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Environmental agency highlights faster permitting, workforce risks and requests funding for water programs and contaminated-site cleanup
Summary
The Department of Environmental Services told the subcommittee it processed about 20,000 permit applications from July 1–Dec. 31 with 98% issued within 90 days; the agency requested roughly $11 million in recurring funds and $3 million in nonrecurring funds for staffing, technology, water programs and hazardous-site cleanup.
Ms. Reese, speaking for the Department of Environmental Services, told the House Ways and Means constitutional subcommittee that last year’s investment and internal reforms have improved permitting predictability and throughput.
"The main way that it's paying off in South Carolina permitting timelines are no longer a guess," Ms. Reese said, adding that many permits can meet a 90-day timeline required by proviso 55.26 and that, where 90 days is not feasible, applicants can agree to a tracked alternative timeline.
Reese told the committee that between July 1 and Dec. 31 the department received about 20,000 applications, that 98% were issued within 90 days and that 0.3% required a timeline agreement. She said the agency launched a public dashboard in January to provide weekly, drill-down data on permit processing and track milestones.
Reese said the department is tracking energy-infrastructure permits subject to the South Carolina Energy Security Act (Act 41): between July 1 and Dec. 31 it received 28 such applications, issued 19 within the six-month timeline and had nine still in review, one with a longer timeline agreement.
On staffing and workforce, Reese said more than half of DES staff have five or fewer years of service and about 20% of experienced staff could retire by July 2026, framing staff-retention funding as a priority. She outlined FY27 requests described as seven recurring items totaling a little over $11 million and two nonrecurring items totaling a little over $3 million, with major themes of staff pay, modern technology (including AI use cases), water quality, aquatic science and contaminated-site cleanup.
Specific program requests included just over $800,000 for the Recreational Waters Program (the agency regulates about 7,600 pools), recurring funding of $3,500,000 to address uncontrolled hazardous-waste sites (about 150 sites statewide), roughly $213,000 for laboratory certification to ensure compliance data, resources for aquatic science to respond to harmful algal blooms, and authority to fully utilize earned and restricted revenues. Reese also described a voluntary vessel-recycling program that she said can reduce average disposal costs from roughly $10,000–$13,000 per abandoned boat to about $4,200 under prevention measures.
Representative Davy Hyatt praised the permitting improvements and asked whether splitting environmental functions from the old DHEC had helped. Reese said the restructuring allowed more focused IT solutions, clarified priorities between health and environmental functions, and that an economist is working on a report to quantify the return on investment. The committee did not vote on DES funding during the hearing.
