The Thin Green Line

The Environmental Integrity Project examined the budgets of the environmental agencies in the lower 48 states (numbers for Alaska and Hawaii were not available). Our analysis surveyed annual expenditures and staffing levels from fiscal year 2008 to 2018 for state agencies that protect public health and the environment from all forms of pollution.

We found that 31 states reduced funding for their environmental agencies’ pollution control programs, with 25 states imposing cuts of at least 10 percent. Forty states reduced staffing levels at their environmental agencies, with 21 states cutting their environmental workforce by at least 10 percent. Overall, states eliminated 4,400 positions at agencies responsible for protecting the environment.

Over the same time period, Congress and the White House cut the U.S. EPA’s funding for pollution control and science by 16 percent (adjusted for inflation) while reducing its workforce 16 percent by eliminating 2,699 positions.

Interactive Map with Budget and Staffing Data for All 48 Lower U.S. States:
Click legend [>>] to toggle between spending changes and staffing changes. Click [>] within legend to view percent changes corresponding to each color: blue means increase in spending or staffing; yellow, orange or red means decrease.

 

Note: The 2008 spending figure for Indiana is actually an average of spending from 2007 to 2009. The average more realistically represents spending levels, as 2008 was an anomalous year for Indiana due to a spike in federal funding.