North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality

The NPDES Committee meeting included discussions about conflicts of interest and the role of committee members. The committee addressed the approval of meeting minutes from September 9th, 2020, with corrections to the spelling of Dr. Chernikov's name and other typographical errors. The committee also discussed a quasi-judicial matter related to a water allocation, emphasizing the importance of impartiality and unbiased decision-making. The committee discussed a decision on the variance, not the permit. The presentation covered the definition and authorities for water quality standard variances, the history of color variants, support for and impact of removing color variants, public hearing comments, and the hearing officer's recommendation.

The meeting of the Air Quality Committee included discussion of wildfires and a demonstration of the EPA fire and smoke map. The committee also discussed provisions in the budget bill impacting air quality, including prohibitions on certain rulemaking actions, such as adopting the regional greenhouse gas initiative and the Advanced Clean trucks initiative. Additionally, the committee discussed air quality permitting review and issuance timelines, a Title 5 research and development exemption, pre-printing activities, and a Title 5 permit bonus pilot program.

The meeting addressed several key issues, including a request for approval to proceed to public notice and a hearing on amendments to septage management rules, specifically regarding General Provisions. Discussions also involved a request for approval of the hearing officer's report, the regulatory impact analysis, and the adoption of rule amendments for underground storage tank rules. These amendments included changes to the testing frequency for overfill prevention equipment and the acceptance of test methods approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, the meeting covered the allowance of double-wall spill buckets with mechanical liquid detecting sensors for older tanks.

The meeting included discussions and actions related to several key regulatory and environmental management issues. The commission approved proceeding to public notice and hearing on amendments to septage management rules. The meeting also involved a request for approval of the hearing officer's report, the regulatory impact analysis, and adoption of rule amendments for underground storage tank rules. The rule amendments include changes to requirements for checking the operability of overfill prevention equipment, acceptance of testing methods and equipment approved by the EPA, and allowing double wall spill buckets with mechanical liquid detecting sensors on tanks installed prior to November 1st, 2007.

The committee discussed conflict of interest protocols, including the state government ethics act and the importance of avoiding financial conflicts. Approval of the draft minutes from November 2022 was conducted. The committee addressed interbasin transfers, Jordan Lake allocation, central plane capacity use area of river basins and water use registration. An IBT primer and update was presented, covering the definition of interbasin transfer, relevant statutes, existing transfers, and the application process. The presentation included examples to illustrate key concepts such as consumptive use and net transfer, and the presenter addressed questions about the Cary Apex amounts and their sources.