Senate committee advances Reese nomination after questioning on coastal preservation, permitting and climate stance

The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday gave a favorable report to Miss Reese, nominee for director of the Department of Environmental Services, after a confirmation hearing that focused on coastal property rights, permitting capacity and the department’s position on climate and causation.

Committee members pressed Reese on her views as nominee and on the department’s actions after the General Assembly in 2018 changed coastal policy from retreat to preservation. The committee voted to forward her nomination to the full Senate by voice vote with several members recorded as abstaining; a proxy vote from Senator Gambril was recorded as voting in the affirmative.

The session included sustained questioning from the senator from Spartanburg about stormwater practices in new subdivisions. The senator described how detention ponds on development sites frequently leave “a large hole, which is just mud,” and asked whether South Carolina could adopt alternative approaches used in other states. Reese responded that the agency is “committed to looking…