Save TURI Now!
For 20 years, Massachusetts businesses have had a unique resource to help them reduce their toxic chemicals use and release: the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI). We are on the verge of losing this incredible resource; TURI’s funding was eliminated in the state budget. Please write to your state legislators now!
On June 29th, Governor Patrick signed the FY2010 state budget which, unfortunately, eliminated funding for the Toxic Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at UMass-Lowell. For the past two decades, TURI has worked with companies in Massachusetts to reduce their use of toxic chemicals and their toxic waste.
TURI was created through the Toxic Use Reduction Act (TURA), which was passed in 1989, and created a funding stream that collected fees from companies that use toxic chemicals to pay for the program.
Several years ago, the state eliminated the dedicated toxics use reduction program fund and diverted the industry fees to the general state coffers. This was done with the understanding that the program would continue to be funded from the general state budget, since the fees from companies were available to cover the cost. These collected fees have allowed TURI to provide research, technical assistance, and training support to companies in Massachusetts.
Five-hundred-and-fifty firms in Massachusetts that use hazardous substances pay an annual toxic chemical fee to the state that has amounted to more than $3 million a year. This has lead to a 40% reduction of their toxic chemical use and 80% reduction of their release of toxic chemicals, while saving millions of dollars. TURI has been a worldwide leader in safer chemicals and products.
In the new state budget, TURI is rolled into the University of Massachusetts line item, even though UMass has also lost funding and cannot fund the program. Under this arrangement, it is no longer clear how the fees paid by Massachusetts businesses are being used and is saddling families and students with the costs of the program that should be paid by the industries.
The Legislature will be preparing a “supplemental budget” soon that will close the gaps left by the budget signed by Governor Patrick on June 29th. This gives TURI another chance to be funded through the appropriation of $1.2 million of the business fees collected to UMass-Lowell for the program. Please help save this critical resource by writing to your state legislators to request that the situation be remedied immediately!
“Massachusetts is uniquely positioned to expand its global leadership in cleaner manufacturing and safer products, and with the right political will, it can continue this trajectory. The Legislature and governor should apply long-term thinking and insight toward finding solutions to the budget crisis that create economic, health, and ecosystem benefits, rather than eliminate them.” - Joel Tickner & Ken Geiser, Boston Globe, [July 14, 2009]
Comments on this post
Post a comment