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6.1.16 North Carolina Ecosystem Enhancement Program
The EEP was established as a non-regulatory program within NCDENR to:
Provide a systematic approach for meeting NCDOT’s compensatory mitigation
requirements
Maximize the ecological benefit of compensatory mitigation projects
Reduce delays in the construction of transportation improvement projects associated
with compensatory mitigation requirements
The EEP also provides a compensatory mitigation option for permit applicants other than
the NCDOT; administers the Mitigation Program for Protection and Maintenance of
Existing Riparian Buffers in the Neuse, Tar-Pamlico, and Catawba River basins; and
provides a repository for nutrient offset payments in the Neuse River basin.
6.1.17 Groundwater Protection
Several regulations and programs exist at the State and local levels that protect groundwater
from urban growth:
Wellhead Protection Program
Regulation of potential contamination sources
Management of groundwater contamination incidents
Ambient groundwater monitoring
Regulation of well construction
These regulations and programs may afford some protection to groundwater wells from the
most common forms of groundwater pollution—point sources, such as chemical
manufacturing facilities, underground storage tanks and accidental spills. However, more
diffuse and evasive groundwater pollutants from agricultural uses (livestock facilities and
chemical application on crops) and urban land uses (over-application of fertilizers and
improper use of toxic household chemicals) may not be well managed under these
regulations and programs.
6.1.18 Neuse River Basin Nutrient Sensitive Waters (NSW) Rules
The entire Neuse River basin was classified as NSW in 1988. As a result of the NSW
classification, a nutrient management strategy was initially developed to manage
phosphorus from point source dischargers, and nitrogen and phosphorus from nonpoint
sources. At that time, most of the nutrient problems were occurring in the lower freshwater
portion of the river, and phosphorus was considered the controlling nutrient.
Increasing algal blooms and fish kills in the estuarine portion of the Neuse River, attributed
to nitrogen over-enrichment, led to a revision of the NSW strategy to address nitrogen
inputs to the estuary. The Neuse River NSW Strategy Rules became effective on August 1,
1998. New development and redevelopment that drains, in whole or in part, to NSW must
implement stormwater BMPs that reduce nutrient loading. NCDENR has specified