This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Legislators' efforts to cut budgets could mean more than $1 million less for environmental programs.
The Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst, carrying out a directive by lawmakers to slice 10 percent of spending to address the budget's "structural deficits," is suggesting $1,068,400 in reductions at the Utah Department of Environmental Quality and a cut of nine employees.
In an appropriations committee hearing last week, DEQ Director Amanda Smith echoed her counterparts at the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture and Food in asking lawmakers to give department heads "flexibility" in deciding where to make the cuts.
Lawmakers emphasized the cuts they are suggesting are only starting points in building a budget.
Their proposals included less funding for county health departments, information technology and a $200,000 fund Gov. Gary Herbert had proposed for tackling Uinta Basin air quality problems to help the oil and gas industry avoid new federal regulations.
Smith said the DEQ would continue to have authority to implement federal environmental laws — industry is eager to see this oversight role stays in Utah — but that there would be noticeable impacts to the department's ability to serve industry and the public.
"I don't want you to get the impression," she told members of the appropriations subcommittee, "that by making these cuts you are not going to impact the time it takes for businesses to get what they need in terms of permits and information to do business in Utah, because these cuts will impact that."