Issues & Actions

If you would like to join our Coastal Action Alert Network please email us at or call us at
nccf@nccoast.org or 252-393-8185.

Action Alert:

Proposed New Coastal Stormwater Rules

Tell state officials: After more than 20 years of failure, it’s time to get it right. 

That’s the message North Carolinians who live, visit or cherish our coast need to tell state regulators, who are considering critical changes in the way we control stormwater pollution on the coast.  Stormwater is rain runoff from developed areas, such as roads, roofs, parking lots and driveways, that pollute our coastal water and trigger hazardous flash flooding. Polluted stormwater carries bacteria and assorted chemicals to our rivers and sounds and is now the primary cause of 90 percent of all contaminated shellfish beds. More than a hundred thousand acres of shellfishing waters along our coast are permanently closed or close temporarily after moderate rains.  

   The state determined in 2005 that the rules that have been in place since 1985 to control stormwater in the 20 coastal counties have failed to protect the quality of our water. In response, the N.C. Environmental Management Commission (EMC) has proposed new, more effective rules that are the subject of public hearings that took place along the coast fall. The hearings are over, but there's still a chance to make your voice heard.

Please submit comments by October 15 to Tom Reeder, DENR/DWQ, Wetlands and Stormwater Branch, 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C.  27699-1617, phone (919) 733-5083 extension 528, fax (919) 733-9612

email tom.reeder@ncmail.net. .

Specific recommendations should include:

• Effective stormwater controls for development that will have more than 12 percent built-upon area near shellfish (SA) waters and 24 percent elsewhere.
•  Stormwater permits for developments that disturb more than 10,000 square feet.
• 50-foot natural vegetative buffers along all waterways.
• All wetlands should be excluded from calculations for built-upon areas.
• Developments near shellfish (SA) waters control runoff from the one-year, 24-hour storm (about 3.5 inches).