DHEC board opposes agency split

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control board doesn’t like Gov. Mark Sanford’s plan to break up the agency and merge it with other departments.

DHEC board members voted 5-0 Thursday against the idea, saying the 4,800-employee department is effective in its current form.

The agency’s decision doesn’t stop the reorganization, but it lets the governor and state lawmakers know DHEC’s position.

Sanford’s proposal is contained in his budget as part of a sweeping plan to restructure state government and make it more efficient. A similar bill has also been introduced in the Legislature.

“It would be a shame to split up this department,” DHEC board member Mark Kent said.

Kent and board member Howard Brilliant said after the meeting that they also oppose making DHEC or a new environmental agency part of the governor’s cabinet. The DHEC board, whose members are appointed by the governor, sets policy for the agency. The director of a new agency would report directly to the governor, rather than a board.

DHEC, formed more than 30 years ago, licenses everything from hospitals and nursing homes to air pollution discharges and waste dumps. The agency is one of the state’s largest, with a budget of about $450 million. Its health division has about 3,500 of the agency’s approximately 4,800 workers.

On Thursday, DHEC officials said the agency should remain intact because environmental problems, such as pollution, can have health impacts. Also, the agency is able to respond quickly to environmental and health problems as a unified force, officials said.

But Sanford says the services DHEC provides could be done more efficiently by merging with similar agencies.

His plan puts DHEC’s health division under a new Department of Health Services. That department would include two other existing agencies: the S.C. Department of Mental Health and the S.C. Department of Disabilities and Special Needs.

DHEC’s environmental division would merge with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources and the S.C. Forestry Commission to form a new Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“It’s only natural that there are going to be some narrow territories out there, where people will look to defend what they perceive as their turf, particularly when they are political appointments,’’ governor’s office spokesman Will Folks said.

The five board members voting Thursday against splitting up DHEC were originally appointed by past governors. Sanford’s only appointee at the meeting was chair Elizabeth Hagood, but she votes only in the event of a tie. One commissioner, Coleman Buckhouse, wasn’t present.

Mike McShane, chairman of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources board, said that panel backs the general concept of Sanford’s restructuring plan.

S.C. Forestry Commission officials have said they do not like the proposed merger.

Staff writer Joey Holleman contributed to this story. Reach Fretwell at (803) 771-8537 or sfretwell@thestate.com.