Secretaries' Science Advisory Board

In August 2017, Governor Roy Cooper expanded the scope of the Secretary's Science Advisory Board on Toxic Air Pollutants. Under the board's new charter, the scope of its work has expanded to a broader focus on the impact of new and emerging chemicals. The board will help the state departments of Environmental Quality and Health and Human Services by examining new and emerging chemicals and providing guidance on how to manage the compounds to better protect public health and the environment. The new charter increases the membership of the board from eight to 16 members. All members of the board are appointed by the DEQ and DHHS secretaries. Members come from academic institutions and the public and private sectors.

Among its duties, the board will help DEQ and DHHS by reviewing and evaluating contaminants released to the environment; acting as consultants on DEQ’s determinations to regulate releases of contaminants; and assisting the agencies in identifying contaminants of emerging concern and helping determine whether the contaminants should be studied further. Experts on the panel will also help evaluate the human health impacts of exposure to hazardous contaminants and give input to DHHS as the agency establishes health goals for emerging contaminants.

Jamie Bartram, Ph.D., a professor and founding director of The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been appointed to lead the newly expanded board. The board’s first task will be studying ways to better protect public health and the environment from new or emerging chemicals of concern, including GenX and hexavalent chromium.

Science Advisory Board Members