A committee of the Environmental Management Commission when it meets this month is to hear progress on the 2026 draft update to the state’s long-term plan to protect and preserve habitats that support coastal fisheries.
Committee meetings are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday and the full commission is to meet at 9 a.m. Thursday, both in the Archdale building in Raleigh. Details on how the public can stream the meeting online, the full agenda and meeting materials are posted on the commission’s website.
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North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality staff are to present the status of the Coastal Habitat Protection Plan, or CHPP, to the water quality committee during its meeting at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 9.
CHPP is a mandate of the Marine Fisheries Act of 1997. The law directs NCDEQ staff to draft a plan that the Marine Fisheries, Coastal Resources and Environmental Management commissions adopt. These three commissions set policies and rules that NCDEQ’s divisions of marine fisheries, coastal management and water quality implement and enforce.
The first plan was released in 2005 and the five-year updates required by the law were released in 2010, 2016, 2021, and the 2026 update is underway. Staff presented the current draft to the Marine Fisheries Commission on Aug. 20, and to the Coastal Resources Commission on Aug. 26. A similar presentation is expected at the water quality committee meeting. The three commissions are to give feedback on the content, which will be incorporated and presented again before the members vote to send the document out for public comment.
The water allocation committee begins the day of meetings at 9 a.m. Sept. 9 to hear from Division of Water Resources staff about harmful algal blooms, including what they are, the state’s monitoring and reporting system, and subsequent action for mitigation.
The groundwater and waste management committee that follows at 10:30 a.m. is to consider sending to the full commission proposed technical edits for existing rules on soil remediation and groundwater quality standards that are undergoing the required 10-year periodic review process.
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When the full Environmental Management Commission meets at 9 a.m. Thursday, members are to consider a handful of technical rule changes, including changes the language for national ambient air quality standards.
The Clean Air Act requires the national standards, or NAAQS, to be updated every five years. Currently, these standards are listed in the state’s rule text, and each time the Environmental Protection Agency adjusts those standards, the commission has to go through the rulemaking process to reflect those changes. The proposed amendment removes the list and includes the language, “adopt by reference the National Ambient Air Quality Standards in 40 CFR Part 50, including subsequent amendments and editions.” Referencing the title of the standards in the Code of Federal Regulations eliminates the need to go through the rulemaking process each time the EPA changes the numbers.
The commission will also consider sending to public comment proposed air quality rule updates that are mostly technical edits or minor amendments, and proposed amendments to mitigation services rules going through the 10-year periodic rules review process, and hear information items about proposed stormwater rules and reclassifying the Yadkin Pee-Dee River Basin.
