Panel restores hazardous-waste funding, approves KEIMS upgrade and $2 million in water-protection enhancements for KDHE

The House appropriations subcommittee restored funding and positions for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) in a series of votes that included hazardous-waste stabilization, a one-time information-technology implementation, and three water-protection enhancements.

Luke Drury, senior VISTA analyst with the Kansas Legislative Research Department, walked the committee through KDHE’s budget materials and noted that several supplemental and enhancement requests — including hazardous-waste and livestock-waste items and FTE changes — had initially been deleted by the Legislative Budget Committee but were before the subcommittee for possible restoration.

Representative Long moved to restore $350,000 in the State General Fund for KDHE’s hazardous-waste management program for FY2025; Representative Smith seconded and the motion carried on a voice vote. The committee then approved a matching $350,000 addition for FY2026 after members discussed that the appropriation was intended as a catch-up while the agency transitions to higher fee revenue.

During KDHE’s environment discussion, Kate Gleason, deputy director of environment at KDHE, described the agency’s Keyms (KEIMS) database and the requested implementation work. “The KEIMS database… is used by all of our programs now in environment. And it is both internal for database management for our in house records,” Gleason said. “It also is an external facing portal for folks… so refineries or whatever type of facility they can now submit their reports, permit applications, all types of documents to us through KEIMS.” The committee approved a $425,000 one-time SGF appropriation to accelerate two KEIMS implementation projects: an internal-database link and an EPA-facing submission link.

The subcommittee voted to restore 8.1 FTEs that the Legislative Budget Committee had deleted; members asked KDHE for documentation on each position’s duties and salaries and for confirmation that funding exists to cover fringe benefits. The committee recorded that KDHE said funds were available to pay salaries and benefits.

Representative Long moved and the committee approved $210,000 SGF for KDHE’s livestock-waste management program to fund contract engineers and reduce permit backlogs for confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The committee recorded that the appropriation supports permitting, repairs and cleanup work and that the program targets low-income households for septic/well assistance where specified.

KDHE asked for three State Water Plan Fund (SWPF) enhancements that the subcommittee separated and voted on individually: $500,000 for a watershed restoration and protection strategy program (soil-health practices and nutrient-sediment runoff prevention); $500,000 for a rural groundwater, septic-system and well-testing program targeted to low-income households (testing plus repair and replacement assistance); and $1,000,000 for contamination remediation of “orphan sites” — locations without a responsible party for cleanup. All three SWPF items were approved on separate voice votes.

A motion to add $1,000,000 and 6 FTEs for water-planning project development in FY2026 failed after members questioned timing and fiscal prudence. Following the KDHE amendments the committee voted to pass the KDHE environment budget for FY2025 and FY2026 as amended.

The chair asked KDHE to provide documentation on restored positions and historical details on the rural well-testing program (start date, lapse and previous funding) to support later appropriations deliberations.