One North Carolina Naturally: Land and Water Protection/Conservation

One North Carolina Naturally: Land and Water Protection/Conservation

•Expanded Lake James State Park through a private-public partnership. In August 2004, Gov. Easley authorized the purchase of 2,915 acres in Burke County for $18.3 million to expand Lake James State Park by nearly six times its current size, protecting key natural resources and boosting tourism and recreational opportunities. The acquisition, paid for by the Clean Water Management Trust Fund as well as grants from the Natural Heritage, Parks and Recreation trust funds, is one component of a regional development and conservation plan fashioned by state and local governments, Crescent Resources Inc. and land conservation trusts.

•Led the state’s efforts to develop the Coastal Habitat Protection Plan, which was adopted in December 2004. This comprehensive plan includes a series of measures to restore declining habitats and protect the critical areas along the North Carolina coast where fish feed, spawn and grow. The plan documents threats to coastal fish habitats, identifies management needs, and establishes goals to protect and enhance fish habitats and restore slumping fish stocks.

•The N.C. Land Trust Council awarded its Government Conservation Partners of the Year award to NCDENR, NCDOT and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for their role in creating the Ecosystem Enhancement Program and helping to protect the state’s water and land resources. EEP wetland, stream and buffer restoration projects awarded to private-sector firms this year involved 143,000 feet of streams, 625 acres of wetlands and 75 acres of riparian buffers. Requests for proposals were issued in fall 2004 for a new round of projects, involving 450,000 feet of streams, 919 acres of wetlands and 395 acres of buffers.

•Brought a statewide spotlight to issues related to conservation on North Carolina’s privately owned working lands, since North Carolina lost more than 1 million acres of forestland to urban development between 1990 and 2002. DENR began to put mechanisms and plans in place to promote growth of this crucial component of conservation by sponsoring the Summit on Working Lands Conservation and two North Carolina Forestry Summits.

•Continued work with the popular Voluntary Floodplain Swine Buyout Program for swine operations in the 100-year floodplain. The Division of Soil and Water Conservation has completed conservation easement work on eight of 15 farms in the Voluntary Floodplain Swine Buyout Program Phase Two project, and is closing lagoons on those farms. The division has received 55 applications for consideration for inclusion in Phase Three of the program.

•Expanded or enhanced nine ocean artificial reefs with the addition of 1,500 tons of construction material, 250 manufactured concrete reef balls and the sinking of four large vessels. Artificial reefs provide structure for new fish habitat providing the basis for new marine communities and new fishing opportunities for fisherman.

•Purchased the Needmore Tract in Swain and Macon counties. The nearly 4,500 acres will conserve 26 miles of the Little Tennessee River and 37 miles of tributary streams, 57 species of fish, dozens of Cherokee and historic sites, and the largest cluster of mountain floodplain forests remaining the Southern Appalachians.The Clean Water Management Trust Fund provided $6.6 million to assist in the purchase, with the Ecosystem Enhancement Program, Natural Heritage Trust Fund, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and private funds providing the balance of the funds needed.

•Enhanced access to public beaches and coastal waters through a record $1.8 million in grants for 23 public access projects. The grants help pay for a variety of projects to improve access to coastal beaches and waters, including walkways, dune crossovers, restrooms, parking areas and piers. Funds also may be used for land acquisition or urban waterfront revitalization.

•Incorporated updated long-term average annual erosion rates into the state’s oceanfront development rules. The new erosion rate maps provide the most accurate depiction of shoreline change that the state has ever had.

Customer Service
•Established a pilot express environmental permit review and coordination program in the Wilmington Regional Office and in Raleigh. Through the new express program, which has issued about 300 permits, customers can get quicker permit decisions and certifications, pre-application consultation to identify necessary environmental requirements, a more predictable project timeline, and coordination throughout the permitting process. Depending upon the permit type, permit reviews are being completed from three to 10 times faster than using the regular program. The program will be expanded into two additional regional offices next year, and Gov. Easley recommends that this program be expanded statewide.
•Expanded DENR’s One-Stop Permit Coordination Program statewide. This program gives customers the opportunity to manage their environmental permitting issues through a single point of entry into the department, using permit assistance coordinators to provide front-end assistance and guide the applicant through the permitting process. Small businesses, companies considering locating in North Carolina and existing industries have benefited from having a permit coordinator that can give them comprehensive regulatory information in the earliest stage of development and develop a predictable timeline for required permits. Since January 2004, nearly 100 customized permit lists have been developed for customers.
•Launched NC OneMap, the first statewide integrated map viewer on the Internet, with participation of state, federal and 50 local government partners who provide access to their digital geographic data. An initiative of the North Carolina Geographic Information Coordinating Council, NC OneMap will give geographic data users a statewide framework of geographic information, including environmental data, accessible at www.NCOneMap.com.
•Geodetic Survey provided 3,165 quality control points to better ensure the accuracy of the ongoing floodplain mapping.
•Added 11 new GPS base stations to make it easier for surveyors, contractors, government agencies and emergency responders to access accurate GPS for boundary surveys or locating points.

Managing River Basins for Multiple Benefits
•Received additional resources in the 2004 budget to speed up the river basin planning process, which projects water needs for the next 50 years and determines if these projected needs can be met by the water resources of that basin. These plans, developed by the Division of Water Resources in partnership with local governments and other water users, will help assure that North Carolina has reliable and cost-effective water sources to support a healthy economy.
•Worked with North Carolina power companies and South Carolina on relicensing issues including water supply concerns. The Division of Water Resources is producing long-range water supply plans for the Catawba and Yadkin basins to support state needs in the new licenses to be issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
•Signed a cooperative agreement with the Environmental Management Commission and the Lumber River Council of Governments to manage groundwater withdrawals and plan for long-range, sustainable water supplies in Bladen, Columbus, Hoke, Robeson, Sampson and Scotland counties.
•Led a vigorous effort to enhance involvement of livestock and poultry producers and integrators (companies) in the nutrient management issue to protect water quality. The Division of Soil and Water Conservation’s producer education is targeted at helping adjust livestock and poultry producers’ overall nutrient management planning and practices in response to changes in the standard and regulations.
•Began processing stormwater phase II individual permit applications in line with legislation enacted by the General Assembly this summer. The Division of Water Quality is also proceeding with general permit development.

Environmental Education
•Improved standards for education and interpretive programs for state parks visitors through an effort that resulted in more than 96 percent of veteran rangers and park superintendents within the Division of Parks and Recreation completing environmental education certification offered by the Office of Environmental Education. In addition, 41 new rangers are actively working toward certification. With 130 employees completing the program, the division has more certified environmental educators working with the public than any other resource management agency.
•Integrated environmental education across the K-12 curriculum. The Office of Environmental Education worked with the Department of Public Instruction to develop the new Earth/Environmental Science Standard Course of Study objectives. DPI will include DENR web links and resources in its “Support Document and Suggested Resources” that will accompany the Standard Course of Study Goals and Objectives for Earth/Environmental Science.
•Reached thousands of students, teachers, local government officials and other members of the coastal community through workshops, field trips, Estuary Live broadcasts and other educational activities conducted by the staff of the North Carolina Coastal Reserves.
•Received recognition for the N.C. Zoological Park as the recipient of the first-ever State Government Sustainability Award presented by the State Energy office and the N.C. Project Green Program. The Zoo was honored for its environmentally sustainable operations, including conservation of energy, water, fuel and other resources.
•Opened the Australian Walkabout exhibit at the North Carolina Zoo, the largest addition to its collection since 1995.
•The Museum of Natural Sciences was named the top field-trip attraction in the state by North Carolina Field Trips magazine. In Fiscal Year ’03-’04, more than 187,500 students and educators visited the Raleigh Museum.
•Opened the Museum of Natural Science’s Prairie Ridge Ecostation for Wildlife and Learning in October – a 38-acre natural area located in west Raleigh that allows school groups, researchers and the public to observe and study native plants and wildlife in the field, as well as learn about practical approaches to renewable energy and sustainable living.

Improving Air Quality
•Accepted an EPA Clean Air Excellence Award on behalf of North Carolina and Gov. Easley for the Clean Smokestacks Act. The act, which the legislature passed in 2002, requires the state’s coal-fired power plants to reduce by three-fourths their emissions of ozone, haze and particle-forming emissions over the next 5-10 years. The EPA cited the act as nationwide model for controlling multiple air pollutants through a partnership of state, business and environmental groups.
•Assisted the Division of Motor Vehicles in the continuing expansion of North Carolina’s auto emissions testing program, which eventually will include 48 of the state’s 100 counties. The program added eight counties on January 1 and five counties on July 1, bringing to 28 the number of counties now participating. Emissions from motor vehicles are a major source of air pollution, and the testing program helps ensure that their control devices are working properly.
•Assisted Gov. Easley and the Attorney General’s Office in the March filing of a Section 126 Petition seeking reductions in emissions from power plants in 13 upwind states that affect North Carolina’s air quality. The petition asks the EPA to require reductions of ozone, haze and particle-forming emissions from power plants in other states.
•Awarded grants in March totaling $350,000 for projects aimed at reducing air pollution from motor vehicles, focusing on particle-forming emissions from school buses. The grants will be used to install diesel oxidation catalysts on school buses, to reduce their emissions of soot and other pollutants that can form fine particles in the atmosphere.
•Worked with local governments in four metro areas (Asheville, Hickory, Fayetteville and the Triad) to participate in the EPA’s Early Action Compact (EAC) program to achieve quicker compliance with the federal ozone standard.
•Worked with energy and environmental agencies in Georgia and South Carolina to win a $1.5-million grant to support the construction of three electrified truck stops along the I-85 corridor. The electrified truck stops enable truckers to obtain climate control, Internet, telephone and entertainment services in their cabs without having to idle their engines, which creates noise, odors and air pollution. North Carolina’s facility, near Mebane, opened for business in September.

Progress toward Sustainability
•Recognized two new organizations as Environmental Stewards (the highest level of achievement) as part of the Environmental Stewardship Initiative (http://www.p2pays.org/esi), the DENR program that promotes superior environmental performance by the state’s regulated community. In its third year, the ESI also recognized eight organizations at the new Rising Environmental Steward level and four organizations at the Partner level.
•Funded 58 separate projects conducted by local governments, nonprofits and recycling businesses statewide that are cumulatively expected to result in the diversion of more than 10,000 tons of recyclables from the state’s waste stream.

Protecting Groundwater and Restoring Contaminated Properties
•Created NC SWAP Info, the online tool (http://www.deh.enr.state.nc.us/pws/SWAP ) of the Source Water Assessment Program, which provides information on the condition of all public drinking water sources as a way to protect and prevent pollution of drinking water sources. The online tool provides individual reports for every public water supply system in North Carolina plus contains an online geographic information system that maps 16 different types of possible pollutants around each of the approximately 10,000 public water sources.
•Developed and implemented new methodology using GIS to map and assess shoreline pollution sources adjacent to shellfish growing areas. The pilot project focuses on four shellfish areas in Carteret County and incorporates into the survey methodology mapping technology to identify and spatially map potential sources of pollution, including stormwater outfalls, marinas, slip docks, agriculture and new subdivisions. This project received the Pelican Award for “Best Initiative by the Easley Administration” from the North Carolina Coastal Federation.
•More than doubled its 2004 goal to have cleaned 408 regulated sites to the point that they no longer need active cleanup activities. The Division of Waste Management is also helping to create legislation that encourages economic stability through the redevelopment of historically unwanted properties with contamination, to help stimulate state and local economies and speed environmental cleanups.
•Brought the 100th brownfields site into the Brownfields Program, which also completed its 50th brownfields agreement. As more sites come into the program, the committed private investment to redevelop brownfields in North Carolina increased from $550 million to $1 billion.

Protecting Public Health/Disaster Response
•Hurricane Response: N.C. Geological Survey provided emergency technical assistance to local and state emergency management personnel to determine immediate and potential threat to lives and properties of landslides resulting from the severe rainfalls of hurricanes Frances and Ivan. The Land Quality Section provided dam safety emergency response to hurricanes Frances and Ivan, including more than 150 inspections, technical oversight of three emergency dam breaches and round-the-clock monitoring of several potentially dangerous dams. Following Hurricane Ivan, the Public Water Supply Section evaluated conditions in isolated areas, working with local towns to set up temporary watering points for private individuals, helping to gather samples if and when systems had power, and provided a daily report of public water systems with boil water advisories and updated it when the advisories were rescinded. The Environmental Health Services Section handled post-hurricane inspections of restaurant, institutions, child-care facilities and jails to counties that needed assistance. The Division of Forest Resources dispatched more than 200 specially-trained employees to offer emergency aid after a record-breaking seven hurricanes ravaged the Southeast. Teams worked on chainsaw crews clearing downed trees from roads and filling county requests for shelter and food, while others were sent to western North Carolina to build footbridges for people stranded by floods. The Division of Coastal Management provided assistance to coastal residents recovering from Hurricane Isabel by issuing hundreds of CAMA emergency permits for rebuilding docks, piers, boathouses, sand dunes and other structures.
•Methamphetamine Response: Assisted the Solid Waste Association of North America in administering workshops on methamphetamine lab waste management. The Division of Waste Management also developed a guidance document to help solid waste facility operators detect, identify and safely handle methamphetamine lab waste.
• Recreational Water Quality: Monitored 240 recreational sites on a weekly basis and fully implemented a new federally mandated testing program. The Division of Environmental Health added 228 monitoring sites in an effort to provide comprehensive coverage of state beaches and protect public health and well-being.