Press Releases

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will meet in-person Feb. 23-25 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel New Bern Riverfront, 100 Middle St, New Bern. The meeting also will be livestreamed on YouTube.

More than $4.3 million in financial relief is on its way to eligible members of the fishing industries who sustained income losses from March to December of 2020 due to COVID-19. The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries issued funds this week to 265 commercial fishermen and marine aquaculture operations, for-hire fishing operations, and seafood dealers and processors deemed eligible for relief from the federal North Carolina Consolidated Appropriations Act Fisheries Relief Program (CARES Act II). Payments were made in the following categories:

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources (DEMLR) has denied a requested modification of Wake Stone Corporation's Permit 92-10

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has certified a new state record speckled trout (Cynoscion nebulosus) that bests a fish that held the title for more than 60 years. Todd Spangler, of Merritt, caught the 12-pound, 8-ounce fish in the lower Neuse River in Pamlico County on Feb 9. The previous state record speckled trout weighed 12 pounds, 4 ounces and was caught off Wrightsville Beach in 1961. The International Game Fish Association All Tackle World Record spotted seatrout stands at 17 pounds, 7 ounces, and was caught in 1995 off Ft. Pierce Fla.

The N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will meet in-person Feb. 23-25 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel New Bern Riverfront, 100 Middle St, New Bern. The meeting also will be livestreamed on YouTube.

The N.C. Sedimentation Control Commission will meet virtually on Tuesday, February 22, 2022., The meeting will begin at 10 a.m., and the public may join the meeting by computer or phone.

The Division of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Division of Water Resources (DWR) is accepting proposals for approximately $1.3 million in federal grant money to address the State’s water bodies most impacted by nonpoint pollution.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s administration plan for the approximately $1.6 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) State Fiscal Recovery funds for drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure is now available online.

The Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) is now accepting applications for the Transit and Shuttle Bus Program grants under Phase 2 of the Volkswagen Mitigation plan.  The Request for Proposal (RFP) released today details how to apply for the $13.5 million available to replace older, diesel transit or shuttle buses with cleaner low emission vehicles to significantly reduce NOx emissions and improve air quality.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)’s Division of Water Resources will hold four public meetings in April on draft Animal Waste Management Digester System General Permits. Three meetings will be in-person and a fourth will be online via Webex. Members of the public are invited to attend and submit comments on the draft permits.