Tracy E. Davis, PE, Owner and President

Tracy E. Davis, PE, spent his entire 30+ year state government career serving the same Department and Division - the NC Department of Environmental Quality and the Division of Energy, Mineral, and Land Resources.  He began his career as a mining permit reviewer for almost three years, served as the Mine Regulatory Program supervisor for over 13 years, served as the Chief Engineer for nine years in charge of overseeing 65 staff across seven regional offices and handling complex technical projects across all program areas, and concluded his public service career by serving as Division Director from 2012 through 2017.  During his time as Division Director, Mr. Davis guided the Division and its over 150 staff through a period of Division expansion and reorganization, significant environmental impacts such as the Dan River coal ash spill in 2014 and Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and significant Departmental leadership changes over the last five years of his career in state government.

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See Tracy's resume here:  

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The following highlights a few of Mr. Davis' significant professional accomplishments that convey the broad scope and importance of his role within the Department and his service to the regulated community and the citizens of NC:

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• State and National Awards:  

  • Received North Carolina’s Government Engineer of the Year Award from the Professional Engineers of NC in 2013

  • Received the national Professional Engineer in Government Achievement and Service in the United States (PEGASUS) Award from the National Society of Professional Engineers in 2013

  • Received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine from Governor Roy Cooper in December 2017, one of the most prestigious awards presented by the Governor to individuals who have a proven record of extraordinary service to the state

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• Express Permitting:  

  • Established the initial express permitting program in the Department in mid 2000s

  • Established new mid-level engineering positions to improve the agency's level of competency in permit review and a career path for employees

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• Engineer Classification:  

  • Served as the one engineering technical consultant to assist the Office of State Personnel in establishing new engineering classifications and competitive salary levels for engineering positions across state government

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• Division Reorganization:  

  • Integrated State Energy Program and Weatherization Assistance Program from the Department of Commerce and the Stormwater Management Program from the Division of Water Resources into the Division in August 2013 (staffing increased from 102 to over 155 employees)

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• Oil and Gas Development Rule Making:  

  • Created Oil and Gas Program to staff the Mining and Energy Commission and research/develop over 107 new environmental and public safety administrative rules for oil and gas development in NC while also compiling over six legislative study reports within a compressed three-year time frame

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• Stormwater Management Rules Readoption/Amendments:  

  • Directed the Stormwater Management Program’s reorganization, amendment and creation of stormwater rules per directives and timeframes established by the General Assembly, including a stakeholder engagement process that included 24 diverse stakeholders deliberating for over 2 years to generate a consensus set of rules

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• DEQ Multi-Media Inspection Program:  

  • Worked with other Division Directors to establish and manage a new Multi-Media Inspection Program across the state where DEQ employees were cross trained across programs so that one inspector could conduct one inspection covering all permitting requirements of various Divisions (one point of contact)

  • Advocated for and gained approval for salary increases to compensate staff for added knowledge and responsibilities

• Legislation:  

  • Personally crafted legislation and worked closely with legislative staff and members to:

    • require Emergency Action Plan for all high and intermediate hazard dams, decommissioning requirements for removing coal ash dams in a safe manner, inspection protocol/priorities and annual reporting requirements for coal ash dams

    • safe removal of run of river and mill dams without DEQ prior approval

    • clarification of exemptions allowed from built upon area criteria to streamline stormwater permitting

    • establishing a life of site/lease mining permit, annual operating fee to support the program and increased reclamation bond to offset reclamation liability

  • Provided expert testimony in front of numerous legislative committees in support of these and other Division programs and initiatives

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• Coal Ash Management:  

  • Directed the Division’s regulatory activities associated with coal ash management across NC through comprehensive file review and visual inspections of all coal ash dams, issued Notices of Deficiency and a Dam Safety Order to ensure that all dam repairs and improvements were completed by December 31, 2016

  • Issuance of detailed individual industrial stormwater management permits for each of the 14 facilities after public notice, hearing and comments and concurrence from EPA

  • Actively participated in and helped to facilitate DEQ’s multi-Divisional coal ash risk assessment team to evaluate the risk associated with each coal ash impoundment and to establish appropriate closure requirements within the deadlines established by the Coal Ash Management Act

  • Personally reviewed and issued two mining permit modifications allowing the use of coal ash structural fills as mine reclamation

  • Initiated and directed the incorporation of federal EPA Coal Combustion Residual Rules into the EMC’s NC based dam safety rules to ensure consistent implementation of coal ash regulations in cooperation with the Division of Waste Management

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• Dam Safety Emergency Response:  

  • Directed the Division’s dam safety preparedness and emergency response before, during and after Hurricane Matthew that prevented loss of life from 20 dam failures

  • Secured disaster recovery funding from the legislature and DEQ to safely breach and stabilize a severely compromised high hazard dam to protect the safety of over 200 citizens downstream

  • Secured temporary funding and hired temporary engineering positions and consultants to model spillway capacity of dams in the Neuse River Basin to determine the amount of precipitation needed to overtop and possibly fail over 250 dams so that proactive measures could be taken to increase spillway capacity and possibly increase storage capacity to reduce flooding of downstream communities during extreme storm events

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• EPA Delegated MS4 Program:  

  • Met with EPA Region 4 representatives in Atlanta to advocate for Division’s new sustainable municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) program that strives to build sustainable community stormwater management programs that focus on program efficiency, effectiveness, collaboration, and strong municipal and community support in promoting  programs that are self-policed and reviewed by peers with limited oversight by the state's program

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• Division Advocacy:  

  • Continually advocated for additional staff resources through the Department and the General Assembly, primarily through reasonable and defensible fee increases, to provide improved technical assistance to the regulated community, more timely response to citizen complaints, and to become more proactive rather than reactive in preventing violations of state and environmental laws and rules