Press Releases

In the latest advisory, the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council classified five counties in Eastern North Carolina as experiencing severe drought, or D2 conditions: Carteret, Craven, Jones, Onslow and Pamlico counties. Fifty-eight counties are classified as experiencing moderate drought, or D1 conditions. Another 36 counties are classified as abnormally dry.

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission today took a step towards adoption of draft Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Amendment 4 by approving the draft plan for public and advisory committee review. Draft Amendment 4 would move the already scheduled sector allocation shift to 50/50 (commercial/recreational) in Amendment 3 up by one year to 2025.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s (NCDEQ) Division of Coastal Management (DCM) Coastal Reserve program and partners from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC), NC State Parks, Bald Head Island Conservancy, NC Audubon, NC Aquariums and National Park Service are recruiting volunteers to participate in the 2025 Terrapin Tally.

Two State Water Infrastructure Authority committees will meet via Webex on Wednesday, March 19 as indicated below. The public may listen to the meeting online or by phone.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries will hold a public hearing on proposed shellfish leases in Craven County at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 2. The hearing will be held in-person at the Craven Community College - Havelock Campus, 305 Cunningham Blvd, STEM Building, Room 134, Havelock, NC 28532, and by Webex.

Three advisory committees to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will meet this month to accept public comment, discuss, and vote on recommendations for adaptive management for the draft Blue Crab Fishery Management Plan Amendment 3 Revision.

The open burning of trash, metal, plastic and all other man-made materials not only harms the environment and poses a public health risk, it’s against state law.During the spring burning season, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality is reminding North Carolinians: If it doesn’t grow, don’t burn it. Open burning is only allowed in limited circumstances and only for vegetative materials like leaves, limbs and yard debris.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) State Energy Office is holding a series of public engagement opportunities in February and March to provide information and gather feedback on the Department’s initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of the federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grant’s (CPRG) Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP).

At NC DEQ's direction, Chemours is significantly expanding sampling eligibility for PFAS contamination in private drinking water wells around the Fayetteville Works plant, now including portions of Harnett and Hoke counties.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) will no longer process an application submitted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) to modify its Title V air quality permit after UNC withdrew its application.UNC submitted its notification of application withdrawal on March 10.