Press Releases

Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson welcomed the new state budget signed by Governor Josh Stein. The budget includes important investments in key Department priorities, including efforts to reduce people’s exposure to harmful forever chemicals, maintain healthy air quality, make communities resilient to increasingly frequent and severe weather, and invest in continued Helene recovery efforts.  

Today, the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) State Energy Office (SEO) and Surry-Yadkin Electric Membership Corp. (SYEMC) kicked off a $5.9 million grid modernization project. The Foothills Resiliency Project will reduce power outages, harden the system against severe weather and increase affordability, reliability, resilience and energy efficiency for rural communities in four northern North Carolina counties.

The NC Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries is reminding individuals interested in leasing public coastal waters to cultivate shellfish that the 2026 Shellfish Lease & Aquaculture Program application period closes Aug. 1, 2026.

The State Water Infrastructure Authority will meet in person in Raleigh and via teleconference (Webex) on Wednesday, July 15, from 9 a.m. – 4:35 p.m. The public may listen to the meeting online or by phone.

The NC Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Public Water Supply Section is accepting comments through Aug. 31 on proposed changes to state rules on oversight of facilities providing supplemental water treatment.

The NC Department of Environmental Quality's Division of Coastal Management (DCM) is accepting applications for FY2027 funding through the North Carolina Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) Program. The BIG Program provides competitive grant funding to construct, renovate and maintain boating infrastructure serving transient recreational vessels 26 feet or longer.

MOREHEAD CITY – Advisories against swimming were posted today at two sound-side sites in Carteret 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.

MOREHEAD CITY – State recreational water quality officials today lifted a water quality swimming advisory at a sound-side site in Dare County.

Secretary Reid Wilson of the NC Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) presented Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc. (HYMH), the manufacturer of Hyster® and Yale® lift trucks, a plaque recognizing the site as an Environmental Steward within the Environmental Stewardship Initiative (ESI). The Greenville facility is one of only 31 in North Carolina to earn the coveted designation, which represents the highest of three levels of recognition in the state’s ESI program.

La División de Recursos Hídricos del Departamento de Calidad Ambiental de Carolina del Norte celebrará una audiencia pública el 14 de julio para recibir comentarios del público sobre los impactos en la calidad del agua derivados de la propuesta de Martin Marietta Materials Inc., acerca de la ampliación de una cantera de piedra caliza, ubicada en Castle Hayne, Condado de New Hanover.