Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
MassDEP advisory committee details FY25 funding, staffing boosts and PFAS focus
Summary
At a quarterly Wayside Cleanup Advisory Committee meeting, MassDEP leaders outlined FY25 budget allocations including $87 million for the agency and funding for expansion positions, highlighted environmental justice investments, previewed PFAS guidance work and scheduled a Brownfields update.
Millie Garcia Serrano, Bureau of Wayside Cleanup Assistant Commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, told the advisory committee that the Executive Office of Energy and Environment received steady funding in the state’s FY25 budget and that the department has used recent budget increases to expand hiring and program capacity.
"1% of the state budget for EEA... $555,000,000 for EEA with $87,000,000 for DEP," Garcia Serrano said, noting the increase supports roughly 80 expansion positions and $8,700,000 directed to environmental justice work across EEA departments.
The committee meeting served as a routine forum for MassDEP to solicit comments on wayside cleanup regulations, policies and programs and to update advisory members on near-term priorities. Garcia Serrano reviewed agenda items that included site‑cleanup program updates, the 2024 MCP amendments (with attention to subpart I and questions about coal tar and risk assessment), a forthcoming soils‑reuse policy update, and an extended discussion planned on per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). She also announced a guest presentation by Elise Sekola, identified in the meeting as general manager for NUCA Research.
MassDEP staff updates followed the budget overview. Garcia Serrano welcomed Sarah Hughes to the Boston regional office as an environmental analyst on the data analytics team and acknowledged recent retirements, including Matt Fitzpatrick, who retired in February 2024 after 39 years and was credited with contributions to MassDEP’s data systems. She also noted leadership changes in the Southeast emergency response program and partnerships with the U.S. Coast Guard, citing attendance at a July 12, 2024 change‑of‑command ceremony at U.S. Sector Boston Base.
The meeting included a brief recognition of new LSPA Association officers and concluded the opening portion by inviting Diane Baxter to present the Brownfields program update.
The advisory committee did not take formal votes during the portion of the meeting captured in the transcript; next steps signaled were program presentations and follow‑up items to be recorded as action items for future meetings.
