Freedumb! SD Facing End Of Copper & Lead Testing For Water, Wastewater Regulation As Funds Dry Up

[hatrack]

A lack of federal funding could force the state of South Dakota to stop monitoring water for lead and copper, cease regulating wastewater and otherwise pare back pollution control programs.

That was one message delivered to lawmakers Tuesday morning by Steve Pirner, secretary of the state’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources during the agency's annual budget hearing.

The DENR is responsible for carrying out the mandates of the Environmental Protection Agency on everything from water and air quality testing to helping gas station owners replace or clean up leaking underground storage tanks.

But the Obama Administration funded only a small portion of what those programs cost to administer, Pirner said, putting the remaining costs on states. The Trump Administration proposed a 30 percent cut to EPA funding overall, with a 40 percent cut to program funding. Congress has yet to finalize a budget, however. “Right now, the federal government isn’t paying anywhere close to what it takes to run those programs,” Pirner told the Joint Committee on Appropriations.

EDIT

http://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2018/01/16/south-dakota-running-out-money-pollution-control/1037912001/

[Wwcd]

1. Hey South Dakota, stop electing Republicans.

When you vote away your safety nets, there's no guarentee they'll ever come back.
You took all that was given to protect you & yours & said on Nov 2016, "we don't want those protections."
Now what?