Press Releases

To: Interested Parties Date: Monday, April 15, 2019 RE: Comments of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and the North Carolina Office of the Attorney General    on Proposed Revised Waters of the United States(“WOTUS”) Rule Today, N.C. Department of Environmental Quality and N.C. Attorney General submitted comments on behalf of North Carolina in opposition to the draft Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The N.C . Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) today issued three general permits for animal operations: the Swine General Permit, the Cattle General Permit, and the Wet Poultry General Permit. The revisions to the previous permits are increasingly protective of the environment and public health. The 2019 permit also includes measures to promote technology, efficiency and transparency in record keeping and reporting.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality will hold public listening sessions on the development of the state’s Clean Energy Plan, on April 11 in Elizabeth City and May 17 in Greensboro. The public sessions will include updates from the stakeholder workshop process and give attendees an opportunity to provide public comment on key energy issues.

The N.C. Coastal Resources Commission will meet April 17-18 at the Dare County Government Complex, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, Manteo.

The State Water Infrastructure Authority will meet Tuesday and Wednesday, April 9 and 10, at the High Country Council of Government building, 468 New Market Boulevard, Boone 28607. The meeting is open to the public, with an opportunity for informal public comments.

The N.C. Division of Coastal Management is closing the Currituck Banks Reserve to the public from April 8 to April 12, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Wildlife Services program conducts an aerial wildlife damage management operation for feral swine on lands north of Corolla.

A general permit for marsh sills, a type of “living shoreline,” is now available to people in coastal North Carolina who want to stabilize estuarine shorelines. Over the past several years, the N.C. Division of Coastal Management (DCM) has participated in regulatory, research, and education efforts to promote the use of living shorelines, options that use native materials such as plants and oyster shells, as alternatives to traditional bulkheads and revetments for shoreline stabilization and erosion control in estuarine areas of North Carolina.

Today, N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) ordered Duke Energy Progress, LLC to excavate all remaining coal ash impoundments in North Carolina. After conducting a rigorous scientific review of Duke Energy’s proposals for Allen, Belews, Cliffside/Rogers, Marshall, Mayo and Roxboro facilities, and conducting public listening sessions in impacted communities, DEQ has determined excavation of all six sites is the only closure option that meets the requirements of Coal Ash Management Act to best protect public health. The coal ash must be disposed of in a lined landfill.

The N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council will discuss the state’s record rainfall this year and the outlook for the coming months at its annual meeting on April 4.

RALEIGH – The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) partially granted Duke Energy’s request for variance to extend the the Coal Ash Management Act (CAMA) closure deadline for two coal ash basins at the L.V. Sutton Energy Complex (Sutton Plant) today.