On July 1, South Carolina officially launched a new era in environmental protection with the launch of the Department of Environmental Services (SCDES). The creation of SCDES stems from a state law that restructured the former South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control (DHEC) into two new state cabinet agencies: SCDES and the South Carolina Department of Public Health.
Led by ECOS member Myra Reece in her new role as Interim Director, SCDES has specific roles and responsibilities that the agency commits to meet through science, service, and sustainability. SCDES comprises five main bureaus: Air Quality, Coastal Management, Land & Waste Management, Regional & Laboratory Services, and Water.
Myra notes that as her state and others face an ever-changing landscape of complex environmental challenges, the establishment of a separate environmental agency allows her team to focus entirely on solutions that work for South Carolina.
In one of her first “official acts” on July 1, Myra threw out the first pitch at a Columbia Fireflies Minor League baseball game at Segra Park, where SCDES has partnered to expand recycling. On September 5, Myra will speak at the ECOS Fall Meeting about her experience navigating toward a new agency.
