Cuts go too far, agency says

The House is proposing a 14 percent budget cut to the agency, which would drop the number of full-time equivalent staff to 720, its lowest level in decades. In 2009, the agency had a staff level of 1,004.

And in a state known nationally for relatively strong environmental regulations, environmentalists are not the only ones opposing the proposed cuts.

“If the regulations stand and you have no one to implement them or assist you in getting permits, it doesn’t serve anyone’s purpose,’’ said David Begelfer, chief executive of NAIOP Massachusetts, a commercial real es tate association. “As the economy starts to improve . . . we need them to be ready for when the market recovers.’’

If approved by the House, the 14 percent cut would have to be reconciled with whatever the Senate, which is usually more generous, decides upon, before a final budget goes to Governor Deval Patrick for his signature.

Patrick proposed a substantially higher budget for the agency that would essentially allow it to carry out the same activities in 2011, but a significant amount was based on proceeds from the bottle bill, which is unlikely to be part of the 2012 budget.

Still, with most other environmental state agencies receiving cuts of 5 percent or less in the House budget, DEP’s starting point of 14 percent is harsh, say agency officials. They fear they could end up with a budget that hampers their ability to protect the environment.

Yesterday, Brian Dempsey, chairman of the House Ways and Means committee, which controls the budget process, said the cuts, like most recent financial decisions, were extraordinarily tough to make.

However, he did say the Department of Environmental Protection budget cuts appear to be more “aggressive’’ than those to other environmental agencies and they would be discussed this week when the House takes up the budget. “As you go through these line items it becomes very challenging [as we try to protect programs] for those that are the most vulnerable. You start looking at what may be able to take a cut,’’ the Haverhill Democrat said.

Ken Kimmell, the Environmental Department’s commissioner, said the agency is willing to do its part to help solve the state’s budget woes, but the 14 percent reduction goes too far. “Cuts of the magnitude proposed will prevent MassDEP from issuing timely permits, which are so critical for economic growth, will cause us to pare back on inspections and enforcement, and will reduce the help we give to our cities and towns, which particularly need our expertise right now to meet new federal environmental mandates.’’

Kimmell said the already decreased number of permitting staff — currently at 100 — will be reduced to 75 next year if the 14 percent budget cut gets to the governor’s desk and is signed.

In the Worcester office, for example, the number of people working on air permits for businesses was reduced in recent years from five to two. Next year, there could be only one person, if the deep cuts were implemented.

While the recession has cut the number of business applications for environmental permits from about 3,000 to 2,000 a year, the state is beginning to see an increase and needs staff to start handling the additional requests, Kimmell said.

The commissioner also detailed what the past few years of budget cuts in some of their hardest-hit programs has meant:

■ The state has reduced the number of rivers, streams, and lakes where it tests nondrinking water quality from an average of 125 a year to 36 in 2010. The number of overall samples taken has also decreased from 750 per year to 250 in 2010, and there is now a five-year backlog at DEP to analyze the water quality data.

The agency has also cut back dramatically on testing surface waters for bacterial pollution from nearby sources by about 85 percent, from 1,750 samples collected per year to 250 collected last year.

■ DEP has long given free technical assistance to municipal conservation commissions to better protect wetlands. The number of these “circuit riders’ has declined from seven to three and the number of conservation commission meetings and site visits they go to has been slashed from 400 to 160 a year.

■ The agency has reduced inspections for hazardous or banned substances at landfills, incinerators, and transfer stations from 53 in 2009 to 11 in 2010.

“Severe budget cuts for state environmental agencies will render them dysfunctional,’’ said George Bachrach, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, an advocacy group. “It’s not just about the environment. If we cannot clean contaminated sites, it’s about our public health. If we cannot process permits, builders will take their projects and jobs elsewhere. We will do less with less, and we will put our economic recovery and public health at risk.’’

Beth Daley can be reached at bdaley@globe.com.