I. Introduction

In February 1998, the Governor held an Emerging Issues Forum which focused on sustainable development issues concerning the state. This conference inspired the Governor to address sustainability in state government. In August 1998, the Governor hosted a follow-up conference of state agencies to kick off a state government sustainability initiative. As part of this initiative each state agency, including DENR, developed departmental sustainability plans in the first quarter of 1999. In April 1999, the Governor’s office worked with DENR’s Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance to develop a State Government Environmental Sustainability Plan.

In order to facilitate the implementation of the DENR plan, a Departmental Sustainability Team was created under the leadership of Deputy Secretary Michael Williamson. Through a series of meetings held since the first meeting on July 21, 1999, the Sustainability Team has finalized and mailed letters from Secretary Holman to Division Directors and from Michael Williamson to all DENR employees. Both of these letters announced the formation of the Sustainability Team. The team has also drafted and mailed “DENR Division Reports on Sustainability Initiatives” to Division Directors, finalized its charter, compiled the reports submitted by Division Directors, set up and managed an e-mail address to receive employee suggestions and has submitted a list of further recommendations to the Department for to promote environmental sustainability.  The DENR Sustainability Team has created a Departmental Update on environmental sustainability initiatives in an effort to inform the Department and other agencies about some of the unique sustainability initiatives being implemented by DENR Divisions and by DENR employees.  The report includes information on the success of Department-wide initiatives and on Divisions’ future plans for sustainability efforts. The report also lists services and resources that DENR Divisions can provide to other agencies.  You can find the complete report on the DENR web site at http://www.enr.state.nc.us/sustain.pdf.