As you may know, one of the many ways we positively impact South Carolina’s wildlife and wildlife habitat is through our lobbying efforts at the state house.

Our Government Relations Manager, Trip King, recently provided us with an update we wanted to share with you:

The second session of 123rd South Carolina General Assembly convened on Tuesday, January 14, 2020 and, under normal circumstances, would adjourn May 14, 2020. We are now past the mid-way point in the legislative session. For the first seven weeks of the session, the Senate was basically tied up debating their version of an education improvement and reform bill, S.419, "The South Carolina Career Opportunity and Access For All” Act, which they eventually passed on March 3 allowing them to return to other legislative matters. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives was a bit more productive early in the session passing a number of consequential bills before they began debate on the state budget. On Wednesday, March 11, the House passed their version of the state appropriations act sending it over to the Senate for their consideration.

As we have all recently learned, South Carolina and our fellow citizens are no longer operating under “normal” circumstances. As the COVID-19 emergency gripped our state forcing changes in our normal lifestyles and temporarily shuttering many of our state’s businesses, so it is with the legislative process as the General Assembly has ground to a halt and is currently not in session. On Tuesday, March 17, at the request of Governor McMaster, the Senate convened and passed an emergency spending measure allocating $45M from the state’s Contingency Reserve Fund to be used immediately in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. The Senate then adjourned for an indefinite period. Likewise, the House of Representatives convened on Thursday, March 19, and concurred with the Senate’s emergency spending bill and sent it to the Governor for his signature. The House then adjourned at the Call of the Chair. Speaker Jay Lucas has said that the House would be out for at least two weeks and probably longer. Senate President Harvey Peeler has not signaled when the Senate may come back into session but is looking at the situation on a week to week basis. Bottom line, at this juncture it is unclear when either chamber may return to the State House to resume their legislative work. Obviously, there are a number of significant bills that are awaiting further action by one or both chambers before the mandated May 14 adjournment. Most pressing is the need for passage of a state budget before July 1, 2020, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

As we monitor the situation and await further guidance from our legislative leaders, here is a description and update on some of the legislative initiatives SCWF has been tracking and advocating in favor of, or against.

Conservation and Land Protection - SCWF has long been a champion of the South Carolina Conservation Bank and over the years has consistently advocated for increased funding for the agency. The Conservation Bank is the single most important tool the state and the conservation community has to protect some of South Carolina’s most iconic landscapes and natural resources from development. While the Bank does not own a single piece of property, it has helped protect more than 300,000 acres of land in our state since its inception in 2004 by contributing to the funding of fee simple land purchases and conservation easements by qualified land trust entities. After several years of uncertainty as to its future, the Bank is now on solid footing having been re-authorized and made a permanent state agency by the Legislature in 2018 and the recently House-passed state budget increases the funding for the Bank to roughly $18.6M, the highest level it has seen in recent years. Additionally, the Bank is under the new and capable leadership of Raleigh West who was nominated by the Bank’s board and confirmed by the Senate last year to serve as Executive Director. Raleigh most recently served as Executive Director of the Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust.

Earlier this year Senate Vincent Sheheen (D-Kershaw) introduced S.1024, The South Carolina Thirty-by-Thirty Conservation Act, which would set a goal for the State of South Carolina to protect thirty percent of the State not later than 2030 by the use of enduring conservation measures on lands and waters in the State. Senator Sheheen’s legislation would also create the Thirty-By-Thirty Interagency Taskforce to provide for the development and implementation of plans by state agencies to achieve this goal. This legislation is pending in the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. It is estimated that roughly fifteen percent of South Carolina’s land is currently protected by state ownership or held by land trusts or under conservation easements. SCWF supports the concept of Senator Sheheen’s bold land protection initiative for our state.

Photo of two turtles on a log. “Raising the Next Generation” by Jo Frkovich

Native Reptile and Amphibian Protection – After recent in-depth reporting by numerous media outlets on the illegal trade of some of South Carolina’s most iconic native reptiles and amphibians, legislation has been introduced that would give the SC Department of Natural Resources and other state agencies more enforcement power to crack down on the black market wildlife trade which has grown and flourished in our state. Dubbed the “Turtle Bill”, S.885, introduced by Senator Sheheen and others in the Senate, would tighten lax wildlife laws and increase penalties for those who seek to trap and sell for profit our state’s rare turtle population and other precious native wildlife. A companion bill, H.4831, was introduced by Rep. Bill Hixon (R-Aiken) and others in the House of Representatives. SCWF has voiced its support for these legislative initiatives as the work their way through the legislative process. H.4831 was passed in the House in early February and, along with S.885, is currently under consideration by the Senate Fish, Game and Forestry Committee.

South Carolina Resiliency Revolving Fund Act S.259 – Introduced by Senator Stephen Goldfinch (R-Georgetown) and approved by the Senate last year 44-1, this bill would establish a state low-interest revolving loan fund to help counties and municipalities finance the purchase of repetitive loss properties due to flooding from homeowners who willingly wish to relocate out of harm’s way. The state funding would provide local communities with the twenty-five percent local match necessary to participate in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) homeowner buyout program of repetitively flooded properties. S.259 is currently pending in the House Ways and Means Committee and we are hopeful that the bill will move forward in the House later this session. This bill, and the concept of more funding for statewide resiliency infrastructure upgrades in the wake of years of devastating flood activity in South Carolina, has the support of Ways and Means Chairman Murrell Smith (R-Sumter). Chairman Smith recently included $50M in the House-passed budget to be used for “disaster relief assistance, hazard mitigation and infrastructure improvements, and statewide resilience planning”. SCWF, along with our advocacy partner Audubon South Carolina and numerous other conservation organizations, has been a strong proponent of S.259 as well as other legislative measures dealing with extreme weather resilience planning and mitigation.

Plastics and the Environment – In recent years, there have been several attempts by members of the General Assembly to pass legislation that would prohibit city and county governments from enacting local ordinances that would ban or restrict the use of plastic bags and other single-use auxiliary containers as a way to deal with the proliferation of plastic waste and pollution in their communities. S.394, introduced by Senator Wes Climer (R-York) in 2019, is the latest attempt to restrict local government’s ability to effectively deal with the ever-increasing stream of plastic waste in the absence of a statewide solution. Fortunately, it now appears that public opposition to this bill, and others that preceded it, is so great that there are not enough votes to move it in the Legislature. SCWF has been very supportive of our state’s local governments and their ability under our Home Rule doctrine to enact local ordinances that protect their citizens’ health, welfare and environment.

Speaking of plastic, we are closely following S.1023, a bill that was introduced by Senator Sheheen that, if passed, would direct the Department of Natural Resources and the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control to form a joint task force to research microplastic contamination in our state. The study would include such things as the extent of microplastic contamination in the environment, including soil, water, air and wildlife, and identification of best practices for manufacturers and consumers to reduce the production and release of microplastics into the environment. The task force would also be charged with making recommendations back to the General Assembly by December 31, 2021 as to the efficacy of methods for removing micro plastics from our environment and what legislative or regulatory actions the State can pursue to protect human health and the environment from microplastics. SCWF likes Senator Sheheen’s approach to this ever-growing problem and concern.

Banner Photo: Sunset Over the Catawba by Jacque Weir