Wyoming

Environmental protection

The state's principal environmental concerns are conservation of scarce water resources and preservation of air quality. The Environmental Quality Council, a seven-member board appointed by the governor, hears and decides all cases arising under the regulations of the Department of Environmental Quality, which was established in 1973 and reorganized in 1992. The department enforces measures to prevent pollution of Wyoming's surface water and groundwater, and it administers 21 air-monitoring sites to maintain air quality. Wyoming typically spends the most money per capita on the environment and natural resources relative to all the states in the union. Programs to dispose of hazardous waste and assure safe drinking water are administered by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); in 2002–2005, the federal program to fund infrastructure for safe drinking water allocated 1% of its budget to Wyoming. In 2003, Wyoming had 42 hazardous waste sites listed in the Environmental Protection Agency's database, two of which were on the National Priorities List. Wetlands cover about 1.25 million acres of Wyoming and are administered and protected by the Wyoming Wetlands Act. In 2001, Wyoming received $28,059,000 in federal grants from the Environmental Protection Agency; however, there were no EPA expenditures for procurement contracts in Wyoming that year.