It is declared to be the public policy of the State to maintain reasonable standards of purity of the air and water resources of the State, consistent with the public health, safety and welfare of its citizens, maximum employment, the industrial development of the State, the propagation and protection of terrestrial and marine flora and fauna, and the protection of physical property and other resources. It is further declared that to secure these purposes and the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter, the Department of Health and Environmental Control shall have authority to abate, control and prevent pollution.
S.C. Code Ann. § 48-1-20
Declaration of public policy
Known as the Pollution Control Act
The act spans §§ 48–48 (41 sections).
Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case American Color & Chemical Corp. v. Tenneco Polymers, Inc. (1995)
Most recently applied in Sierra Club v. South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control (July 2014)
1962 Code SECTION 63-195.1; 1952 Code SECTION 70-102; 1950 (46) 2153; 1970 (56) 2512.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: South Carolina Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Carolina statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.