With the signing by Gov. Mary Fallin into law in recent days of a 2018 budget bill that carries 2 percent budget cuts, Oklahoma’s Department of Environmental Quality is like other state agencies in dealing with the loss of some funding.
How will DEQ handle it?
“DEQ’s state-appropriated dollars principally fund personnel, specifically in the areas of drinking water, wastewater, environmental complaints and local services and state environmental laboratory programs,” explained Erin Hatfield, Communications Director at DEQ in response to an inquiry from OK Energy Today.
“This cut will be addressed by leaving some key positions vacant for a longer than average period of time,” she said. “DEQ’s state appropriations have declined 42% since fiscal year 2009.”
Will the decline continue for the 2019 budget? That’s still being decided by the legislature as the House and Senate are handling budgets in the current session.
