For the second straight year, the South Carolina Senate has voted to break up the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control.

A bill passed unanimously by the Senate on Wednesday night would dissolve DHEC and create two separate agencies that would fall under the governor’s control.

The new environmental agency would be named the Department of Environmental Services, which would have divisions to monitor air quality, land and waste management, water usage, regional and laboratory services, and coastal management, according to the plan. Some of DHEC’S environmental responsibilities would shift to the Department of Agriculture.

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