The fund transfer requested by the governor comes just a few months after lawmakers added $30 million to the state local toxics control account to whittle away at a huge backlog of stormwater retrofit projects in around the state, including the Puget Sound region.
The governor's capital budget released Tuesday reduced the account by $22 million, leaving $8 million for stormwater projects in this biennium, said Jim Cahill, a senior budget assistant to the governor.
Stormwater is considered the No. 1 water-quality threat in urban areas of the Puget Sound region, and there is no dedicated funding mechanism in place to tackle the problem despite efforts in the past two legislative sessions.
Many communities have relied on the use of monies in the local toxics-control account from a tax on the wholesale value of hazardous materials to fund stormwater-control projects.
Big cuts
“ It’ s been a really good program for communities in the Puget Sound region, ” said Andy Haub, an Olympia Public Works planning and engineering manager.
The environmental community will lobby legislators to keep the money where it is so it can be used to fund stormwater-retrofit projects, said Bill Robinson, lobbyist for The Nature Conservancy.
Fund transfers totaling nearly $176 million from 18 state accounts are a key component of the governor’ s proposal to shave about $1.4 billion from the 2011-13 budget and maintain a $600 million rainy-day fund.
Cuts imposed on natural resources agencies in the governor’ s supplemental budget are in line with the sacrifices required throughout state government, Robinson noted.
However, he said, the natural-resource agencies’ share of state general fund dollars was reduced 30 percent in the past two rounds of budget-cutting.
Specific projects
Haub said the governor’ s stormwater fund transfer would wipe out the city’ s chances for a $450,000 state grant to help pay for improved stormwater treatment at the city maintenance center on Eastside Street.
South Puget Sound Community College also would lose out on a chance to apply for state money from the fund to continue retrofit work on the campus stormwater system, he said.
The grants for stormwater projects have not been allotted, yet and they are not being used to help local governments comply with new state Department of Ecology stormwater permit requirements, said Dave Catterson, a legislative and policy analyst for the Association of Washington Cities.
He said the AWC is not taking a position on the governor’ s fund transfer request.
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John Dodge: 360-754-5444 jdodge@theolympian.com
