After years of staffing cuts, North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality likely doesn’t have the resources to take on the extra enforcement work it would need to do if the Trump administration keeps slashing the Environmental Protection Agency, a new report says. The Environmental Integrity Project released findings Wednesday showing North Carolina cut the greatest percentage of jobs from its lead environmental agency of any state in the country from 2010 to 2024. The state cut 32% of employees at DEQ, formerly the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The 386 job losses came through firings and the elimination of unfilled positions and have left the protection of air, water and land quality in the state at risk, the report says.
