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- The mission of the Department of Environmental Services is to help sustain a
high quality of life for all citizens by protecting and restoring the
environment and public health in New Hampshire.
The protection and wise management of the state of New Hampshire's environment
are the important goals of the N.H. Department of Environmental Services (DES).
The department's responsibilities range from ensuring high levels of water
quality for water supplies, ecological balance, and recreational benefits, to
regulating the emissions of air pollutants, to fostering the proper management
of municipal and industrial waste, to managing water resources for future
generations.
Formed in January 1987 by state statute RSA 21-O, DES was legislatively created
through the consolidation and reorganization of four previously separate
agencies: the Air Resources Agency, the Office of Waste Management,the Water
Supply and Pollution Control Commission, and the Water Resources Board. Each of
these groups is now represented within the department's three divisions: Air
Resources, Waste Management, and Water. Also, DES has units within the Office
of the Commissioner whose roles are to coordinate such activities as
agency-wide planning, enforcement, permitting, public information, laboratory
services, geologic services, information resources,and financial and personnel
management.
The three division directors, along with the two commissioners, form DES's
Senior Leadership Team which coordinates DES policy making and program
implementation.
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