Through EEP, North Carolina addresses the challenge of balancing needed growth with environmental protection by making the state’s environmental agency – not its transportation agency – the watchdog over offsetting the unavoidable environmental impacts of new transportation infrastructure.   And, in carrying out this mission, North Carolina bases its mitigation on a solid foundation of watershed planning that transcends environmental-permitting compliance.   

State and federal environmental regulatory agencies; private landowners; private-sector biological and engineering contractors; stakeholders representing the state’s environmental, business, contracting, engineering and land-trust communities.

• EEP’s mitigation efforts have helped to move forward nearly $1.9 billion in road building in the state since July 2003.  Not a single project has been delayed because of a lack of mitigation.

• To preserve high-quality natural areas across the state, EEP has collaborated with public- and private-sector allies 2003 to set aside more than 30,000 acres for future generations, protecting about 130 miles of streams and 7,000 acres of wetlands.

• To protect water quality and enhance watersheds, EEP and its private-sector partners are carrying out nearly 400 active restoration projects, including 215 stream projects totaling 780,000 linear feet of restoration, and about 7,600 acres of wetland restoration in 125 projects; EEP also has 30 watershed plans completed or underway in cooperation with local partners.