North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality is North Carolina's leading stewardship agency for the preservation and protection of natural resources and public health. The Department is headed by the Secretary of Environmental Quality, who is appointed by the Governor of North Carolina and is a member of the North Carolina Cabinet. The Department of Environmental Quality was formed in 2015 and it was proceeded by the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, which was formed in 1971 by the North Carolina Executive Reorganization Act.History
The Department was originally established as the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources by the North Carolina Reorganization Act of 1971.Divisions
Current Divisions of the NCDEQ include:
The Secretaries of the Department of Environmental Quality have included:
As the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, the Secretaries included the following:
- John E. Skvarla, III, 2013 - 2014
- Dee A. Freeman, 2009 - 2013
- William G. Ross, Jr., 2001 - 2009
- William E. Holman, 1999 - 2001
- Wayne McDevitt, 1997 - 1999
- Jonathan B. Howes, 1993 - 1997
- William W. Cobey, Jr., 1989 - 1993
- S. Thomas Rhodes, 1985 - 1988
- James A. Summer, 1984 - 1985
- Joseph W. Grimsley, 1981 - 1983
- Howard N. Lee, 1977 - 1981
- George W. Little, 1976 - 1977
- James E. Harrington, 1973 - 1976
- Charles W. Bradshaw, Jr., 1971 - 1973
- Roy G. Sowers, 1971