COLUMBIA, S.C. — For the second year in a row, South Carolina Senators voted to break up the State Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Last year, the legislation stalled in the House over concerns about the impact on mental health services.
Many lawmakers have complained that the nearly 4,000-employee agency has become too powerful and at times ineffective.
Right now, DHEC does everything from restaurant inspections to running county health departments and monitoring rivers and streams.
The bill would get rid of DHEC and create two separate agencies under the Governor's control: The Department of Behavioral and Public Health and the Department of Environmental Services.
“I think right now DHEC is spread thin. They've got not only the state, but the federal government piling on new responsibilities, and then they're not getting the funding or the staffing to carry out those missions.”
Megan Diedolf with the Conservation Voters of South Carolina applauded lawmakers for keeping a policy in place that stops work on construction activity when a government-issued environmental permit is being challenged.
“Permitting is a way to prevent environmental harm on the front end, and it's a way that DHEC has the ability to hold businesses accountable for its environmental impact," said Diedolf.
Mental health advocates have concerns over the bill.
Bill Lindsey with the South Carolina Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness said he's worried that if the Department of Mental Health is absorbed into the proposed health agency, it will be harder for patients to access care.
“I think that it would make it more ambiguous for people to try and find out where to go to get the service if their mental health agency isn't there for them to contact," said Lindsey.
Under the proposal, an expert in the Department of Administration would be tasked with recommending how to structure the agency by April 2024.
Lindsey would like to see the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services and DMH working together.
“Many people that have a mental illness also have a substance abuse issue and I think that it would make it easier to treat them together," said Lindsey.
Lawmakers have allocated $5 million in the state budget for the split. If signed into law, it would take effect on July 1, 2024.
South Carolina is one of three states that combine environmental regulation and health care under one agency.