Chapter 6 Conservation Goals and Priorities
6.4.6 US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) North Carolina is part of USEPA Region 4, which encompasses eight southeastern states and six federally recognized Native American tribes. The mission of USEPA is to protect human health and the environment and is accomplished through activities such as regulations, grant funding,
research, and partnerships. More information is available online at https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/about-epa-region-4-southeast.
USEPA Region 4 is committed to operating an effective Environmental Management System (EMS, https://www.epa.gov/ems) as part of an integrated framework for sustainable environmental stewardship. An EMS is a continual cycle of planning, implementing, reviewing, and improving the processes and actions that an organization undertakes to meet its operational and environmental goals. It is a set of processes and practices that enable an organization to reduce its environmental impacts. This includes nonregulated environmental impacts like energy use, carbon dioxide emissions, and purchase and use of products that have less impact on the environment. With an EMS, the organization’s environmental impacts become the responsibility of all employees and managers. EMS is integrated with EPA’s mission and is accomplished through setting targets for environmental stewardship, reducing or preventing pollution, and preserving environmental resources and enforcing environmental protection in conjunction with other governmental agencies. The USEPA initiatives in North Carolina are accomplished through the actions identified above. Key programs and resources that support conservation priorities are described throughout this Plan. 6.4.7 US Geological Survey (USGS) As the sole science agency for the USDOI, the USGS provides natural science expertise and shares earth and biological data holdings with partners and customers. It is the largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping agency and is responsible for collecting, monitoring, analyzing, and providing scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues, and problems. The diversity of scientific expertise enables the USGS to carry out large-scale, multidisciplinary investigations, and provide impartial scientific information to resource managers, planners, and other customers. The mission of the USGS includes providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth as well as managing water, biological, energy, and mineral resources. This mission is accomplished through various types of programs, partnerships, and cooperative agreements with other agencies and organizations. • The USGS South Atlantic Water Science Center works cooperatively with other agencies and organizations to collect and interpret water-resource information in North Carolina. The hydrologic data collected through its network of 243 monitoring stations provide
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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