Latest news with #DepartmentofEnvironmentalQuality
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
As legislature adjourns, NC Senators give unanimous support to Stein's cabinet secretaries
Reid Wilson now has the full title of Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality. (Photo: NCGA) Governor Josh Stein's key cabinet members have been on the job since January but required confirmation from the state Senate under a 2016 law to check the governor's appointment powers. And after months of multiple committee hearings, the state Senate on Thursday gave its blessing to Stein's final three cabinet secretaries for the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Adult Correction, and the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Reid Wilson, who has spent the last four years leading the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, now has the full title of Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality. The confirmation hearing for Wilson encountered a brief hiccup Wednesday from an angry constituent. Nelson Paul of Beaufort said the Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) recently contacted his wife and other recreational fishing license holders to encourage them to support a ban on inland shrimp trawling. 'This is a blatant political act to put the thumb on the scale to ensure shrimp trawling ban come into effect. I want to know what Mr. Wilson is doing about this? We need to know who's responsible and what is being done to discipline that employee,' said Paul. But the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) is a separate state agency, distinct from NCWRC. 'Are you commenting on the nominee or are you pontificating on your stand on a particular issue?' interjected Sen. Bill Rabon. 'I have difficulty hiring blatantly environmentally proponent…people who have no business experience, just somebody who is an environmental advocate who just has no understanding of the business in the state,' Paul responded. Rabon thanked Paul for his remarks but noted everybody on the Select Committee on Nominations was comfortable moving forward with Wilson. For his part, Wilson has pledged to help Western North Carolina communities recover and rebuild from Hurricane Helene. 'Whether it is water infrastructure or waste cleanup or dam inspections or debris cleanup, we're involved in many, many ways and we're going to be at it until the job is done,' Wilson testified. Wilson said his second top priority is trying to reduce PFAS pollution, also known as 'forever chemicals' in the state's waterways. About a third of the people in North Carolina drink water with PFAS levels above what will be the EPA's health standard, according to Wilson. === Leslie Dismukes told lawmakers it has been an honor to serve the past six months as the interim Secretary of the Department of Adult Correction (DAC). Previously working as the Criminal Bureau Chief at the North Carolina Department of Justice, Dismukes wore many hats, including supervising the legal work of NCDAC. During her confirmation hearing in May, Dismukes said that the state was faced with a 40% vacancy rate for correctional officers. This week, she indicated the department was making some headway. 'We've streamlined our HR processes, added additional resources to HR in recruitment, and expanded our basic training offerings to decrease the time from offer to post. This has resulted in 250 people in basic training right now and a 1% decrease in our vacancy rates since January,' said Dismukes. In addition to recruitment, the DAC Secretary reminded legislators that the fire suppression systems at nearly two dozen prisons remain outdated or completely inoperable. 'I've raised the alarm, no pun intended, regarding the 23 prisons we currently have on fire watch and the more than $90 million that it will take to avoid grave disaster,' Dismukes warned. Dismukes said she's also empowered a new chief medical officer to move forward with critical process improvements to streamline services that achieve cost savings while maintaining the standard of care. This fiscal year, the department is projected to spend $425 million on health care. Dismukes' reality check comes as the North Carolina House and Senate have been unable to agree to a comprehensive budget plan with the fiscal year that starts July 1. === Also winning Senate confirmation Thursday was Jocelyn Mallette as Secretary of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. Mallette served on active duty for ten years in the United States Air Force, as an admissions advisor at the Academy, an intelligence officer, and finally as a prosecutor in the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps. Mallette pledged in her new role to make the transition from military life into the civilian workforce as smoother one. 'DMVA should be leading the way to retain North Carolina's transitioning service members and families, and also to attract those who get out of the military and other states,' said Mallette. 'All of us on the federal, state, and local level need to work together to support them during the year that is referred to as 'the deadly gap.' The period during which a servicemember transitions out of active duty to civilian life can present many major life challenges. It's also a period in which the veteran suicide rate is 2.5 times higher than the rate for active-duty military. Mallette said North Carolina DMVA is actively partnering with entities like the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Labor, the North Carolina Department of Commerce, and nonprofits like Blue Star Families and Veterans Bridge Home to establish initiatives that more quickly connect transitioning service members to benefits, jobs, and housing upon the end of their service. More than 615,000 military veterans call North Carolina home.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
New monitoring plan announced to learn more about Great Salt Lake dust, inform public
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — In a news conference Tuesday morning, Great Salt Lake Commissioner Brian Steed gave updates on the state of the lake, and also announced an effort to better monitor the lake's dust. Currently, Steed shared that the lake is lower than it's preferred to be, however, the lake salinity, which is how much salt is dissolved into the water, is at healthy levels. Salinity can be a concern if it gets too high, which happens when the water is too shallow. 'It's something we are also monitoring quite carefully because if we have a hot, dry summer with low precipitation, that can drop that into really scary levels,' he said. Pink water at Bear Lake? Here's how this study aims to curb invasive plant species Additionally, Tim Davis, the executive director of the Department of Environmental Quality, described a comprehensive plan for monitoring dust at the Great Salt Lake. That plan includes 19 new monitors, which are set to be around communities that could be impacted by the Great Salt Lake, as well as other potential dust sources, including near the West Desert and the Nevada border. There will be two types — continuous monitors, which will collect data all the time, and filter monitors, which will capture particles to be analyzed following a dust event. Davis said this is to be able to differentiate sources of dust, what they're made up of, and inform the public. '[We want to] develop tools to give people a heads up when a potential dust storm could be coming, and so people who are sensitive, for example, if they have asthma, that they can take steps to protect themselves,' he said. The first step for this, he shared, is developing a dust network. Davis said it can take some time to put in the monitors, as they're meant to be permanent. However, the hope is the project can get its start in July. 'I'll just say how excited I am for this project. It's one of the major data gaps we've had, honestly, on Great Salt Lake management to see how much dust is coming off the exposed lake bed and what's in that dust. Trying to figure that out is going to be a key question going forward. And so I really appreciate Director Davis for his dedication to figuring out better data and to have that information available for all of us when we go ahead and make these choices,' Steed said. Davis shared that they're planning to gather quantitative data related to dust that will eventually be used in the same system that warns Utahns about unhealthy air quality days. 'The first thing we need to do is just gather the data,' he said. '… We do have some data already on just those potential sources, but we need better data. We need more information about it in order to really characterize it and give people an idea of if there is a risk, what is the potential risks from different sources?' House Oversight Republicans schedule interviews with former Biden aides New monitoring plan announced to learn more about Great Salt Lake dust, inform public More sexual assault charges filed against Provo OBGYN David Broadbent Senate Republican calls July 4 'false deadline' for megabill Several Park City businesses evacuated due to gas leak near Main Street Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Flathead County seeks to expand landfill for future needs
Jun. 8—Flathead County is looking to expand its landfill operations in the future, which is expected to allow it to accept waste for another eight decades beyond its current capacity. The landfill is looking to add 121 acres south of facility located off of U.S. 93 north of Kalispell. Of that acreage 74 acres are planned for refuse disposal. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is reviewing the county's application for a license to expand. The state agency is taking comments on a draft environmental assessment of the plan through June 15. Flathead County Public Works Director Dave Prunty said the current landfill disposal area is expected to serve the county for another 40 years, but the county is looking to obtain its license now to allow for expansion when the time comes. "Because the community is growing, we need to secure disposal space for as long as possible," Prunty said. "It's critical for the landfill to secure that disposal space now." The landfill was built in 1971. The expansion is designed to serve the county after the current portion of the active landfill reaches capacity. The same disposal area on the north end of the landfill has been used since it was opened and is expected to be full in roughly the next five years. Then disposal would move to a more southern area, which should last the county for another roughly two to three decades, according to Prunty, before it would move into the proposed expansion area. The expansion would increase the refuse disposal area to 225 acres. Operations now dispose of 460 tons of waste per day. The expansion would allow for the proper disposal of about 33.7 million tons of waste, according to the Department of Environmental Quality assessment. About 92,000 tons of waste was disposed of at the landfill in 2022 and last year the landfill saw 163,000 tons. Prunty said disposal rates ebb and flow with the economy, but about 2% growth every year is expected. "The amount we take in is compounded every year," he said. "This is about controlling our own destiny at the landfill. We want to make sure that we have the capacity so that we don't have to pay to take it somewhere else." The Department of Environmental Quality's assessment found that the expansion meets the requirements of the state Solid Waste Management Act and rules regulating solid waste disposal. And adherence to a facility plan approved by the state agency would mitigate the potential for harmful impacts to human health and the environment. Public comment closes June 15, and comments can be submitted electronically via email to deqswprogram@ or by mail at DEQ Solid Waste Program, PO Box 200901, Helena, MT, 59620. To view the draft assessment, visit Deputy Editor Heidi Desch may be reached at 758-4421 or hdesch@
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oregon should bypass California's stalled Clean Trucks program and steer its own into the fast lane
Oregon could bypass California on trucks rules, commentators write. (Getty Images) California has set ambitious goals for EV truck adoption with its Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which imposes steeply escalating statewide EV sales quotas on truck manufacturers over the next decade. However, the state only generates about 2% of global transportation-related GHG emissions, so its initiative will not have a significant climate impact unless ACT motivates national- and global-scale action on truck electrification. ACT has so far been adopted by only 10 states, of which six currently have legislation pending to delay ACT implementation. This includes Oregon's HB3119, which provides that 'the Department of Environmental Quality may not implement or enforce the Advanced Clean Trucks regulations … before January 1, 2027.' Oregon cannot simply develop its own vehicle air pollution restrictions because Section 177 of the federal Clean Air Act prohibits states from adopting such emission standards that differ from federal standards unless they are 'identical to the California standards.' One factor stymieing ACT implementation in Oregon is the lack of high-power EV charging infrastructure, without which it is infeasible for Oregon to keep up with California's fast-track ACT timeline, especially for heavy-duty, long-haul trucks. ACT provides a variety of flexible compliance mechanisms such as credit trading and banking to ease the regulatory burden, but there is no guarantee these would suffice to meet the ACT's required schedule of EV trucking sales quotas. And delaying ACT implementation likely would run afoul of Section 177's identicality requirement. In response to ACT-induced disruption in the Oregon market for large trucks, Gov. Tina Kotek recently directed DEQ to 'quickly develop a solution for Class 7 and 8 trucks that considers the current circumstances while still maintaining the integrity of the ACT program for all other classes.' One option being considered is 'credit pooling' (interstate trading of compliance credits). Credit pooling would, in effect, allow California and Oregon to comply with different ACT standards: Oregon would effectively buy the right to relax its ACT standard by paying California to attain a more stringent standard. It's not clear that this scheme would be Section 177-compliant but, in any case, we think it would not make sense to require Oregon's trucking industry to, in effect, pay a penalty fee to California for not complying with an infeasible, California-imposed regulatory standard. Trading revenue would be better spent in-state to support Oregon's own trucking industry rather than subsidizing California's industry. The Section-177 identicality requirement ensures that a manufacturer selling standard-compliant vehicles in one state can sell the exact same vehicles in other states. But requiring identical sales percentages between states only makes the regulations more burdensome for manufacturers, not less so. The EPA could adopt a sensible Section-177 interpretive framework that allows states to develop their own ACT implementation timelines according to their unique circumstances (a 'timeline' would not itself be construed as a 'standard'), but the Trump EPA will not likely be amenable to such accommodation. However, Oregon could reform its ACT regulations to circumvent federal preemption in a way that would be more economically efficient and impactful than California's regulation even without the encumbrance of Section 177. Rather than employing an inflexible standard to drive unpredictable and volatile market trading prices, the regulation could employ stable pricing incentives (EV subsidies financed by fees on internal-combustion vehicles) to drive EV adoption at a scale and pace that the market can tolerate. Price stability would be conducive to long-term investment in truck electrification, and program ambition would not need to be restrained by predictive uncertainty. This policy approach is exemplified by Germany's Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program in the early 2000s, which triggered an explosive expansion of the global solar power market led by Germany in the 2004-2014 time frame. The program did not impose mandatory sales targets and timelines on solar manufacturers; it just offered them a guaranteed price (initially 45¢/kWh) for renewable power. (A price incentive is not a 'standard' and would hence not be governed by Section 177.) A financial incentive program could constitute one element of a targeted industrial policy (including charging infrastructure, grid capacity, battery technology, etc.) that leverages the investment potential of truck electrification to gain the support of the trucking industry and establish a market-based incentive framework for nationwide truck electrification. Oregon should take the lead in developing a policy foundation for truck electrification that would entirely circumvent federal preemption and could extend to national and global scope. Indeed, there would be no other option to federal regulation if current Congressional efforts to axe California's clean truck rules succeed. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
VB waterfront property owners learn about ordinance changes
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — If you own property along the Chesapeake Bay, the Lynnhaven River or its tributaries, changes are coming that may affect your property. The key part of the new ordinance is the Resource Protection Area, a key component of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area. The state's Department of Environmental Quality requires the RPA to be a 100-foot buffer measured from the edge of applicable wetlands or waterbodies. Right now, city code requires an additional variable width buffer, measured on certain properties starting from the top of the slope leading to wetlands. This buffer will now be measured from the wetlands or waterline under the updated regulations. This adjustment means that on some properties, the area considered a protected buffer zone, if applicable, will shrink to the state-required 100-foot buffer, potentially affecting land use, development and property rights. This is all being done to help keep chemicals out of the Chesapeake Bay and slow down water before it gets out to the Bay. What this means for some residents, essentially, is that these changes could impact how you build and what you're able to build. 'The ownership is not changing,' said environmental coordinator Hannah Sabo. 'The changes to this ordinance are specifically regulatory, so [it tells you] how you can build within that buffer area, but it does not change who owns the property. It does not change, really, the developmental rights on that property.' These changes won't go into effect until later this year once council formally accepts them. If you missed Monday night's meeting, you can attend another meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Great Neck Recreation Center on Shorehaven Drive. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
