North Dakota has a new cabinet agency.
It’s called the Department of Environmental Quality. It was created by moving the Division of Environmental Quality out of the state Health Department.
The new agency has 160 employees. It will be responsible for such things as air and water quality.
"We're going to continue to do what we've done in the past," said DEQ director David Glatt. "Common-sense environmental protection for the citizens of the state, using science and the law, and great professionals to make sure it happens."
The transition to a new DEQ began in 2017, when the Legislature passed the bill creating the agency. It takes time – and this year, at the end of April, all the requirements were met to satisfy the federal Environmental Protection Agency that the DEQ would be granted “primacy” over air and water quality.
"Primacy means a federal regulation that is implemented by the state at the state level," Glatt said in an interview. "The states are in a better position to really know the issues."
Glatt said states implement about 96 percent of the federal regulations at the state level.
"Better efficiency,better understanding of the issues, better outcomes, rather than having someone from Washington, DC or Denver tell us what to do," Glatt said.
Glatt said he wants the staff to also remember they’re working for the people of North Dakota, so he pledges his agency will be helpful – and transparent.