The air we breathe in New Hampshire is safe and healthy for all citizens, including those most vulnerable, and our ecosystems are free from the adverse impacts of air pollution.

1.1 - Reduce emissions of criteria pollutants and achieve or maintain mandated air quality standards for the protection of public health and the environment.

1.2 - Reduce energy use to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and to help prevent adverse changes to the global environment.

1.3 - Reduce emissions of hazardous and toxic air pollutants, including persistent bioaccumulative toxics (PBTs) such as mercury and dioxin, in order to ensure the protection of public health and environmental quality.

1.4 - Maintain and improve data collection and analysis capacity, including monitoring, forecasting, and emissions inventories.

1.5 - Develop, implement, and manage programs and strategies that: 1) are based on the most recent scientific/health information on air pollution; 2) include broad geographic efforts and influences, 3) are built on market-based economic incentives, and 4) meet federal requirements.

1.6 - Provide compliance assistance to businesses in New Hampshire and ensure that compliance monitoring and enforcement activities are consistent, appropriate, and timely.

1.7 - Increase public awareness of air quality and promote a sense of shared responsibility among New Hampshire businesses, industries, and citizens for addressing air quality issues.

All of New Hampshire's lakes and ponds, rivers and streams, coastal waters, groundwater, and wetlands are clean and support healthy ecosystems, provide habitats for a diversity of plant and animal life, and support appropriate uses.

2.1 - Maintain and improve the quality of New Hampshire’s surface waters in order to fully support appropriate ecosystem and anthropogenic uses.

2.2 - Ensure and improve compliance of municipal and industrial point source discharges with the State’s Surface Water Quality Rules and Federal National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits in a cost-effective manner.

2.3 - Implement a watershed management approach to restore and protect water quality and uses at the watershed level.

2.4 - Run a safe and efficient operation (and in accordance with state and federal requirements) at the Winnipesaukee River Basin Project (WRBP), a sewage and waste treatment facility owned and operated by DES, serving municipalities within the Winnipesaukee River Basin.

All drinking water in New Hampshire will always be safe, available and conservatively used.

3.1 - Ensure that Public Water Systems (PWSs) provide safe drinking water in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.

3.2 - Ensure that an adequate quantity of drinking water is available and is conservatively used.

3.3 - Provide increased assurance that drinking water from residential wells is safe to drink.

Promote responsible waste management and ensure wastes/regulated materials are properly handled and disposed. Conduct prompt remediation to restore contaminated sites to productive use while protecting the environment and public health.

4.1 - Minimize waste volumes and toxicity through programs, policies and rules which extend waste management capacity and minimize exposure to persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals.

4.2 - Effectively manage Superfund, non-Superfund, and Brownfield contaminated site discovery, evaluation, and response processes in order to protect public health and the environment.

4.3 - Develop and Implement a Natural Resources Damages Policy.

4.4 - Maintain a high level of preparedness and conduct effective emergency response to petroleum and hazardous material/waste releases to the environment.

4.5 - Maintain a high level of compliance assurance to minimize the likelihood of contaminant releases and to protect public health and the quality of New Hampshire’s environment.

The sustainable development of New Hampshire's lands and natural resources is promoted throughout the state while protecting the diverse wildlife habitat, and unique features that make New Hampshire an attractive place to live, work, and visit.

5.1 - Manage programs engaged in land-use regulation in a manner that enables and encourages appropriate development, supports a healthy economy, and ensures that long-term, cumulative environmental impacts are better understood and addressed.

5.2 - Encourage the application of "Smart Growth" practices, including minimum impact development practices, through regulatory and education and outreach efforts, to guide New Hampshire’s growth in "environmentally-friendly" directions.

5.3 - Protect and restore terrestrial and aquatic habitat and biodiversity throughout the state, and minimize the adverse impacts of human activities on biological resources.

5.4 - Facilitate the restoration of rivers through selective dam removal, and by establishing a base of knowledge within DES regarding river restoration, riverine systems, and the physical, chemical and biological effects of dams and dam removal.

The state's surface and groundwater resources are managed and regulated for the protection, enhancement and restoration of environmental quality and public safety to support and balance social and ecological water needs.

6.1 - Ensure that all dams in New Hampshire are constructed, maintained and operated in a safe and environmentally-protective manner.

6.2 - Improve the department’s ability and statutory authority to manage and protect public and private water rights to better balance multiple economic, environmental, and societal values.

DES sets and achieves the highest standards for effective internal management, fiscal responsibility, and leadership on environmental issues.

7.1 - Promote effective management, effective internal communication, and continuous improvement.

7.2 - Keep DES as an employer of choice.

7.3 - DES practices effective, proactive, and innovative leadership approaches.

7.4 - Improve measurement of environmental conditions and trends and of program performance.

Encourage best efforts to prevent pollution before turning to recycling, treatment and/or disposal of the materials causing pollution. Eliminate or reduce the toxicity and absolute volumes of waste materials. Eliminate accidental pollutant releases to the environment. Conserve materials, energy, and water in order to move toward a sustainable society.

8.1 - Integrate P2 concepts into all aspects of regulatory programs, including permitting, technical assistance, inspections and the enforcement process, in order to maximize environmental benefits and reduce permitting and regulatory requirements, where possible.

8.2 - Identify and pursue actions such as toxics use reduction, solid waste reduction, solid and hazardous waste recycling, environmentally-preferable purchasing, and energy and water conservation) that minimize DES's environmental impact.

8.3 - In partnership with other assistance providers (internal and external) and stakeholders, promote the benefits of P2 and Environmental Management Systems (EMSs), including going "beyond compliance" and moving toward sustainability.

8.4 - Promote a safe and healthy environment for New Hampshire's most at-risk and sensitive populations (i.e., children, the elderly, and those with special health concerns).

DES provides effective public education, outreach, and partnership activities.

9.1 - Create and disseminate DES informational and educational outreach materials to stakeholders, the business community, and the general public.

9.2 - Convey DES’s mission, goals, programs, projects, events, accomplishments and environmental messages to the public via various media, including newspapers, radio, television, and the internet.

9.3 - Promote environmental education in New Hampshire.

9.4 - Foster DES’s partnerships with NH municipalities, state agencies, the legislature, business and industry, environmental organizations, public health organizations, and other stakeholder groups.

In order to foster full compliance with the laws it administers, DES provides education and outreach to the public, provides assistance to the regulated community, monitors compliance on an on-going basis, and maintains a fair and effective enforcement process.

10.1 - Integrate pollution prevention/"beyond compliance," permitting, and compliance assurance.

10.2 - Write all requirements clearly and interpret them consistently.

10. 3 - Ensure that compliance monitoring and enforcement activities are consistent, appropriate, and timely.

Information is collected, managed, analyzed, and disseminated effectively and efficiently to support well informed, timely and cost-effective environmental decision-making.

11.1 - Utilize innovations in information technology to support and streamline programs in achieving DES goals and objectives.

11.2 - Develop and implement the information management and delivery systems necessary to support improved analysis of environmental information by the department and the public.

11.3 - Increase access to and ease of use of environmental information while utilizing appropriate security measures and adhering to statewide privacy policies.

11.4 - Expand e-government.

11.5 - The environmental data DES relies upon to make decisions is of known quality, and the quality and quantity of that data is appropriate for its uses.