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Environmental Quality Control - Environmental Justice
Advisory Committee
     
Act 171 passed the S. C. General Assembly in 1997.  It mandates that a governmental advisory committee be created by S. C. DHEC.

New! As required within Act 171, the South Carolina Environmental Justice Committee submitted a final report to the Governor and General Assembly in January 2010. In that report, a recommendation was made with two parts:

  1. That the South Carolina Environmental Justice Revitalization Commission be established.
  2. That the current SC Environmental Justice Advisory Committee be maintained under the title, “South Carolina Interagency Working Group on Environmental Justice”.
To learn more about these and other recommendations,view the report:
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/reports/dhec/EJAdvisoryFinalReportCombined.pdf.
     

Who’s a member of the Advisory Committee? The advisory committee consists of a representative from each department from the Office of the Attorney General, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Transportation, the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health, Clemson University's Public Service Authority, South Carolina State University's Public Service Authority, and the State Ports Authority.

Nancy Whittle, EQC Community Liaison, DHEC, is the chairperson of the advisory committee. Karen Sprayberry, DHEC, staffs this committee.
     
     

What is the Advisory Committee responsible for?
  • Studying and considering existing practices at state agencies related to environmental justice issues in economic development and revitalization projects in this state.
  • Studying the availability and promotion of public awareness of public health and environmental information in a language other than English and make such recommendations as necessary to ensure that information handed out to the public by DHEC is available in another language.
  • Encouraging collaborative problem-solving and efficient utilization of all existing resources.
  • Consulting with any requesting agency of SC to provide input for an environmental justice issue in connection with an economic development or revitalization project in SC during the term of the advisory committee.
  • Consulting the National Brownfields Association, South Carolina Chapter, to utilize its expertise in revitalization projects.

To address some of these, the Advisory Committee formed four (4) subcommittees:

  1. Health
  2. Revitalization and Reuse
  3. Policy
  4. Marketing and Awareness
     

When is the report with findings and recommendations due back to the General Assembly and Governor? January 2010
     
Environmental Justice Listening Sessions

The SC Environmental Justice Advisory Committee consists of state agencies and academia; therefore, stakeholders who are most involved with environmental justice issues were not given an opportunity to be a part of the Advisory Committee. Therefore, the Advisory Committee thought it was important to receive their input and recommendations on environmental justice issues. The Committee determined the best method to receive input was to hold listening sessions across the State.

Four Listening Sessions were held across the state. They were held in Aiken, Charleston, ,Florence, and Spartanburg,. Stakeholders invited to attend the listening sessions were businesses, citizens, citizen groups, industry, local governments, non-profits, environmental groups, etc.
     

The topics discussed were:

  • Economic Development and Revitalization
  • Environmental Justice and Revitalization
  • Community Health
  • Brownfields and Grayfields
  • Revitalized South Carolina Communities - Defining Success
     

The comments received from each listening session were compiled and placed into a report. To view the reports from each listening session, click on the city you are interested in viewing listed above. All the comments are currently being analyzed; that information will be provided on this website when it is completed.
     

State Agency Survey

  

The following survey has been sent to various state agencies inquiring about the programs and services they have that can assist unserved communities across our state. It also inquires about any environmental justice policies that may be in place within the various state agencies that were sent the survey. To view the survey, click here. The surveys are currently being collected.