The Natural Resources Subcommittee recommended Senate Bill 5,520 — the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) budget — be amended by dash-1 and reported out due pass. The subcommittee recommended a total-funds budget of approximately $966 million, an increase of roughly 24% over the 2023 approved budget and driven in part by federal climate grant funding.

Several members voiced strong concerns about DEQ performance on core permitting functions, particularly air and wastewater permit timeliness. Representative Mark Owens pressed performance measures, citing low issuance rates for new air-quality permits and wastewater discharge permits and saying regulated entities pay high fees without timely permit action. “If you look at title 5 in 02/2023, we increased title 5 by 83… 16 of our largest emitters still have a permit that is from 02/2009,” Owens said.

Others noted the large budget increase and questioned whether funding growth had produced improved outcomes. Senator Bonham described the agency budget as having “doubled in four years” and said he did not believe the agency was performing; he said spending should instead target forest work to improve air quality. Representative Smith recorded an I vote out of procedural respect and asked for additional conversations.

The subcommittee’s recommendation includes funding for climate protection grants, water infrastructure support, reclassification of positions and other program investments. Members discussed possible follow-up budget notes and process-improvement reviews — for example, bringing in consultants to examine DEQ permitting processes as was done for water permits.

The motion to report the bill out as amended passed with several recorded objections in the transcript. Members asked the Legislative Fiscal Office and chairs to continue work on performance measures and to track permit-timeliness improvements.