NHDES’ Strategic Priorities. While the 2010-2015 NHDES Strategic Plan is in the process of being updated, the current version remains in full force and continues to be based on NHDES’ steadfast commitment to its mission of sustaining a high quality of life for all citizens by protecting and restoring the environment and public health in New Hampshire. The full strategic plan is available in Appendix A at: xxx.xx.xxx/xxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxx-xxxx/xxxxxxxxx/xx-xxxxxxx.xxx. Once the NHDES Strategic Plan has been updated, it will be posted to the NHDES website at: xxxxx://xxx.xxx.xx.xxx/organization/commissioner/strategic-plan/index.htm. The current plan contains seven goals, thirty sub-goals, and a number of possible actions that could help achieve these goals. The first two goals relate to two overarching environmental challenges that we continue to face -- energy use/climate change and the sustainable use of the state’s natural resources - - and provide additional lenses through which we must view all of our existing work and programs. The other five goals relate to the steps we must undertake in order to better equip NHDES and the people of the state to meet the environmental and public health challenges of the 21st century. The agency remains hard at work ensuring high levels of water quality for water supplies, ecological balance, and swimming, fishing, and boating. It also continues to protect the air, clean up contaminated sites, xxxxxx the proper management of municipal and industrial wastes, and manage water resources for future generations. Challenges exist amidst a growing list of increasingly complex and costly public health and environmental issues such as the extensive, ongoing effort to address polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water (e.g., Perfluorooctanoic Acid [PFOA] and Perfluorooctanesulfonate [PFOS]) for a number of affected communities, lowering the arsenic drinking water standard from ten parts per billion (ppb) to five, as well as ongoing activities related to climate change, and the significant challenges that lie ahead for maintaining and upgrading our drinking water, wastewater treatment and dams infrastructure. Operationally, the agency is also faced with a number of significant rule updates and ongoing data management and system improvements, all of which are time-consuming undertakings.
