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New Jersey, with the most Superfund sites in the nation, could see a decline in support

BY JOE TYRRELL

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

President Barack Obama's proposed budget would trim funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency just as it tries to take on a larger role in New Jersey.

In a presentation to government and trade groups, though, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said the $10 billion allocation for the 2011 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, would preserve her agency's key priorities.

Of the roughly $300 million reduction, "the majority of it is from the Great Lakes restoration initiative," Jackson said. That ongoing effort would get $175 million less, but still has money left from its previous allocation, she said.

Jackson noted the budget's "relatively small" decreases in some other programs follow an almost 30 percent hike last year, when Obama pumped money into the agency after years of static or declining funding in terms of constant dollars.

Despite the proposed drop, the budget would fund more full-time positions at EPA, although its workforce would remain below levels from a decade ago.

One program suffering a small hit is the struggling Superfund pollution clean-up program, which would slip by $13.4 million, or 1 percent. New Jersey has more Superfund sites than any other state, and EPA has moved to become the lead agency on some previously overseen by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The proposed reduction in overall Superfund money provides a backdrop to the Jan. 22 decision by EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck not to add the heavily contaminated DuPont site in Pompton Lakes to the program.

The budget statement calls for a return to the dedicated tax on polluting industries that helped fund the program until Congress allowed it to lapse in 1995. At the start of the current fiscal year, some $26 million remained in the program's trust fund. As a result, environmental agencies negotiate with "potentially responsible parties" to help finance cleanups, an often protracted process.

But Jackson, a former New Jersey DEP commissioner, and Bob Perciasepe, her deputy administrator, pointed to measures to funnel more money to states and tribal areas to identify and deal with problems.

The budget would add $18 million for EPA's enforcement and compliance assurance program. The increased funding would be coupled with "environmental justice" efforts, Jackson said, such as funding for a study of health problems besetting industrialized neighborhoods in Camden.

New Jersey also could benefit from a $42 million increase for "brownfields," restorations of historically contaminated sites. EPA will "target underserved and economically disadvantaged communities," Jackson said. The goals are to bring back jobs as well as to protect residents, she said.

A proposed $43.5 million initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean energy also could help New Jersey. The new program includes $25 million for grants to the states for their Clean Air Act permitting programs, plus $13.5 million to develop tougher emissions standards for motor vehicles. But those programs could face tough going in Congress, because they are tied to EPA's efforts to combat global warming.

Another small program, $27 million, would go to help states and communities coordinate efforts to improve school environments and fight air toxins in at-risk areas.

Nationally, Obama's proposals include a $13 million increase for efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay, and a $17 million attempt to limit "non-point" source pollution, which cannot be traced to a single outlet, in the Mississippi River Basin.

The proposed 2011 spending plan and other recent EPA budgets are available on-line at: http://www.epa.gov/budget/

Joe Tyrrell may be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it