The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is the state agency charged with protecting public health, coastal resources, and the state’s land, air and water quality as authorized under multiple state and federal laws. Approximately 3,800 full-time DHEC employees around the state provide vital healthcare and other direct services, monitor pollution, coordinate disease control, carry out the agency’s inspection and regulatory responsibilities, respond to environmental emergencies, and protect public health and the environment in numerous other ways.