Commission Proceedings 



March 16, 2000 



Straight Pipe Elimination Program (continued from February 1 7, 2000) 



Terrell Jones, Supervisor of the Wastewater Discharge Elimination (WaDE) Program 

 in the Onsite Wastewater Services Branch of the Onsite Wastewater Section of the 

 Division of Environmental Health in DENR, followed up on his previous presentation to 

 the ERC with additional information on how many installations and repairs the WaDE 

 program had achieved. Senator Odom requested specific recommendations on how to 

 improve the program's effectiveness. 



Staff retention in DENR 



Michael Williamson, Deputy Secretary for Operations in DENR, and Carolyn W. 

 Anderson, Principal Analyst for Environmental Affairs in the Environmental Services 

 Section of Carolina Power & Light Company, Inc., reported on issues related to the 

 retention of environmental engineers in DENR. They stated that a permit reform team, of 

 which Ms. Anderson was a member, had identified high turnover rates (10-20%) in 

 DENR as an obstacle to more efficient permitting programs. Low salaries, a complicated 

 personnel system, lack of training opportunities, and management problems were cited as 

 reasons for the high turnover rate. Mr. Williamson said DENR was addressing these 

 problems by working with the Office of State Personnel to get a one-range adjustment to 

 the salaries of environmental engineers, as well as providing training opportunities, 

 conducting employee surveys, and training supervisors. ERC members expressed 

 skepticism that a one-range salary adjustment would significantly improve the situation. 



Stormwater (continued from February 1 7, 2000) 



Kimberly L. Hibbard, Associate General Counsel for the North Carolina League of 

 Municipalities, and Linda A. Miles, City Attorney for the City of Greensboro, spoke 

 about the impact of the Smith Chapel decision on municipalities. Ms. Hibbard noted that 

 the issue concerned smaller cities as well as larger ones, due to new federal stormwater 

 management requirements. Senator Horton noted that a memorandum explaining why 

 the City of Durham's use of stormwater fees was challenged had been distributed. 



Water quality fiinds 



David McNaught, Executive Director of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund; 

 David B. Freeman, Jr., Executive Director of the Cape Fear River Assembly, Inc.; and 

 Richard N. Hicks, Chair of the Lower Neuse Basin Association, Inc. gave presentations 

 on how their organizations have spent funds appropriated by the General Assembly for 

 water quality improvement efforts. Mr. Freeman and Mr. Hicks said their organizations 

 had used State funds to leverage additional contributions from other sources for water 

 quality monitoring, studies, and improvements to facilities that discharge into surface 

 waters. 



Air quality 



Daniel F. McLawhom, General Counsel for DENR, gave an update on the NOx SIP 

 Call lawsuit, in which North Carolina and other states had challenged the federal 

 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirement that they implement plans to make 



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