Nearly all who spoke Tuesday during a public hearing in Fayetteville criticized the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission’s proposed industrial discharge rules fail to protect the drinking water supply of people who live farther down the Cape Fear River.
DEQ
Workshop to focus on resilience in unincorporated Dare
The North Carolina Resilient Coastal Communities Program is hosting an interactive development workshop on Tuesday that focuses on key preliminary findings from a coastal vulnerability and needs assessment of unincorporated Dare County.
Mapping upgrades go live in online flood blueprint tool
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s online tool designed to help local governments, agencies and nongovernmental partners plan and prioritize flood resilience actions now includes new maps for five river basins in Eastern North Carolina.
Commercial, for-hire fishing license, permit presale is April 15
Commercial and for-hire fishers may take advantage of the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries’ presales for fishing licenses and permits beginning April 15.
State accepting water restoration, management proposals
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources is accepting proposals for stream restoration, water-based restoration and water management projects.
State plan IDs ways to meet carbon emissions reduction goal
The recently released North Carolina Comprehensive Climate Action Plant includes resilience and carbon reduction measures to meet the greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal established in a 2022 executive order.
Hearing set for proposed Pamlico County shellfish lease
Evan R. Gadow has applied for a 0.72-acre lease in Little Bear Creek.
State wildlife commission seeks turtle tally volunteers
The annual spring Terrapin Tally, which is headed by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, relies on volunteers to spot and document the little aquatic turtles in marshes, estuaries and tidal creeks along the southern North Carolina coast.
State energy office to host hearing on savings program
The N.C. State Energy Office is accepting comments and has scheduled a public hearing next month on the proposed adoption of a nonprofit to act as the service provider for the weatherization services to income-eligible houses in a region that includes several coastal counties.
New state Clean Water Act certification rules take effect
Applicants for permits for construction and other projects with impacts to waters or wetlands that meet thresholds and conditions under the state’s newly implemented general certification will be waived from the 30-day notice requirement.
Public comments regarding river basin transfer plan pour in
New issues of concern keep arising as officials in Wilmington and Brunswick County urge rejection of Fuquay-Varina’s plan on file with the state to take more than 6 million gallons per day from the Cape Fear River to meet its growth demands.
Public hearings set on proposed wastewater discharge rules
Six public hearings scheduled for next month through May will cover proposed PFAS and 1,4-dixoane monitoring and minimization rules governing wastewater discharges into North Carolina’s surface waters.
More red drum to be added to satellite tracking platform
The North Carolina Marine & Estuary Foundation and North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries plan to tag 25 additional red drum this year as part of a project to better understand where and how the species travels through the state’s coastal waters.
Stein, Wilson tour Cape Fear Utility water treatment plant
Gov. Josh Stein and NCDEQ Secretary Reid Wilson this week visited Cape Fear Public Utility Authority’s Sweeney Water Treatment Plant in Wilmington, where they announced a $17.8 million grant from the state to support the replacement and capacity upgrade of one of the utility’s reclamation facilities.
Environmental Management Commission set to meet
The commission that adopts rules to protect natural resources and its committees will meet in Raleigh March 11-12.
Agencies to provide work, study updates on Navassa site
A community meeting providing updates and future work at the Navassa Superfund Site in Brunswick County has been scheduled for March 12.
