Environment agency chief orders 5% cut

       

Division heads’ proposals likely to pare jobs, she says

By Emily Walkenhorst 

This article was published today at 3:15 a.m.

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Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality division heads will have to recommend 5 percent budget cuts, which will likely include layoffs, department Director Becky Keogh told the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission on Friday.

The commission is the department's appellate body.

The cuts will offset current and expected drops in federal funding from congressional budget cuts, in addition to decreases in collections on state permit fees, Keogh said.

A 5 percent cut would be $2.75 million of the department's $55 million budget. Department spokesman Katherine Benenati said the amount would be trimmed over two years.

The department has about 360 employees and a payroll of about $18.9 million. A 5 percent payroll reduction would represent about 20 to 25 positions, Benenati said. But the cuts will be shared between staff and administrative costs.

Division heads will submit recommendations in the next 90 days on what could be cut from their divisions.

The department has lost $250,000 in federal funding recently.

"So we want to acknowledge that early," Keogh said, adding that she doesn't want to cut costs related to the department's cleanup and remediation of hazardous sites.

The budget cuts will also fulfill Gov. Asa Hutchinson's request for state agencies to be leaner, she said, and are part of an effort to restructure the department to become more efficient.

The department had six regulatory divisions and several administrative divisions. Now, the department will have three regulatory divisions -- air, water and land resources -- and two administrative divisions below the director's office -- the office of operations and outreach, and the office of general counsel.

Keogh said she hoped that streamlining the agency would help reduce costs and clarify what the department does.

In addition, Keogh said, she wants to bring more technical experts to the forefront of the department to make sure they're heavily involved in decision making.

Commissioner Wesley Stites, chairman of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville's chemistry and biochemistry department, asked Keogh if the department's existing divisions would be split among the three new divisions and if staff members will be asked to work on a more diverse set of issues.

"There's obviously going to be some overlap," Keogh said, adding that she hopes, for example, that someone working in hazardous waste can help on solid-waste issues from time to time.

She said she wants to make sure that employees can work on a broader set of tasks, rather than hiring employees for expertise that might not always be in need.

Other commissioners did not ask about the moves. Commissioner Robert Reynolds, president of Shuler Drilling Co., told Keogh that he thought she was doing a good job in her first six months as director.

After the meeting, Stites said he wasn't opposed to Keogh's suggestions but is curious about how the transition to fewer divisions will work.

He said the four divisions set to become land resources -- hazardous waste, regulated storage tanks, solid-waste management, and surface mining and reclamation -- all have a lot in common.

"On the other hand, they're kind of different," he said. "All I was trying to do was just get a feel for what ... how intact those divisions will be."

As for the 5 percent budget cuts, Stites said he wasn't concerned, acknowledging that Hutchinson has asked state agencies to find ways to cut costs.

"I guess I'm just going to sit back and see what happens," he said. "'If the wait times for permit applications start to go up, then obviously there's an issue. If decrease, then, well, hey, she's accomplished some good things."

Keogh has appointed directors of all the divisions except for water. Current Water Division Director Ellen Carpenter has asked not to be appointed to the position, noting that she may retire soon, Keogh said.

Stuart Spencer has been chief of the Air Division for a few months, and Keogh said he's already streamlined its permitting process to reduce its backlog by 70 percent.

Tammy Harrelson, a deputy director of the entire Department of Environmental Quality, will lead the Land Resources Division.

Tim Cain, who arrived in June in another position, will take over the Office of Operations and Outreach. Julie Chapman, who has been general counsel in Keogh's office, will oversee the Office of General Counsel.

Metro on 10/24/2015