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Consequences of the DHEC reform Collective measures are almost always more effective than individual measures. When people get together, work gets done faster, more effectively, can get more attention, and helps build relationships.
Over the past few months, Spartanburg County’s League of Women Voters (LWV) have partnered with community members and other groups in garbage pickers and other similar endeavors as part of our commitment to protecting our community’s natural resources.
These efforts are part of our commitment to the SCLWV position “Promoting an Environment Beneficial for Life through the Protection and Wise Management of Natural Resources While Recognizing the Interrelationships of Air Quality, Energy, Land Use, Habitat Conservation, Waste Management, Water Resources, Sustainable” agricultural programs and a balanced approach to planning transport and growth management. ”
We are also monitoring upcoming government laws that affect natural resources and the environment. A bill pending in the Senate, p. 2, provides for the division of the Department of Health and Environment Control (DHEC) into a Department of Behavioral and Public Health and a new Department of Environmental Services.
The South Carolina Conservation Coalition, of which the SC LWV is a member, is persecuting p.2. Overall, the Conservation Coalition supports a prudent, thoughtful reform of DHEC to make the agency more efficient, successful and accountable in its efforts to protect South Carolinians and our environment from pollution.
The coalition also identified a number of ways to address the unintended consequences of the reforms and improve the way the agency operates.
Improvements include maintaining the “automatic suspension” of permit decisions to allow citizens to have their concerns heard by the Administrative Court before work on a permit begins; Establish an improved internal review process for authority decisions prior to approval; Clarifying that the new agency will be responsible for classifying waterways and overseeing dams and impoundments; and finally, increasing public engagement and participation in the approval process to ensure that the process is fairer and more inclusive.
Conservation allies also expressed concern about elements of the bill that would move water resource planning and analysis from the Department of Natural Resources to the new permitting authority. To review the bill and comment letter from the coalition and other stakeholders in more detail, go to https://www.scstatehouse.gov/CommitteeInfo/senatemedical.php.
A 51-member task force divided into three sub-committees (environmental protection, health and behavioral health) is studying the structure of DHEC and is expected to deliver results by the end of the year.
A number of Conservation Coalition partners are actively involved in this effort. To comment, visit the Task Force website at: shapeouthcarolina.gov. State government involvement and structure in relation to health and the environment has evolved since 1878 when the first state health department was created after a string of fatal yellow fever outbreaks, according to the state’s website.
In 1950, fish deaths and polluted streams drove lawmakers to add a water pollution control agency to the health department. Fifteen years later, air pollution control was added and the environmental department was renamed the Pollution Control Authority Board.
There was a split in 1970, but three years later the agencies were reunited and formed DHEC. In the meantime, numerous health and environmental obligations have been added. As this shows, additions and restructuring are hardly new. Whether DHEC stays organized as it is or becomes a new agency, especially following the publication of the recent IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report, it is clear that the health of our environment must be a top priority.
We are all citizens of this world and we have to protect it.
Rising overall temperatures and rising sea levels will affect us all, whether we live on the coast or see a record high on any given day. From travel disruptions to stronger hurricanes, air quality and more, the changes are inevitable and will only increase. The challenge and opportunity now is to find solutions, for us, for our world and for the future.
Christina Johanningmeier is a board member of the Spartanburg District Association of Women Voters. To join the Spartanburg League or attend a meeting, go to: www.lwvofspartanburg.org.
