|
|
|
The DEP’s Multi-Faceted Mission
|
Business New Haven
8/10/98
By: BNH
|
According to state Department of Environmental Protection Assistant Commissioner Jane Stahl, the agency has a dual mission.
“Not only are we charged with enforcing laws that regulate potential polluters, we are also charged with protecting Connecticut's natural resources,” Stahl says.
When the DEP was founded in October 1971, Connecticut fell short of the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) in all six measured pollutants: lead, carbon monoxide, particulates, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and ozone.
Today, the state violates the NAAQS benchmark for ozone only, and the number of “exceedance” days for ozone has declined more than 60 percent since the early 1970s.
That's just one of the accomplishments of the DEP since the legislature authorized its organization nearly 30 years ago. Other notable accomplishments include:
• Restoring the Naugatuck River from “dead zone” status;
• Restoration of the Quinebaug Valley Fish Hatchery in Plainfield;
• Restoration of the state's wild turkey population from a low of 22 in 1975 to more than 20,000;
• Completion of a statewide lake, pond and stream survey;
• Institution of an Urban and Community Forestry Program;
• Reduced boat fatalities by 86 percent through education and increased enforcement. Connecticut was the first state to establish mandatory boating-safety education;
• Acquiring and adding more than 6,400 acres to the state's open space inventory;
• Creation of the Connecticut Clean Water Fund to provide grants and low interest-rate loans to finance more than $1 billion worth of municipal infrastructure improvements;
• Adoption of underground fuel storage tank regulations to protect ground water from leaking tanks;
• Institution of the first dedicated vehicle license plate program which, to date, has used more than $2.3 million from the sale of 60,000-plus plates to support Long Island Sound-related projects and educational programs; and
• Adoption of a statewide Recycling Plan and Mandatory Recycling Act which increased the state's recycling rate from about five percent in the mid-1980s to an average of 23 percent today.
In its 1996 annual report, the council of Environmental Quality cited Connecticut for improvements in air quality, clean-up and redevelopment of contaminated urban properties, and better protection of water resources and wetlands.
- L.G.M.
|
Go FirstGo PreviousGo
NextGo LastGo
to Index
|
|
