The environment was a loser going into the budget discussions; the Legislature simply piled on $6 million in additional cuts to Gov. Corbett's $31 million.

There was hardly a line item in the Environmental Protection budget the legislature did not cut further, with $1.4 million newly cut from department operations and an additional $600,000 from environmental program management.

"These legislators are choosing to reduce our protections at a time when most Pennsylvanians are looking for more oversight on pollution," said Myron Arnowitt, state director of the environmental group Clean Water Action.

"Last year, DEP inspectors found over 1,200 violations at Marcellus Shale drilling sites," said Arnowitt. "I think most people do not believe that this industry is just voluntarily going to comply with clean water rules. Our state legislators don't seem to understand that if you remove DEP there will be consequences."

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources was also pruned by another $2 million cut from state forest funding (for a total of $6 million in cuts) and another $500,000 from state parks (for a total of $19 million in cuts).