Unpacking the Final State Budget Bill
-
Upload
ohio-environmental-council -
Category
Education
-
view
1.004 -
download
2
description
Transcript of Unpacking the Final State Budget Bill
Unpacking the Green (+ Not So Green) new Ohio Budget
Thank you for joining us. We will begin in a moment.
Please check your speakers/phone connection. If you experience any problems, please let us know by typing in the chat box.
Follow the OEC on Twitter: @OhioEnviro. The hashtag for this webinar is #OECwebinar
Jack Shaner
Deputy Director
Melanie Houston
Director of Water Policy + Environmental
Health
Kristen Kubitza
Director of Water Policy + Outreach
Unpacking the Green (+ Not So Green) new Ohio Budget
Trent Dougherty
Managing Director of
Legal Affairs
Joe Logan
Director of Agricultural Programs
Ohio Environmental Council
The OEC is Ohio’s most comprehensive, effective and respected environmental advocate for a healthier, more sustainable Ohio.
Our experts work daily to restore, protect, and strengthen the quality of life for families and communities—from the air we breathe and the water we drink to the food we eat and natural resources we enjoy.
Please join us! OEC members: Receive great benefits Become part of the community working to restore, protect, and
strengthen the quality of life for families and communities in Ohio.
Become a member today at www.theOEC.org.
THE BUDGET “BOX SCORE”
1. Clean Ohio Fund – GRAND SLAM2. Lake Erie + Grand Lake St. Marys toxic algae clean up – BASES-CLEARING TRIPLE3. “Tread + Mow on Me” Amendment – CAUGHT STEALING4. Oil+Gas Division funding+“Dump+Glow”+“Brine Discharge Amnesty” Amendments – BUNT+BIG ERROR+WILD PITCH5. Coal mining regulation + miner safety – BALK6. Ohio EPA emergency response – STRIKE OUT7. Public transit + freight rail development – STRIKE OUT + WALK + FOUL BALL CAUGHT IN FOUL TERRITORY8. Green chemistry – THROWN OUT AT THE PLATE9. Public records – SINGLE UP THE MIDDLE10. Clean energy – EJECTED FROM THE GAME
1. Clean Ohio Fund – GRAND SLAM
Objective: Get full $52MM. Result: House + Senate added $26MM each – BASES LOADED HOME RUN BY LAWMAKERS
House plan to share state park drilling $ - OUT
House plan for Clean Ohio + brownfield funding study commission – OUT
Lawmakers got ‘er done, polishing off the final $52MM in voter-approved bonding.
2. Lake Erie + Inland Lake Clean Up – BASES-CLEARING TRIPLE
Challenge: reduce nutrient loadings to stop harmful algal blooms - harmful to people, pets, sport fishing, tourism
Solution: ID nutrient sources + apply clean-up “prescriptions”
Actions taken: House established Lake Facilities Authority
to fund local lake clean up
House added $570k for Ohio Sea Grant + $500k for Heidelberg U. Water Quality Lab
Senate added $600,000 to Healthy Lake Erie fund for stepped-up water monitoring
Kasich Administration + G.A. making solid progress on their pledge to stop toxic algae
3. “Tread + Mow on Me Amendment” – CAUGHT STEALING
Would have: Let private property owners mow grass + vegetation in city-owned buffer strip along reservoir or protected streams
Undercut efforts to protect drinking water reservoirs + targeted headwater streams from runoff + soil erosion
Wasted ratepayer dollars
Public Reservoir + Water Quality Protection
VETOED BY GOVERNOR KASICH
*Photo Courtesy Columbus Public Utilities
4. Oil+Gas Oversight Funding + Radioactive Waste and Brine Disposal: Bunt + Big Error + Wild Pitch
ODNR Division of Oil + Gas budget doubled
General Assembly adopted Gov.’s proposal for disposal of radioactive waste in solid-waste landfills Narrow definition of TENORM will exempt bulk of radioactive-laced
wastes—especially drill cuttings—from testing for regulatory threshold
USEPA, National Academy of Sciences, American National Standards Institute all recognize drill cuttings as TENORM
Ohio following Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors, which recognizes drilling muds, sludge, waste water, filters, etc., as TENORM but exempts drill cuttings (+brine) the largest + most radioactive of drilling wastes. Also mixing or “down-blending” of waste to dilute radioactivity.
“Brine Discharge Amnesty” Amendment allows certain waste treatment operators to evade permitting
5. Coal Mining Regulation + Miner Safety BALK
House + Senate adopted Gov.’s proposal for $2.5MM/FY in GRF for combined regulatory oversight + miner safety
Mine safety previously was funded at $3M/year; now must share less funds with the Coal Regulatory program
Potential threat to environment + miner safetyAlso puts more burden on taxpayers, instead of industry
Gov. Taft shifted Ohio EPA off of GRF. Industry
fees + Feds fund regulatory oversight for
most industries. Gov. Kasich should follow
suit, make coal industry pay its own way.
6. Ohio EPA Emergency Response STRIKE OUT
The Ohio EPA’s Emergency Response Program and its 15 staff are on call 24/7/365 to respond, contain + investigate releases + spills to the environment.
Yet their vehicles have no legal authority to use sirens or lights!
This can slow the response and put OEPA emergency responders in harm’s way.
The solution: Amend ORC 4511.01(E) to define Ohio EPA Emergency Response vehicles “public safety vehicles”
7. Public Transit + Freight Rail Development STRIKE OUT + WALK + FOUL BALL CAUGHT IN FOUL TERRITORY
3 “pitches” by OEC: Boost funding for public transit + Ohio Rail
Development Commission Require ODOT to survey local transit agencies +
MPOs for future operational + capital costs/benefits Reject Senate “Beavercreek Amendment” to
require transit agency to get permission of local city before expanding service
RESULT: STRIKE OUT: No change in funding - public
transportation + freight rail stuck at $7.3M/FY + $2M/FY, respectively
WALK: ODOT updating Ohio’s long-range transportation plan, Access Ohio 2040
FOUL BALL CAUGHT IN FOUL TERRITORY: Gov. Kasich VETOED “Beavercreek Amendment”
8. Green Chemistry THROWN OUT AT THE PLATE
Senate earmarked $500,000 for BioOhio to fund the Bioscience Workforce Development Initiative Bioscience includes
engineering products without toxic byproducts, such as making plastic from crops instead of oil
Gov. Kasich VETOED this earmark
9. Public Records SINGLE UP THE MIDDLE
Ohio Senate added provision to require the Ohio Department of Administrative Services to develop and propose standards for the posting of a public record on an agency website by a public office so that the information may be secured and downloaded in a uniform manner
Public needs ability to easily access public records to help hold agencies accountable for enforcing the law
10. Clean Energy EJECTED FROM THE GAME
Senate considered, but did not include, an amendment to let utilities ask the PUCO for permission to change an already approved energy-efficiency plan
OEC + partners continue to work to repel any weakening of Ohio’s energy efficiency or renewable energy standards
July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2015
Going forward:- OEC will watchdog program implementation- OEC will be engaged in rule making
To learn more: - www.theOEC.org
- OEC testimony - OEC veto requests
- OEC action alerts
Q & A - Feedback