HARRISBURG, PA — Patrick McDonnell, acting secretary of the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), warned legislators at a public hearing on March 9 that he’s facing serious staffing shortages at the agency.

In response to a question from Sen. John Yudichak, McDonnell said, “We have significant staffing issues in some of our programs. If there’s a mistake the department has made over the years, it’s managed cuts. We haven’t maybe managed what’s left. The discussion always revolves around the amount of money and the amount of people. I want to translate that back into the service provided those programs.”

The department has faced a series of cuts over the past several years, and the problem is compounded this year by the fact that President Donald Trump is promising to slash the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the DEP relies on federal funding from the EPA for many of its programs.

Rep. Greg Vitali also testified and highlighted numerous statistics and consequences that he said show the agency’s ability to protect Pennsylvania’s environment is being severely handicapped. He said, “The chronic underfunding of DEP by the legislature has severely handicapped its ability to protect the public health and the environment in Pennsylvania.”