The Legislature’s Committee on Budget, Appropriations and Finance heard Thursday how staffing shortages, library funding and federal grant oversight continue to challenge the Department of Planning and Natural Resources.
Commissioner Jean-Pierre Oriol presented the department’s proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget, requesting $212,433,002, including $9,481,928 from the General Fund, $13,717,158 in non-appropriated local funds and $189,233,923 in federal grants.
Federal grants account for about 89% of the proposed budget, though Oriol noted that much of that funding does not support the department’s day-to-day operations.
“Approximately $126 million, or 66%, of the federal funding is allocated toward land acquisition and infrastructure grants that pass through DPNR and do not support departmental operations,” Oriol said.
The General Fund request is about 35% higher than the department’s current local appropriation of $7,009,487. Oriol said the additional local funding would support personnel, utilities, supplies, required matching funds for federal grants, the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts, the Historic Preservation Commission and other environmental obligations.
Oriol said DPNR employs 148 people but has about 100 funded vacancies on paper, including roughly 46 priority positions, many of them in environmental enforcement, permitting and libraries. He said recruitment continues to be hampered by salary limitations despite efforts to make government positions more competitive.
“DPNR continues to experience human resource challenges due to salary constraints,” he told lawmakers, noting that while the department hired new staff in fiscal 2026 and plans to advertise about 20 additional positions by the end of July, filling critical posts remains difficult.
Lawmakers also focused on the territory’s libraries, where Oriol said staffing shortages continue to delay the reopening of the Dr. Charles W. Turnbull Regional Library despite the fact that its FEMA-funded construction contract is now in closeout.
He said the Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums receives DPNR’s largest General Fund allocation at about $2.8 million, yet the Turnbull library alone was projected to require roughly $3 million annually to operate when it opened. The library cannot fully reopen until about nine staff members are hired, he said. Renovations at the Christiansted library are expected to finish around November.
Permitting delays remain a challenge for the department, with residential applications typically taking 28 to 35 days and Coastal Zone Management permits generally requiring 60 to 70 days because of public notice requirements.
Oriol said the permits division has limited staffing for plan reviews and inspections and is turning to technology to help manage workload. He said DPNR is expanding its electronic permitting system and working with the International Code Council on an artificial intelligence-assisted plan review tool “that can do in seconds what it will take us maybe 30 or 40 minutes to do,” while leaving local code requirements to human reviewers.
Environmental Enforcement continues to face staffing shortages, particularly in the St. Thomas–St. John district. Oriol said the unit has only a small number of officers there following recent resignations and a retirement, and added that DPNR has qualified three new recruits to help restore patrol coverage.
He said the division is responsible for enforcing anchoring and mooring rules, responding to environmental complaints and addressing abandoned vessels. Oriol told lawmakers the department has undertaken multiple projects in recent years to remove marine debris and derelict boats, with little ability to recover those costs from vessel owners. Senators cited recently sunken boats in Gallows Bay and Frederiksted and raised concerns about potential fuel and oil leaks.
To improve compliance and services, Oriol said DPNR is rolling out electronic vessel registration cards that can be stored on mobile devices and used as proof of registration until physical decals are issued. In his prepared testimony, he described the new system as “digital cards, accessible via mobile devices or as downloadable files,” that contain the vessel’s registration details and are issued immediately upon approval.
Federal grant management and oversight also drew scrutiny, including efforts to remove the Environmental Protection division’s “high-risk” designation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Oriol said the department has submitted reimbursement packages, updated internal policies and expanded staff training to improve compliance.
Business Administration Director Apryl Henry said several audit findings involving payroll allocation, equipment inventory and grant oversight were linked to missing documentation after financial staff retired or resigned. She said DPNR is working with the Department of Finance and an outside consulting firm to centralize records ahead of the next audit.
Senators also reviewed a $10 million EPA supplemental grant awarded after Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Henry said nearly $9 million remained unspent as of May 31, while Oriol said the balance is expected to decrease as reimbursements are processed and the department works with EPA to extend the spending deadline. Committee Chair Sen. Novelle Francis Jr. said the Legislature’s post-audit division would conduct a more detailed review of the grant.
Oriol also asked lawmakers to support funding for a permanent Department of Planning and Natural Resources headquarters on St. Thomas. He said the agency currently spends more than $350,000 annually on leased office space and has completed design work to renovate the former Navy barracks at Subbase.
He said inflation has nearly doubled the project’s estimated cost to about $9 million. DPNR has set aside about $4 million from its own revenues and is seeking an additional $3 million from the St. Thomas Capital Improvement Fund. Oriol said relocating to a permanent facility would reduce annual operating costs by about 72 percent while significantly cutting long-term lease expenses.
