NCCF-State wetland permanent rules 2021

Northeast Regional Office 637 Harbor Road, P.O. Box 276 Wanchese, NC 27981 252-473-1607
Headquarters & Central Regional Office 3609 N.C. 24 • Newport, NC 28570 252-393-8185 www.nccoast.org
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Southeast Regional Office 309 W. Salisbury Street Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480 910-509-2838

November 23, 2021

Sue Homewood
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Division of Water Resources
450 W. Hanes Mill Road
Winston-Salem, NC 27107
[e-mail]

Re: Comments in Support of Proposed Permanent Wetland Rules

Dear Ms. Homewood:

The North Carolina Coastal Federation submits these comments in strong support of the
proposed permanent wetlands rules proposed by the N.C. Environmental Management
Commission.
The federation is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the North
Carolina coast. Our organization represents 16,000 supporters statewide and works with
the public, agencies and local governments to communicate and collaborate wherever
possible towards solutions that lead to the stewardship and resiliency of our coast. Since
1982, the federation has been working with coastal communities and other partners to
improve and protect coastal water quality and natural habitats, which are intricately tied to
our coastal economy. By focusing primarily, but not exclusively on natural and productive
estuarine shorelines, oyster and marsh restoration, coastal management and cleaning the
estuaries of marine debris, we strive to support and enhance the coastal natural
environment.
The federation strongly supports the permanent wetland rules as drafted, and applauds the
decision by the N.C. Environmental Management Commission to propose setting a 1/10-
acre trigger for permit requirement. However, we strongly urge the Division to: (1)
increase the mitigation ratio from 1:1 to at least 2:1; and (2) through mitigation require
restoration of not only wetland acreage but also wetland functions.

Wetlands are the kidneys of the coast
At over 5.7 million acres, 17% of North Carolina’s total landmass is comprised of wetlands.
Of these wetlands, 95% are located in the coastal plain. In eastern North Carolina, wetlands
are the kidneys of our coastal communities. They are crucial regulators of freshwater,
nutrient, and sediment inputs to the estuaries. They improve water quality and provide
critical habitat to a multitude of plants and animals and their protection is of the utmost
importance.

North Carolina Coastal Federation
2
Without wetlands there is no seafood. About 90% of the State's commercial fish harvest is
derived from estuary-dependent species. Tidal and nontidal creeks surrounded by
wetlands and vast beds of submersed aquatic vegetation function as nursery areas for
larval and juvenile fish and provide critical finfish and shellfish habitats for adults.

The rapidly growing shellfish aquaculture industry strongly depends on coastal water
quality which in part is protected by wetlands and their ability to filter out pollutants and
sediments carried in stormwater. If wetlands continue to be degraded, the industry will not
be able to reach its full potential and its objective of growing to $33 million in dockside
value by the year 2030, a goal strongly supported by the state.

Coastal wetlands have already experienced significant degradation through conversion to
farmland, development and climate change. Aerial imagery collected by NOAA’s Coastal
Change Analysis Program shows that impacts from climate change have resulted in the loss
of nearly 135,000 acres of nontidal, freshwater wetlands within the coastal plain.

The State has an obligation to protect wetlands
North Carolina’s constitution establishes that: “It shall be the policy of this State to
conserve and protect its lands and waters for the benefit of all its citizenry”.1,2

Before the federal government’s change of the definition of the Waters of the United States
(WOTUS) that significantly narrowed down the jurisdictional waters under the Clean
Water Act, most of the state’s wetlands were regulated under the federal law through the
state’s 401 certification. However, a large portion of state’s wetlands has been left with no
federal protection after the change in the definition of the WOTUS, leaving a permitting gap
between the federal and state laws.3

The federation believes that requiring permits for any disturbance of wetlands exceeding
1/10 acre is appropriate and consistent with the 401-certification process. This permit
threshold will allow the Division to properly review proposed projects and assess their
impacts on wetlands and downstream water quality, and determine if there is a need for
appropriate mitigation.

Developing strong permanent wetland protection rules is consistent with State’s other
efforts
Realizing the importance of the value of wetlands and their ability to mitigate storm
hazards (i.e. flood reduction) our state has worked diligently on protecting and restoring
wetlands. In particular:

1 NC Constitution, Article XIV, Section 5
2 "Waters" means any stream, river, brook, swamp, lake, sound, tidal estuary, bay, creek, reservoir, waterway,
or other body or accumulation of water, whether surface or underground, public or private, or natural or
artificial, that is contained in, flows through, or borders upon any portion of this State, including any portion
of the Atlantic Ocean over which the State has jurisdiction. G.S. 143-212(6)
3 Some estimates show that around 900,000 acres just in the Cape Fear and Neuse River basins alone would
be left without protection.

North Carolina Coastal Federation
3
• Governor Cooper has recently signed into law the state budget that includes more
than $290 million - including wetland protection and restoration- to protect against
increased flooding and extreme weather.
• The State recently updated the State’s Wetlands Protection Plan that was a result of
a year-long multi stakeholder effort. The plan set key goals through 2025 among
which is to work with NC’s citizens to manage and restore the state’s wetland
resources; and promote statewide voluntary wetland restoration and protection.4
• The Commission recently approved the amendment to the Coastal Habitat
Protection Plan that calls for greater protection of wetlands to protect and restore
water quality in order to maintain productive marine fisheries habitats such as
submerged aquatic vegetation.

More robust mitigation measures will enable stronger protection
The federation strongly encourages the Commission to increase the baseline mitigation
ratio to 2:1 and to require wetland restoration through mitigation focuses not just on the
area of wetlands but also on their functions. Restoring wetland functions should take
priority in determining the appropriate mitigation measure.

Conclusion
Our state’s wetlands are rapidly declining and efforts are made across the board to protect
and restore them. The Commission should seize this opportunity, and promulgate these
proposed rules to safeguard these invaluable wetland resources.

Thank you for taking our comments under consideration.

With best regards,

Ana Zivanovic-Nenadovic
Assistant Director of Policy

4 North Carolina Wetland Program Plan https://www.ncwetlands.org/wpp/