NJ environmental groups warn Trump budget cuts could have ‘catastrophic impact’ on Delaware River watershed.
TRENTON — New Jersey environmental groups and some state lawmakers denounced President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday, singling out the proposed impact on the Delaware River and its large watershed.
Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 video.
The full House is expected to take up the measure next month.
Even scaled back from what Trump proposed, the EPA cuts pose a serious threat to key programs, leaders from the environmental groups said, citing the 15 million people who rely on the Delaware River for drinking water.
The grants provide funding for the Delaware River Basin Commission, the interstate government agency that oversees water resources across the basin, a 13,500-square-mile area spanning parts of New Jersey, Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania.
"They’re facing a world of problems."
Any loss in funding would be difficult for the state to absorb and would likely force layoffs or cuts in other environmental programs such as state parks, said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.
"They hear the news about budget cuts, they think it has nothing to do with them.
O’Malley said the groups would press each member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation to oppose any cuts to EPA funding, but particularly the reductions called for by the president.