COLUMBIA - A measure expanding the state grand jury's powers to environmental crimes was advanced by a Senate subcommittee Wednesday with no opposition.

Sen. Jake Knotts, R-West Columbia, has been trying to get the bill through for four years, but it has been blocked by legislators who support business interests, including those from Horry County.

Knotts and business leaders have worked on the proposal since the end of the legislative session last year and came up with something the state Chamber of Commerce, S.C. Manufacturing Alliance and Small Business Chamber of Commerce all support.

Horry legislators said they want to study the revised bill and may no longer oppose it if their concerns are addressed.

State grand jury handling of an environmental case would be rare under the provisions proposed in the bill.

"I hope it won't get used any," Attorney General Henry McMaster said. Environmental damage would have to amount to at least $1 million. The offense would have to be intentional, not accidental or negligent, he said.

The Department of Health and Environmental Control and State Law Enforcement Division would have to investigate and then report to the attorney general that they are unable to complete the investigation without the grand jury.

The difference in what is currently available to law enforcement and prosecutors is that the state grand jury can subpoena records and compel testimony, McMaster said.

An example of a case in which the state grand jury could have been used was that of Tin Products, a company that intentionally released toxic materials into public water. The contamination damaged water and sewer systems in the plant's Lexington County community. Federal courts took the case.

The bill would not apply to incidents such as illegal tree-cutting at property development sites or minor filling of swamps or marshes.

The possibility of using the grand jury to punish people for those kinds of offenses is what concerned Horry County legislators.

Rep. Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach, said "people were afraid that for filling in a ditch that they would be forced to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees and fines." The $1 million threshold may make the bill reasonable, he said.

Rep. Billy Witherspoon, R-Conway, also said the damage minimum helps ease his concerns, but he wants to know more about the proposal before withdrawing his opposition.

"I just can't see somebody with an accidental spill being prosecuted for it," he said.

The bill goes next to the Senate Judiciary Committee. A companion House bill has not been taken up.