Press Releases

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries recently established a new state record for Vermilion Snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens).

NCDEQ’s Division of Coastal Management (DCM) will conduct a spring training workshop May 6-7 in Swansboro for local permit officers in the central and southern regions of their 20 coastal counties service area.

The North Carolina Oil and Gas Commission will meet at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Raleigh.

The N.C. Coastal Resources Commission (CRC) will meet April 30 and May 1 at the Dare County Government Center, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, Manteo. The regular business meeting of the CRC will be called to order at 1 p.m. on April 30 and will resume at 9 a.m. on May 1. A public input and comment period is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. on May 1. At the chair’s discretion, comments may be limited to 3 minutes per person. The public may attend the CRC meeting in-person or join online.

An advisory against swimming was posted today at a sound-side site in Dare County, where state recreational water quality officials found bacteria levels in the water that exceed the state’s and Environmental Protection Agency’s recreational water quality standards.

The North Carolina Source Water Collaborative, a statewide drinking water protection group, announced the winners of the Source Water Protection Awards during the Water Resources Research Institute’s annual conference, held last month.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, 2025, on a proposed shellfish lease in Dare County. The hearing will be held in person at the Dare County Government Office, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive, Room 168, Manteo, N.C. 27954 and virtually via Webex.

The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission will meet May 7-8 in the Ground Floor Hearing Room of the Archdale Building in Raleigh. Members of the public may attend in-person or join the meeting by computer or phone. 

Today, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Secretary Reid Wilson celebrated Earth Day and the work DEQ does every day to protect North Carolina’s air, land and water.