Executive summary 8 I. Introduction 26 II. State government capability 28
NC DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES
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- Environmental Management Commission
- Division of Water Quality
- Division of Water Quality, NC Wetlands Restoration Program
- Local Watershed Planning Initiative
- NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP)
- Division of Water Quality, Water Quality Section
- Water Quality Section, Stormwater Unit
- Division of Water Quality, Groundwater Section
- Division of Water Quality, Basinwide Water Quality Planning
NC DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCESThe NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is the lead stewardship agency for the preservation and protection of North Carolina’s natural resources. The organization, which has offices from the mountains to the coast, administers regulatory programs designed to protect air quality, water quality, and the public’s health. DENR also offers technical assistance to businesses, farmers, local governments, and the public. Through its natural resource divisions, DENR works to protect fish, wildlife, and wilderness areas. The department is organized into the Secretary’s office and staff, administration, divisions, programs, regional offices, boards, councils, and commissions. . Divisions and Offices within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that are described here include:
Environmental Management CommissionThe Environmental Management Commission is a 19-member commission appointed by the Governor, the Senate Pro Tempore, and the Speaker of the House. The Commission is responsible for adopting rules for the protection, preservation, and enhancement of the State’s air and water resources. Commission members are chosen to represent various interests, including the medical profession, agriculture, engineering, fish and wildlife, groundwater, air and water pollution control, municipal and county governments, and the public at large. The Commission oversees and adopts rules for several divisions of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, including the Division of Air Quality, Land Resources, Water Quality, and Water Resources. Division of Water QualityThe NC Division of Water Quality (DWQ) in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is the agency responsible for statewide regulatory programs in groundwater and surface water protection. The agency, with central offices in Raleigh and seven regional officers located across the State, issues pollution control permits, monitors permit compliance, evaluates environmental quality and carries out enforcement actions for violations of environmental regulations. While the DWQ focuses on the quality of water in our State, there is an obvious link between water quality and water quantity. Closer alignment between water quality programs with flood prevention programs could increase the effectiveness of both. The Division is composed of five Sections: Wetlands Restoration Program, Water Quality, Groundwater, Construction Grants and Loans, and Laboratory. The Division also promotes Basinwide Water Quality Planning. Together, these Sections administer the policies and rules established by the State’s Environmental Management Commission, as described below. These policies and rules are designed to support the Division in its resource protection, management and regulatory efforts. Division of Water Quality, NC Wetlands Restoration ProgramThe NC Wetlands Restoration Program (NCWRP) is an innovative, nonprofit program established by the General Assembly in 1996 to restore wetlands, streams and streamside (riparian) buffer areas throughout the State. The NCWRP is housed in the Division of Water Quality for administrative purposes. The goals of the NCWRP are:
There are many agencies and programs implementing and funding stream, wetland, and buffer restoration projects across the State. However, the NCWRP is the only program that uses a systematic approach to set restoration priorities based on restoration needs and restoration opportunity. Detailed planning allows the NCWRP to focus on projects that have the greatest likelihood for improving water quality, floodwater retention and recreational opportunities. The NCWRP believes that the implementation of the best stream, wetland and riparian buffer restoration projects begins with planning. In line with this philosophy, the Program includes a strong planning component that is comprised of three parts. The first is the development of Watershed Restoration Plans for each of North Carolina’s 17 major river basins. These plans rely heavily on information contained in the Division of Water Quality’s Basinwide Water Quality Plans. The second major component of the NCWRP’s planning efforts is the Local Watershed Planning Initiative. Through this approach, NCWRP focuses resources in specific 14-digit hydrologic units—local watersheds—in order to address water quality and quantity issues. This process involves conducting a detailed assessment of the condition of the watershed, involving the local community in identifying solutions to water quality and quantity problems, and working to get agreed-upon solutions implemented. Local Watershed Planning InitiativeThe Local Watershed Planning Initiative is a comprehensive planning effort by the NCWRP to improve sources of pollution/degradation in a local watershed (14-digit hydrologic unit) and recommend comprehensive strategy for improving water quality. At a minimum, Local Watershed Plans identify potential stream and wetland restoration projects to help meet NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) future compensatory needs. Ideally, these restoration projects will be linked to other water quality improvement efforts initiated at the local level, such as stormwater management projects, water supply planning strategies, land use planning or best management practices for reducing nonpoint source pollution and controlling stormwater runoff. Local Watershed Plans will include three key components: 1) Identification of the specific causes of watershed degradation identified through a detailed assessment; 2) links watershed problems with specific restoration strategies that are supported by the local community; and 3) A strategy for implementing restoration projects and other watershed initiatives. NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP)In July 2003, the NC Ecosystem Enhancement Program (EEP) was created by a Memorandum of Agreement among the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR), and the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT). EEP merges the resources of the NC Wetlands Restoration Program with compensatory mitigation resources from NCDOT’s Office of the Natural Environment. EEP is administered under and incorporates the goals of the Wetlands Restoration Program to restore and protect the State’s wetlands and waterways. Under the Memorandum of Agreement, EEP’s efforts to improve the environment will be:
Division of Water Quality, Water Quality SectionThe goal of the Water Quality Section within the Division of Water Quality is to maintain or restore and improve an aquatic environment able to protect the existing or best intended uses of North Carolina’s surface waters and to ensure compliance with state and federal water quality standards. Those uses include drinking water, recreational activities, agricultural and other purposes and the protection and maintenance of aquatic life. Efforts to attain clean water in the state primarily involve the control and prevention of water pollution from two sources: point sources, such as municipal and industrial wastewater discharges; and nonpoint sources that originate from agricultural drainage, urban runoff, land clearing, construction, mining, forestry, septic tanks and land application of waste. The Water Quality Section is responsible for developing water quality classification and standards, program planning and new water quality protection programs. The Section also issues permits and handles enforcement and compliance of those permits. The Water Quality Section also provides the training and certification exams for operators of wastewater treatment plants, on-site wastewater treatment systems, wastewater collection systems, spray irrigation systems and land application systems. Technical assistance is available to help operators and permits holders meet treatment and compliance standards. Staff in the regional offices conduct waste water treatment inspections, respond to water quality compliance and emergencies (such as oil spills and fish kills), collect water quality data, enforce permits and carry out other field-related responsibilities. Water Quality Section, Stormwater UnitThe Water Quality Section Stormwater Unit handles a number of state and federal stormwater management programs throughout the State. The two major stormwater permitting programs are the State Stormwater Permitting Program, and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). State Stormwater Permitting Program: The State Stormwater Permitting Program was established in the late 1980s under the authority of the NC Environmental Management Commission and NCGS 143-214.7. This program affects development activities that either require an Erosion and Sedimentation Control Plan (for disturbances of one or more acres), or a Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) Major Permit. The State Stormwater Management Program requires developers to protect sensitive waters by maintaining a low density of impervious surfaces, maintain vegetative buffers, and transport runoff through vegetative conveyances. If low-density design criteria cannot be met, then high density development requires installation of structural Best Management Practices to collect and treat stormwater runoff from the project. NPDES: The Division of Water Quality administers the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, the federally established program for controlling point-source discharges of pollution, promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Urban stormwater runoff, often highly polluted, is carried by storm sewer systems and discharged into streams and rivers without treatment. Because of stormwater’s potential effects on water quality, the Clean Water Act requires that local governments obtain an NPDES permit for stormwater discharges. The NPDES Phase I stormwater permit program, created in 1990, applied only to communities or counties of 100,000 or more population, and 11 categories of industrial activity, including construction activity that disturbs five or more acres of land. In North Carolina, there are six local governments that fit the Phase I category. Each of these local governments has in place a stormwater management program that includes minimum elements: Public education, Illicit discharge detection and elimination, Storm sewer system and land use mapping, Analytical monitoring. In the winter of 1999, the EPA promulgated NPDES phase II, which extended the permit requirements to all small stormwater systems not covered by phase I, and reduces the size of regulated construction activities to include projects between one and five acres of land disturbance. Local governments are required under phase II to develop a stormwater management program consisting of six elements:
Division of Water Quality, Groundwater SectionThe Groundwater Section of the Division of Water Quality is the lead state agency for groundwater protection. Responsibilities of the Groundwater Section include groundwater pollution prevention, groundwater quality classification and standards, review of permits for wastes discharged to the groundwaters, developing and implementing groundwater cleanup requirements, promoting resource restoration, well construction rules, underground injection control, and groundwater quality monitoring. Division of Water Quality, Basinwide Water Quality PlanningBasinwide water quality planning is a non-regulatory, watershed-based approach to restoring and protecting the quality of North Carolina’s surface waters. Basinwide water quality plans are prepared by the NC Division of Water Quality for each of the 17 major river basins in the State. Preparation of a basinwide water quality plan is a five-year process. While these plans are prepared by the Division, their implementation and the protection of water quality entails the coordinated efforts of many agencies, local governments and stakeholder groups in the watershed. The first cycle of plans was completed in 1998, but each plan is updated at regular intervals. Each basinwide plan is subdivided into four major sections, as described briefly below:
Directory: div div -> 9th May 1950 the schuman declaration div -> Supplemental demographic information div -> Introduction A. Purpose & Authority div -> This section includes changes made during the 2013 update div -> General occupational safety and health rules subdivision z toxic and hazardous substances div -> Computer Basics What is a computer div -> Mobile county, alabama regular board meeting div -> Privacy: Campus Living & Technology Download 1 Mb. Share with your friends:
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