Six DEQ employees earn Certified Public Manager certificates

After months of intensive training and completion of projects relevant to their job duties, six DEQ employees – two each from the divisions of Air Quality, Waste Management and Water Resources – have graduated from the Certified Public Manager (CPM) program.

They were among the 51 state employees earning the nationally-accredited degree, all of whom were honored in a recent ceremony at the N.C. Museum of History. More than 2,245 mid-level managers have earned the degree since 1981, when the program launched with the goal of bringing greater effectiveness to public sectors across the state.

The rigorous program requires participants to complete 300 hours of course work and a service delivery improvement project within their own organization. Two members of Williams Willet’s team in the Permitting Section of the Division of Air Quality were recognized for their achievements.

Tom Anderson, Air Quality Analysis Branch supervisor, conducted an analysis of the section’s customer service operations to improve outcomes through better communication. This includes enhanced real-time tracking of projects, providing timely response to specific data requests from customers, and keeping applicants updated as permits advance through the review and approval process.

Booker Pullen, New Source Review Branch supervisor, completed a project that involved the incorporation of new EPA landfill rules into DAQ's regulations. He led a team of permitting engineers and planning personnel in developing these changes. During the development of the DAQ regulations, the EPA rules were placed on hold for 90 days. At present, the DAQ is awaiting further instructions from the EPA as to how North Carolina is to proceed in the incorporation of the new rules into the DAQ’s regulations.

In the Division of Waste Management, Delonda Alexander, environmental supervisor in the Superfund Section, implemented a comprehensive and user-friendly redesign of the Dry-Cleaning Solvent Cleanup Act (DSCA) Program and Remediation Unit web pages, including creation of new content. Customers can easily access details about the program, and the web page gives the section greater transparency. Alexander’s work also helped reduce staff time by providing customers with easier access to information online. Alexander’s supervisor is Peter Doorn.

Wayne Randolph, a member of Waste Management’s Remediation Team in the Underground Storage Tank (UST) Section, sought to adapt existing tools to restructure the archiving system and manage an online data management system (Laserfiche) for all active and closed incidents. This allows citizens, representatives of the regulated and non-regulated community, environmental consultants and DEQ staff easy access to review petroleum sites that are in the process or have been remediated. When fully implemented, the UST Section will save approximately $19,000 per year over eight years ($152,000) compared to outsourcing. Randolph’s supervisor is James Bullock.

Honorees at the Division of Water Resources include Public Water Supply’s Amy Chapman, who supervises central and regional office staff who issue 401 certifications, isolated wetland permits and riparian buffer authorizations for transportation projects, and review mitigation and perform headwater stream mapping. Chapman’s project focused on transforming the preconstruction notification (PCN) form to a fully electronic document that can be filled out and submitted online. It is being tested with the N.C. Department of Transportation. Her supervisor is Jeff Poupart.

Rebecca Sadosky is N.C. Drinking Water Protection Program coordinator and emergency/security contact for the Division of Water Resources. Her project focused on improving the current source water assessment program model. This GIS model provides a way for users to identify and prioritize the potential sources of contamination in their drinking water source. Water Resources will improve online applications associated with the model to make them perform in real-time and allow the output to be more user directed. Her supervisor is Jay Frick.