Top DHEC official resigns, citing business reasons for departure

S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control board chairman Robert Bolchoz is resigning the post after less than a year on the job.

The Columbia attorney said he will leave the board because he needs to focus on work he will be doing for a legal client. The client, which he did not name, asked that he not elaborate, Bolchoz said

“One of my long-standing legal clients recently asked me to take on an expanded role regarding some of its business interests,” Bolchoz said. “This new opportunity will preclude my being able to maintain my commitment to the board and the agency while running my law practice.”

Gov. Henry McMaster picked Bolchoz to replace Mark Elam as chairman in January. A former chief deputy state attorney general, Bolchoz was a popular pick for the DHEC board chairman’s job. His nomination sailed through the state Senate, and he took the gavel as board chairman in February.

Bolchoz, a Republican, has had little time to put his mark on the agency but has been an advocate of DHEC being more open with the public and the media. The agency typically communicates with the news media only through emails.

Bolchoz, 59, also has said he favors breaking DHEC into separate environmental and health agencies, an issue debated by the Legislature in 2022 and one that is expected to come up again in 2023.

Unlike most states, South Carolina has a combined health and environmental agency. Critics say the department is too large and bureaucratic, which has delayed responses to environmental and health problems through the years.

Bolchoz, a Citadel graduate originally from Charleston, raised eyebrows in some circles when he spoke against young school children wearing masks as a measure against COVID-19.

During his confirmation hearing, Bolchoz said he thought requiring masks for young children “is much worse for them in the long run.’’

Also at the hearing, he said he would not bow to McMaster’s wishes if he disagreed with the governor on an agency policy issue.

With Bolchoz leaving, McMaster will have to find a replacement to run the eight-member board. The governor’s office will “announce the next chairman of the board in due time,’’ McMaster spokesman Brian Symmes said. noting that Bolchoz provided “steady and strong leadership.’’

The DHEC board, a politically appointed panel whose members do not receive salaries, sets policy for the agency and hears appeals of environmental and health permitting cases.

The outcome of those cases often decides how aggressively the state will administer environmental and health laws.

DHEC is one of South Carolina’s largest agencies, with more than 3,000 employees. Among other things, the agency monitors water and air quality, issues pollution discharge permits, licenses hospitals and oversees public health in South Carolina. The agency was on the front lines of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.