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DRNA warns climate plan funding gaps, lab lease risk and staffing shortfalls at transition hearing
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Summary
DRNA’s outgoing leadership told the transition committee that the island’s climate adaptation plan has many unfunded measures and that the department faces a 43% vacancy rate, an expiring environmental laboratory contract, and temporary pump‑station contracts while FEMA designs permanent fixes.
The Department of Natural and Environmental Resources told Puerto Rico’s transition committee that its climate‑adaptation report contains many high‑cost proposals without identified financing, and the department is racing to secure its monitoring capacity and critical infrastructure before contracts and federal approvals expire. The department’s interim secretary, Roberto Méndez, said the department manages broad responsibilities from parks to coastal infrastructure and faces urgent staffing and capital needs.
“Now the department has 1,181 positions and 43 percent of them are vacant,” Méndez said, noting roughly 879 vacancies and a strong need to recruit and retain technical staff such as chemists, geologists and engineers. He added that many long‑tenured employees hold specialized institutional knowledge that must be transferred before retirements deepen gaps.
Méndez highlighted three immediate operational risks: the environmental monitoring laboratory’s lease with a science trust ends in summer 2025 and extension negotiations were not finalized; temporary contracts for rental pump stations that keep 11 of 13 critical facilities operating expire Dec. 31 of this year; and several resilient‑infrastructure projects remain in design pending FEMA review. “It is crucial to guarantee a permanent space for the laboratory…to protect public health and ensure federal monitoring funds,” he said.
Committee members pressed on the implementation and legal status of the climate committee’s two‑volume plan created under Law 33 (2019). Several committee members warned that many actions in volume two lack cost estimates or identified funding sources. One member summarized the statutory process: if the legislature does not act by the next ordinary session, the plan is deemed approved and becomes binding on executive agencies; that raises concern because the plan includes multi‑billion‑dollar actions without certified costs.
Méndez said that some portions required technical prioritization and that the committee that wrote the plan anticipated further public and agency review before implementation. He also pointed to a commissioned technical cost study and noted that several projects—particularly those affecting major infrastructure like the Luis Muñoz Marín airport—are complex to quantify and depend on multi‑agency coordination.
On invasive species, DRNA flagged a growing problem with non‑native snakes, monkeys and caimans. Méndez recommended bolstering the wildlife unit and the vigilante corps, including adding two wildlife officers per region and stronger inspections at ports and airports. He said the department has already launched public‑education campaigns and cited volunteer collaborators in several municipalities and universities.
On solid waste, DRNA described EPA‑ordered landfill closures and a current contract with GEOSINTEC to complete an island‑wide characterization and infrastructure plan by next summer, backed by approximately $30 million in ALPA funds and competitive CDBG‑MIT awards earmarked for mitigation and closure projects. DRNA staff said that closing noncompliant landfills without viable alternatives would create immediate service gaps, so some closures are being staggered while capacity is expanded.
DRNA officials also described permitting reforms: a memorandum of understanding with OCPE (the permitting office) and the SVP platform reduced duplicate reviews, but many permit processes remain in‑person and require statutory or regulatory amendments to digitalize permanently. The department said it will not turn on platforms for the public until they are fully tested and do not burden users with extra fees or bureaucracy.
The hearing closed with DRNA offering written follow‑ups on several requests for detail—current lists of landfills, the laboratory‑lease status and a breakdown of vacancies by technical area—and with committee members urging that the incoming administration prioritize stabilization of staff, completion of FEMA design reviews for pump‑station reconstruction and securing a permanent site for the environmental lab.
Next steps: DRNA committed to provide the committee with the EPA letter supporting the lab, a detailed staffing table by division and the landfill characterization deliverables, and emphasized the need for legislative and executive coordination to phase any major climate‑plan measures so they meet fiscal oversight requirements.
