Red Tape, Executive Meddling Strangling New York's Environmental Protection Fund

ALBANY, NY (12/21/2009)(readMedia)-- Environmental Advocates of New York released a new report today detailing how executive meddling, staff shortages and bureaucratic red tape are strangling New York's environmental trust fund. According to the report, Tied Up In Knots, the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) has been raided to the tune of nearly $500 million since it was created in 1993. Since 2002, one in every four dollars appropriated to the EPF has been "swept" into the State's General Fund. Actions taken by Governor David Paterson have also made it harder for Fund dollars to reach environmental projects. Click here to download the report.

In the last two years, the Governor and State Legislature have taken $185 million from the Fund for non-environmental purposes, including $10 million in the recent agreement to reduce New York's budget deficit. As a result of these transfers and cuts, New York State will have a hard time meeting its commitments to local governments and not-for-profits that have already secured funding for projects such as fixing up community parks, encouraging recycling, and protecting working farms.

"During the past decade, New York's green piggy bank has been smashed to pieces. We're calling on Governor Paterson to stop hacking away at environmental programs and stop including these sweeps in his budgets," said David Gahl, Policy Director, Environmental Advocates of New York. "Instead of cutting green initiatives, New York should cut the number of bureaucratic reviews that tie up state monies meant to flow to programs that protect our environment and create jobs."

In addition to sweeps from the Fund, the report documents a failure to spend resources allocated to environmental projects due to executive interference. In 2008, Governor Paterson gave New York's Division of Budget veto authority over each and every EPF dollar, allowing bureaucrats to stop payment on state contracts and obstructing environmental projects. Furthermore, the Governor can now put a "hold" on EPF expenditures, allowing the Fund to accumulate large balances and putting weight behind the claim that unspent monies are ripe for budget relief.

To address these issues, Environmental Advocates of New York proposes simplifying the grant application and review process to free up state agencies and get money to deserving projects and programs more efficiently and effectively. By getting monies flowing to environmentally beneficial projects, it becomes less likely these resources will become the target of budget officials looking for a quick fix.

The Environmental Protection Fund was created in 1993 as a dedicated trust fund to support everything from keeping agricultural lands in production to supporting zoos and botanical gardens.

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Environmental Advocates of New York's mission is to protect our air, land, water and wildlife and the health of all New Yorkers. Based in Albany, we monitor state government, evaluate proposed laws, and champion policies and practices that will ensure the responsible stewardship of our shared environment. We work to support and strengthen the efforts of New York's environmental community and to make our state a national leader.