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DENR organizational change to save money, offer better management of two programs
Story Date: 1/9/2014
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Source: NCDENR, 1/8/14
An organizational change supported by the EPA will place the state’s Clean Water Management Trust Fund and the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership under one manager in a move that will save money and enable better coordination between the two programs.
Bill Crowell, who has directed APNEP for more than a decade, is being promoted and will now also manage the Clean Water Management Trust Fund. Crowell, who has a doctorate in education and extensive environmental experience, has worked most of his professional career with the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, where both programs reside.
The organizational change was supported by leadership from the EPA’s Water Protection Division, the chairman of the Clean Water Management Trust Fund’s board and the chairman of APNEP’s policy board.
“Having a devoted environmental steward to oversee both programs will enable us to better integrate the important roles these programs play in environmental protection for North Carolina,” said Cecilia Holden, special assistant to DENR Secretary John Skvarla. “Since both programs will now be sharing one manager, we will have more money to put directly back into grants and other projects that are supported through these missions.”
Holden estimates having one manager for both programs will save about $100,000 annually. That money can be used for things such as automating the grant application process or funding projects that might not otherwise receive funding from these sources, Holden said. The change will enable the programs to share resources on projects that protect water quality, a key component of the mission of both programs.
“As one example, this will give APNEP an opportunity to coordinate with the Clean Water Management Trust Fund on projects that protect or improve water quality in North Carolina’s estuaries and sounds,” Crowell said. “Both non-regulatory programs will keep their separate missions, but will now be able to take advantage of shared knowledge, skills and resources to protect and restore water quality.”
Crowell will report to Bryan Gossage, the director of the N.C. Office of Land and Water Stewardship. Crowell holds a doctorate in Education from Prescott College, a master’s degree in Resource Management and Administration from Antioch University, and bachelor’s degrees in zoology and biological sciences from N.C. State University. He has also completed a fellowship at the Natural Resources Leadership Institute at N.C. State University. He worked as a research assistant for The Nature Conservancy from 1995 to 1997, and has worked for DENR since then.
The Clean Water Management Trust Fund provides grant assistance to conservation nonprofits, local governments and state agencies to protect the state’s surface water, provide protective buffers for military installations and open space, and acquire ecologically valuable land for protection. APNEP identifies, protects and restores significant resources in the Albemarle-Pamlico estuarine system, which covers 36 counties in northeastern North Carolina and 19 cities and counties in southeastern Virginia. In addition to keeping their same responsibilities, the two programs also will maintain their own governing boards.
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