The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources (DWR) will hold a public hearing on April 22 to hear public comment on proposed changes to North Carolina’s surface water quality standards, including the addition of standard for E. coli as an indicator of pathogens, or disease-causing organisms, in recreational waters. 

The proposed changes to standards set out in 15A NCAC 02B .0200 are part of an update that is conducted every three years as required by federal and state law, based on a review of existing water quality standards, EPA National Recommended Water Quality Criteria, and on new or updated ecological, health and toxicological information. 

North Carolina’s surface water standards are established to protect waters based on their classified uses, such as for recreation, or as water supply. The federal Clean Water Act (CWA) requires states to adopt Surface Water Quality Standards to protect surface waters from the harmful impacts of pollution. 

Public Hearing Details 
When: Tuesday, April 22, 2025, at 6 p.m.  
Where: Ground Floor Hearing Room, Archdale Building, 512 N. Salisbury Street, Raleigh, NC 27604 
Register: Speaker registration and sign-in will begin at 5 p.m. 

The proposed changes include the addition of a standard for E. coli as an indicator of disease-causing organisms for certain recreational waters in place of a standard for fecal coliform, which is a broad group of microscopic organisms that are indicators of risk for disease-causing bacteria and viruses. 

The proposal would add E. coli as an indicator in primary recreation in Class B waterways. The proposed standard would be 126 colony forming units, or most probable number, per 100 milliliters of water based on at least five samples taken over a 30-day period. In addition, the rule would require no more than 20% of samples to exceed 274 colony forming units per 100 milliliters or most probable number. The update is based on recreational water quality criteria published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2012: EPA 2012 Recreational Water Quality Criteria. 

In addition, the proposed changes would also clarify the requirements for obtaining variances to surface water quality standards. 

In addition to accepting comments on the proposed changes, DEQ will also be accepting comments on existing water quality standard variances and other water quality standard topics not addressed by this rulemaking such as adoption of other published EPA National Recommended Water Quality Criteria.  

In addition to submitting comments at the hearing, comments are also being accepted by email or postal mail. 

All comments must be received by May 2 to be considered during the review of the proposed changes. Written comments may be submitted by email to SWTriRevComments2025@deq.nc.gov or by mail to: 

Christopher Ventaloro 
NC DEQ-DWR Planning Section 
1611 Mail Service Center 
Raleigh, NC 27699-1611  

The public hearing will conclude by 9 p.m., however the hearing officer may conclude the hearing earlier if all registered speakers have been heard. 

Public parking will be available after 5 p.m. at Parking Deck 64, which is located across North Salisbury Street from the Archdale Building. Please see the Interactive State Parking Map for additional parking options: Interactive Map. 

Si vous avez besoin de ces informations en français, veuillez appeler le 919 707-8604 ou envoyer un e-mail à laura.oleniacz@deq.nc.gov.  

 إذا كنت بحاجة إلى هذه المعلومات باللغة العربية، أو إذا كنت بحاجة إلى خدمات الترجمة الفورية أثناء جلسة الاستماع العامة، فيرجى الاتصال بالرقم 919.707.8604أو إرسال رسالة إلكترونية إلى laura.oleniacz@deq.nc.gov. 

如果您需要此資訊其他語言版本的翻譯，請致電 919-707-8604 或發送電子郵件至laura.oleniacz@deq.nc.gov。