleanups,
remediation of polluted industrial sites and clean energy development. Of this,
$40 million will be earmarked over four years to clean up brownfields, enhance
environmental protections and revitalize aging communities by returning these
abandoned sites back to productive use.