Merging of agencies questioned

Critics of Gov. Donald L. Carcieri’s proposal to merge the staffs of Rhode Island’s three environmental agencies as part of efforts to reduce state spending amid Rhode Island’s worst budget crisis in a generation say the plan raises an important question: How much fat can be trimmed before you cut dangerously into a regulatory agency’s muscle?
At least 29 positions would be eliminated under Carcieri’s proposed merger of the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council and the R.I. Water Resources Board into the R.I. Department of Environmental Protection, saving an estimated $1.9 million next fiscal year.
But Carcieri’s consolidation plan is opposed by a coalition of 19 environmental and economic groups concerned about a looming water shortage for many Rhode Island communities. The coalition is concerned that merging the environmental agencies could reduce water-supply management and environmental protection in the state.
“The budget is not the place to be setting policy – the policy should come first and the budget should support it,” said Sheila Dormody, coordinator of the Coalition for Water Security.
Under the governor’s consolidation plan, the CRMC, which regulates the state’s waters and coastline, would become a separate program within DEM, and the council itself would remain intact. The Water Resources Board, which manages Rhode Island’s drinking water supply, would be merged into the DEM’s Office of Water Resources.
The merger would eliminate duplicate public relations and office support positions in the agencies, said W. Michael Sullivan, the DEM’s executive director, and would not impact the ability of the combined agency to carry out its mission.
“I sincerely believe there is absolutely no adverse impact on environmental risks, and that there is very real savings,” he said. “Unfortunately for some, the real savings are elimination of jobs – but they are eliminations of job titles that appear to be redundant.”
Carcieri’s plan to save $300,000 in the next fiscal year by folding the R.I. Economic Policy Council into the R.I. Economic Development Corporation will cost a handful of jobs and may rankle some, but is not causing any public backlash.
But merging large state agencies or institutions is inevitably more controversial. On March 14, when House Finance Committee Chairman Steven M. Costantino floated the idea of consolidating Rhode Island College and the Community College of Rhode Island to save money, the proposal provoked an argument that spilled into the halls of the Statehouse.
In addition, any consideration of whether CRMC should be brought under DEM’s roof will be colored by politics involving the governor’s tug of war with the General Assembly over control of the powerful environmental agency.
In the wake of a separation-of-powers amendment overwhelmingly passed by voters in 2004, Carcieri and government watchdog groups have pressured the General Assembly to give up its authority to name half of the 16-person council. But the General Assembly has yet to do so.
On March 12, one day in advance of a Statehouse hearing over Carcieri’s proposal to merge the environmental agencies, the CRMC issued a cease-and-desist order citing DEM with alleged wetlands violations at Fishermen’s Memorial State Park in Narragansett.
CRMC staff believed that DEM workers who cleared several acres in the state park’s campground late last year did not get permits needed to do the work, which was within 200 feet of wetlands, according to Laura Ricketson-Dwyer, a CRMC spokeswoman.
State Rep. Donald J. Lally Jr., D-Narragansett, called the DEM’s approach to clearing land in a sensitive area “cavalier,” and said the incident served as an example of why the two agencies should not be merged.
“I think that speaks volumes as to why we need to keep CRMC as our watchdog,” he said.
Sullivan suggested that CRMC had a political motive for issuing the cease-and-desist order in advance of the Statehouse hearing. Dwyer said CRMC staff learned of the alleged wetlands violation only days before.
Environmental groups have long argued the General Assembly’s control of CRMC causes potential conflicts of interest when making decisions impacting the environment. Cynthia Giles, director of the Conservation Law Foundation’s Rhode Island office, said she was unfamiliar with the details in CRMC’s cease-and-desist order against DEM and could not comment on the allegations.
But she was among several environmentalists who said they had no problem with merging CRMC into DEM.
“In general, I think DEM has certainly attempted to be a good steward of the environment, both in terms of the properties it owns and its permitting and enforcement work,” she said. “So I think the idea that, but for CRMC we’d have a DEM scofflaw, is not supported by the evidence.”
Regardless of whether the environmental agencies are merged, DEM could potentially lose as much as 20 percent of its staff this summer. Sullivan said that up to 100 senior employees at the agency could retire all at once if proposals by the governor to redefine retirement provisions are approved during current contract negotiations with the unions that represent the employees.
About 80 of the employees who could choose to retire before their retirement benefits are reduced work in DEM’s parks and recreation division, potentially leaving state parks severely understaffed through the summer, Sullivan said.
“I’ve got people lining up to leave,” he said.
Given the fiscal and operational struggles that DEM and all state agencies are facing, Dormody, the coordinator for the Coalition for Water Security, said she is not sure the agency is up to the task of taking over the duties of the Water Resources Board.
“We’re not seeing that as a place that’s going to be able to pick up any additional responsibilities,” she said. •